Ralf Rangnick Believes Manchester United Can Still Finish In The Top Four

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has declared that his side can still finish in the top four of the Premier League this season.

After the weekend’s round of results United’s chances dramatically improved when they moved from seventh to fifth in the table, following their 3-2 victory over Norwich City, as Arsenal lost to Southampton and West Ham’s drew with Burnley.

United now find themselves three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who also lost to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

“We are still in a race for the top four spot,” Rangnick said at his press conference on Monday. “But to stay in that race we know that out of six games we need to get maximum points.”

“Other teams have been dropping points but we need to show consistency. At the end, the team finishing fourth will be the one most committed to that.”

United travel to Anfield on Tuesday to play Liverpool, who reached the FA Cup final at the weekend with a 3-2 victory over Manchester City at Wembley, and will go top of the Premier League table with victory tonight.

“It is up to us, and we will definitely try to get the three points,” Rangnick said. “This is what it’s all about and it’s not about the situation they are in. Although we might be the underdogs, we still know that if we raise our level, if we play a top performance ourselves, we have a chance to get three points and this will be our ambition.”

Rangnick is full of praise for the work his compatriot Jurgen Klopp has done at United’s great rivals. “He’s no doubt one of the best, if not the best coach, not only now but also in the past couple of years.”

“If this should be a role model, I don’t know but it’s definitely no coincidence what has happened there in the last six years…They brought in the right players, they got rid of the right players. They just built, they really built a squad, and that’s why they are where they are.”

Despite securing all three points against Norwich at the weekend, Rangnick was not completely satisfied with the performance.

“As I said after the game, we just need to be more compact and we need to find a better balance of what can we do in possession of the ball and what do we need to do in order to defend our own goal.”

“We need to be more compact and more aggressive, more on the front but still make sure we have all of the players behind the ball and this is what we need to show against a team who is probably one of the best in producing chances and creating moments in which they can be dangerous in and around the box.”

“We need to be at our very, very best defensively but still have a formation and a line-up and an approach to the game where we can be dangerous ourselves.”

United will continue to be without Fred, Scott McTominay, Luke Shaw, Edinson Cavani and Raphael Varane, but despite being involved in a minor car crash on Monday Bruno Fernandes is fit and available to play.

“He’s training with the team, obviously the accident happened on the way to Carrington but as far as I know nobody was injured,” Rangnick said. “He trained with the team, he was okay.”