CHRIS ARMAS is set to join Ralf Rangnick’s coaching team after the American was fired as manager of Toronto FC.
New manager Rangnick has retained Mick Phelan and Kieran McKenna following the departures of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick.
The German celebrated his first win as Man Utd boss after Fred’s late strike gave the Red Devils victory over Crystal Palace.
Meanwhile, off the pitch the new gaffer is already putting the club’s January transfer plans in place.
SunSport can reveal United are keen on signing John McGinn to replace Paul Pogba, but the Aston Villa midfielder could cost £50m.
The Red Devils are also reportedly preparing a cheeky £47m bid for Frenkie de Jong, who cash-strapped Barcelona are keen to keep.
New gaffer Rangnick was full of praise for Fred after his strike that took down the Eagles.
The German said: “I had to ask my assistant coach if that was Fred’s right foot.
“I thought he could only shoot with his left. I’m happy for him, it was a beautiful goal with his weak right foot.
“He is a fantastic player, together with what he did with McTominay this is what you need for this kind of football.
“If you play with intensity on the front foot, very proactively, with four offensive players ahead of him, it’s highly important to have players who are disciplined and aggressive.
“Both Scott and Fred are perfect for that, overall when the other team is in possession.
“I am very happy for him and the whole team congratulated him for the goal.”
LATEST IN SUN BINGO AND VEGAS
Get all the latest Man Utd transfer news, gossip and updates here.
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POTENTIAL XI
Donny van de Beek will be hoping for his first start under Ralf Rangnick when Man Utd face Young Boys this week.
Veteran Juan Mata could also get a rare start, as well as academy winger Anthony Elanga.
Is this how United will line up in their final Champions League group stage game?
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CLASSY OLE
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told fans ‘I tried my best’ after a chance encounter with a group of supporters at a sushi takeaway.
Since getting his P45, Solskjaer has made the most of his extra free time and treated himself to some Japanese grub from a nearby Cheshire spot last Wednesday.
And the Athletic claims United-supporting diners thanked him for his efforts during his three years in charge at Old Trafford.
As he collected his food, Solskjaer waved to the fans and said: “I tried my best. Thanks, lads.”
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COMMON TONGUE
Dalot also admits his transition into United’s XI has been made easier by playing alongside Portugal pals Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes.
He added: “Yeah, to be honest, it does help because we’re very spread on the pitch so we can communicate with each other and pass important messages through the team.
“But obviously the other people, the other guys talk a lot as well.
”We communicate well with each other, so we want to keep that as well everybody together but obviously it does help with the communication.”
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THAT’S DA LOT
Diogo Dalot is determined to make the most of his chance to finally kick-start his Manchester United career.
He said:”I mean, there’s no secret that it’s difficult when you don’t play as much as you wanted.
“But it’s our job to get ready and I’ve been doing that for a couple months now, especially this season, and be ready when my time comes to give everything on the pitch.
“Help the team, that’s most important thing, and I’m very happy to give this momentum as well and be out there with the team.”
“It’s my job to be out there and then help the team and give my best.
“I need to show my best qualities as well. I have fantastic players that can help me inside the pitch and today was one more opportunity for me to give that.”
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TEN OUT OF TEN
Man Utd have been given a boost in bringing Erik ten Hag to Old Trafford after the Ajax boss declared he is ready for the next step.
He said: “I think I’m ready for it [to move to a top foreign club].
“I would be happy to take up that challenge.
“But I’m not chasing it. If it turns out that that step will never come, I will not say that my coaching career has failed.
“But I think I have sufficient competences to take on that challenge.”
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HAA LA LAND
Jamie Carragher has revealed that Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland will join him on Sky Sports for Monday Night Football.
The Man Utd-linked ace will provide analysis on Arsenal’s away clash against Everton at Goodison Park as both teams look to get back to winning ways.
Carragher tweeted: “Delighted this man Erling Haaland will make his debut on #MNF tonight!”
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RALF’S MAN
Meet Chris Armas, Man Utd’s new coach who’s never worked in Europe.
He also had a horror reign at Toronto.
But Armas is being backed by Ralf Rangnick for the Red Devils.
