The blame game for Man U's implosion is moving fast.
[SWIFT KICKS] Manchester United's substitute teacher Ralf Rangnick is fast becoming known for his blunt assessment of where his team stands. But some of his latest remarks are putting in to focus just how bad things are at Old Trafford.
Rangnick, better known as Thor: Ragnarok, says former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be partly to blame if the squad miss out on a top four finish this season.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Rangnick admitted he is "concerned" about the prospects of finishing in the top four but insists Solskjaer, who was let go back in November after a run of five defeats in seven league fixtures, is also responsible.
"It [not finishing in the top four] has always been a concern since Ole left the club," said Rangnick.
"That was one of the reasons why he probably had to leave the club and of course results like [Southampton] doesn't make things any easier.
United are stuttering in the race of Champions League football after successive draws with Burnley and Southampton.
Against Southampton at Old Trafford on Saturday, United were pegged back after leading for the third game in a row after similar performances against Middlesbrough and Burnley.
They also threw away a two-goal lead against Aston Villa in January, eventually drawing 2-2.
Rangnick has been especially critical of his team's second-half display against Burnley and Southampton and hinted he is struggling to fix all the issues after being parachuted into the job mid season.
"To be honest I don't know if we are fit enough to play that way because, as you said, I came in the middle of the season. We had no preseason and in essence we had in total two weeks in between where we could train in a normal way."
All this comes as Spanish outlet AS reports the relationship between Rangnick and star attacker Cristiano Ronaldo are "totally fractured".
Former United defender Gary Neville also says a leak campaign is being undertaken by current players via their PR teams, agents and marketing teams. That includes the recent report that Ralf Rangnick's number 2, Chris Armas has been nicknamed "Ted Lasso" by the players.
Neville claims to know who's leaking bad information, but wouldn't name names.
Neville warned “They need to stop it and work as hard as they can.”
United are back in action against Brighton at Old Trafford on Tuesday. It's yet to be seen who will be blamed for the result - either good or bad - but this really opens your eyes to why the press love to cover Man U.