Rangnick lauds Utd’s Harry Maguire for captain’s performance

The world’s most expensive defender has been under scrutiny this season, both for his displays in the heart of defence and leadership.

Ralf Rangnick praised Harry Maguire for producing a performance befitting the captain’s armband on his return to the Manchester United starting line-up.

This season, the world’s most expensive defender has been under scrutiny, both for his displays in the team’s heart of defence and leadership.

Maguire missed the first two matches of 2022 with a chest injury and was named on the bench against Aston Villa and Brentford as Rangnick favoured Victor Lindelof alongside Raphael Varane.

But the United skipper was restored to the starting line-up against West Ham in the absence of Lindelof, who supported his family after a break-in and produced a solid display in Saturday’s late 1-0 win.

“It was an outstanding performance from both centre-backs,” interim boss Rangnick said. “Defensively, almost without any mistake.

“On the ball, some long balls in the first half, two or three of them, that they would not have necessarily played.

“But, as I said, defensively, he was very present. He was vocal on the pitch. He played as a captain should play.”

Marcus Rashford has been another United player under the microscope.

The 24-year-old forward looked devoid of confidence when taken off in the narrow FA Cup win against Aston Villa, which extended his goalless run to an 11th game.

But Rashford came off the bench to score in Wednesday’s 3-1 win at Brentford, and the super-sub struck again to seal victory against West Ham.

“We have a lot of wingers, a lot of outstanding players in that position,” Rangnick said.

“Jadon (Sancho) was not available today, but we have a lot of players for those two positions, and Marcus is one of them.

“Right now, yes, he scored in two consecutive games when he came from the bench, but of course, his ambition is to play regularly from the start again.

“It’s up to him. If he continuously plays on a high level and keeps scoring goals, of course, this is the best way back into the team and to play from the beginning.”

Rangnick is hoping Rashford’s stoppage-time strike can kickstart United’s top-four push, although he believes people “have to see the table realistically”.

The interim boss pointed to the competition for Champions League qualification plus Tottenham’s games in hand, predicting “a race until the last couple of fixtures”.

It currently looks like Rangnick will not have any new faces to help improve the squad before the January window closes, with the likes of Jesse Lingard, Donny Van De Beek and Dean Henderson linked to an exit.

Asked if he expected anyone to leave this month, he said: “I don’t know. I know which players would want to go.

“I know that there are some negotiations with clubs, but I am not involved in that, but I will probably be (kept) posted and made aware if something is happening.

“But, in the end, we will all have to wait and see what will happen.”