READ MORE ABOUT UNITED’S LATEST SIGNING
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BALLON COR
Lionel Messi is already joint-favourite to retain his Ballon d’Or trophy next year.
BetVictor has the PSG star at 5/1 for the 2022 title alongside Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski.
Liverpool’s Mo Salah and Man Utd’s Cristiano Ronaldo are both 6/1.
2022 Ballon d’Or odds:
- Robert Lewandowski 5/1
- Lionel Messi 5/1
- Mohamed Salah 6/1
- Cristiano Ronaldo 6/1
- Kylian Mbappe 8/1
- Erling Haaland 10/1
- Kevin De Bruyne 10/1
*Odds according to BetVictor and correct at time of writing
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RON CAN RUN
Ralf Rangnick hailed Cristiano Ronaldo’s off the ball work during Manchester United’s win over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.
He said: “We wanted to play with two strikers, especially in the central position.”
By the way, Cristiano Ronaldo’s work off the ball, chapeau.”
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RIGHT SAID FRED
Man Utd boss Ralf Rangnick poked fun at Fred’s one-footedness after the Brazilian’s winner against Crystal Palace.
Rangnick said: “I had to ask my assistant coach if that was Fred’s right foot.
“I thought he could only shoot with his left. I’m happy for him, it was a beautiful goal with his weak right foot.”
Fred himself admitted: “I’m left-footed but sometimes I shoot with the right.
“It was a good ball from Mason and I just looked for goal. The most important thing was to get the win and a clean sheet in the first game of a new coach.”
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NEXT UP
Let’s take a look at United’s next five matches…
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RANGNICK ON MAN UTD PRESSING
He said: “I’m more than happy. First of all, most importantly, we won the game. Second, we had a clean sheet, third I think we no doubt deserved to win, because we had control of the game.
“I suppose it [United’s possession] was more than 60 per cent, and we didn’t give them that many chances to score.
“To be honest I was positively surprised by the performance of the players. I didn’t expect us to play at that level after only one-and-a-half training days together with them.
“The first half-hour was amazing, it was high intensity, high speed, high tempo – the only thing that was missing was scoring one or two goals”.
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CLEANING UP
Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick admits it’s important to fix the team’s poor clean sheet record.
Rangnick told United’s official website: “These kinds of players are always able to score goals.
“Today [against Crystal Palace] we had to have some patience but we are able to score goals so as long as we keep clean sheets – it was only the third clean sheet this season – as you say, we are always able to win.”
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ULTI-MANE-UM
Barcelona have issued an ultimatum to Manchester United transfer target Ousmane Dembele, giving him until December 31 to decide on his future.
Dembele’s contract with Barca expires in June and the club needs to know whether he will commit to a new deal by New Year’s Eve.
According to Sport, negotiations between the Blaugrana and the winger have hit a snag over the player’s financial demands, while other clubs are keeping tabs on him.
The France international’s agent has already met with Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Tottenham and Juventus to discuss their offer, while Liverpool also appear to be interested.
The 24-year-old claims he wants to stay put at Barcelona but his representative hint this will only happen for the right price.
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RED RECRUIT
Ralf Rangnick has reportedly made his first appointment at Manchester United by recruiting Chris Armas.
The German took charge of the Red Devils last week on an interim basis until the end of the season before beginning a role as a consultant.
Michael Carrick, who assisted the sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, was placed as caretaker but left the club last week after the win over Arsenal.
That left Rangnick, who led United to a victory over Crystal Palace in his first game in charge yesterday, needing to add to his staff, with the 63-year-old contacting New York Red Bulls coach Gerhard Struber regarding a role at Old Trafford.
Now ESPN’s Taylor Twellman has claimed that American Armas, 49, is joining United’s coaching team, and he could potentially be No.2.
He has been granted a work permit and will travel to England in the next few days to take up the position.
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DO THE HARG YARDS
Owen Hargreaves believes Ralf Rangnick has improved Manchester United already when it comes to their press and possession.
Hargreaves said: “I thought it was really good. We said maybe squeeze the pitch, make it smaller, play to [Cristiano] Ronaldo’s strengths, and they’ve done that.
