Ralf Rangnick has cast further doubt on Paul Pogba’s Manchester United future and questioned the decision to let him travel to Dubai to recover from a thigh injury.
Ralph Ragnick said: “I wouldn’t say he’s not worth keeping but, of course, players have to want to play and stay for a club and a big club like Manchester United. If a player does not want to play for a club like Manchester United medium or long-term, I don’t think it makes sense to convince him to change his mind. This is such a massive club with such fantastic support from the supporters, I don’t think anyone in the club should try to convince a player to stay. But on the other hand, let’s wait and see. I have spoken with him for 15 minutes over the phone a few days ago. Let’s have him come back, get fully fit, train with the team and then see where we stand, how the team has developed by then. He can be an important player but this is true for all the other players that we have and I’m not just the coach of Paul Pogba, I’m also the coach of all the other players and my ambition is to make them better, improve each individual player, and this is only possible by improving the performance of the whole team. In football it’s impossible to develop players individually without the team being successful and without the team being sustainable.”
Pogba spent part of his recovery from an ankle injury in 2019 in Dubai and Miami and when his latest mid-season trip was raised, Rangnick was bemused Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had allowed Pogba to conduct his rehabilitation abroad.
Ralph Ragnick said: “My former clubs were always trying to make sure the rehab should take place in the club itself. As far as I can tell, the medical department is really good, very good, with many different approaches towards rehab. I would not want players to do their rehab abroad or anywhere else but the decision on Paul was taken before I came. In the future, I have already spoken to the medical department – to Steve [McNally] our doctor, to (head of physiotherapy) Robin Sadler – that in the future I want players with injuries – and hopefully we don’t get long-term injuries – but if we have them in the future I want them to stay here.”
Rangnick cautioned that Pogba would take time to adapt to United’s new style after he has regained full fitness and declared match-ready. Pogba has played in a myriad of roles and formations during his five-and-a-half years back at United and played productively from the left towards the end of last season. In Rangnick’s 4-2-2-2 formation, the width is primarily provided by the full-backs as he favours two number 10s behind two number nines and Ragnick regards Pogba as a midfielder.
Ralph Ragnick explained: “I very much looking forward to working with him, as I am with all the other players. But to know his best possible position I have to get to know him in person. Of course, it’s also about him being fully, physically fit. The way we played against Palace, which is the way we want to build on for the next couple of games and tomorrow’s game, is high intensity. Obviously, you need to be fully fit to play that game. We also saw against Young Boys the first half-hour was okay, if not even good but then struggling in the second-half. I once again want to say thank you to the fans. They backed the team all the way, all 95 minutes. I know it was an experimental team but the fans were amazing, they supported the players and once again thank you to our supporters for that. Back to Paul, yes it will take some time for him to get fully fit. He will get that time to get fully fit and once he’s fully fit we will then see. From what I’ve seen from him so far, I rather see him as a midfielder and not so much as a striker or left winger, but again, if I get to know him once he’s fully fit we will see which position will be the best for him.”
