Ralf Rangnick has no plans to give Cristiano Ronaldo the Manchester United captaincy on a permanent basis after the Portugal star filled in for the injured Harry Maguire against Wolves last week.
Ronaldo gave an interview this week where he questioned the mentality of the current United squad and suggested a number of young players do not take the advice on offer to them.
The forward’s comments led to a section of supporters saying he should be given the captain’s armband on a permanent basis but head coach Rangnick has dismissed that idea.
What has been said?
Ronaldo captained United for the first time in the Premier League defeat against Wolves with Maguire out injured. However, there are no plans for him to take over from the England defender on a permanent basis.
“Right now I don’t see a reason to do that because Harry has been the captain so far and as long as Harry is playing he will be the captain,” Rangnick said.
Next Match
“If he’s not playing then someone else will have to be the captain. This can change from game to game just depending on who is playing."
What did Rangnick make of Ronaldo's interview?
The German boss was asked if he agreed with Ronaldo’s sentiment that there needs to be a shift in mentality from the team.
“I think this has to happen in every single training session and in every single game and of course it’s also about what happens after situations during the game,” Rangnick said. “If things don’t go the right way you have to behave in a certain manner and it’s also about being role models not only the older ones like Cristiano but also the younger ones and how you deal with those situations.”
But does he believe they are lacking an elite mentality?
“In order to speak about that we need to discuss what mentality means," Rangnick explained. "As I said, so far if one of our players in the game doesn’t give his very best and put all the effort into it then I will address that, you can be assured of that.
“So far I haven't seen that but with some players they start well. We speak about Marcus Rashford for example. I think in the first 20 minutes against Villa he was good, he was on fire, he was emotionally involved but then after the first 30 minutes he got worse and he didn’t play on the same kind of energetic level he did in the first half an hour.
“We need to speak about that, I do that regularly, does he need a helping hand? What does that take? So I don’t see any of the players don’t care about the club or who don’t want to perform to the best and highest possible level.”
Will Ronaldo be fit to play this weekend?
The forward missed the win against Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Monday with a muscle strain but he is expected to be fit for the trip to Villa Park this weekend.
Maguire, Jadon Sancho and Phil Jones, who all missed Monday’s game through injury, are also expected to be available.