“The centre-backs have been in the middle of the pitch. Palace haven’t had much of the ball. The only issue for United is they’ve dominated but they don’t have anything to show for it.
“Considering he’s only been there for one training session, United look a lot different in terms of the press and in possession.”
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VAN DE START
Manchester United have already qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League, which allows Ralf Rangnick to heavily rotate his team.
First-team stars could be handed a rest to allow bench and fringe players to get some minutes under their belt.
Just TWO who started in the 1-0 Premier League win over Crystal Palace could keep their place.
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BETTING GUIDE
Check out the latest odds for the winner of this season’s Champions League.
Champions League winner odds (Betfair)
- Man City 3/1
- Bayern Munich 7/2
- Liverpool 11/2
- Chelsea 6/1
- PSG 6/1
- Man Utd 14/1
- Real Madrid 16/1
- Ajax 16/1
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PRESSING AHEAD
Ralf Rangnick is already having an influence on Manchester United after just days in the job as they recorded a post-Sir Alex Ferguson possession record yesterday in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Rangnick is renowned as the pioneer of the Gegenpress and his new side is already implementing his style.
And his tactical plan led to them regaining possession 12 times in the final third – the most they have achieved since Fergie left in 2013.
United also had 61 per cent of the possession during the Premier League clash, a huge increase from recent times.
Under Michael Carrick, who left the club following Thursday’s 3-2 win over Arsenal, they had 45 per cent against Villarreal, 34 per cent at Chelsea and 45 per cent versus the Gunners.
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RALF PATCH
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick can guide Manchester United to the top four, according to Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson.
Lawrenson believes Rangnick’s experience will help United finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League.
He told LFC TV: “To be honest with you, and as loathe as I am to say it, I think Manchester United will finish fourth.
“I think this new guy coming in, I think he knows what he’s doing”
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RED RAID
Manchester United are keeping tabs on Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong ahead of the January transfer window.
According to El Nacional, United are very keen on De Jong but are not willing to offer more than £47million.
That is £18m less than what Barca paid Ajax for the midfielder’s signature in 2019.
However, the report adds the Blaugrana would not even consider accepting an offer lower than £60m.
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BATTLE SCARS
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire was left a bloody mess after clashing with Crystal Palace forward Odsonne Edouard.
The 28-year-old centre-back went up for a header but collided with Edouard and went down in a heap on the floor towards the end of the match.
Medics rushed to the England international’s aid and swiftly dealt with what looked like a nasty gash above his eye.
He was pictured with blood pouring from the deep cut on his eyebrow as the medical team got to work.
Maguire eventually got back to his feet but not before he had a black bandage tapped around his head.
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FRED’S SON CELEBRATES GOAL
Manchester United midfielder Fred scored in front of his son Benjamin at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
The Red Devils beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to kick Ralf Rangnick’s spell off with a victory.
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‘MORTAL SIN’
Ajax boss Erik ten Hag has called Donny van de Beek’s lack of progress at Manchester United a ‘mortal sin’ – despite being linked with the Red Devils job.
Ten Hag has revealed he is still in touch with his ex-ace to offer support but admitted he finds it ‘hard’ to understand how he has not been involved more.
He told de Volkskrant: “Donny, I find that hard. [It’s a] mortal sin.
“If you haven’t had a chance yet, then development will also stall. Every now and then you encourage them.”
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‘CHAPEAU RONALDO’
Ralf Rangnick has hailed Cristiano Ronaldo’s off the ball work during Manchester United’s win over Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: “I am very happy with the way the team performed, especially the first half hour, with the pressing, it was exceptional. The only thing missing was the 1-0 or 2-0.
“The way we defended, we had control of the whole game, the clean sheet was the most important part. These are the things we must improve. We need to keep clean sheets. With just the one training session, I was really impressed. We did much better than expected.
“We always tried to be on the front foot. We were never not apart from maybe the last five minutes. At all other times we were trying to keep them away from our goal.
“We wanted to play with two strikers, especially in the central position. By the way, Cristiano Ronaldo’s work off the ball, chapeau.”
