Manchester United news: 'Fourth place is the best we can do,' admits Ralf Rangnick
Ralf Rangnick: Fourth place best Man Utd can do
Man Utd boss Ralf Rangnick says the club must be realistic about where they are right now.
Manchester United can have no loftier ambitions than finishing fourth in the Premier League right now, Ralf Rangnick has admitted.
Hopes were high at Old Trafford that a summer spending spree that saw Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane arrive could see the Red Devils become title challengers.
However, as they prepare to play Brighton on Tuesday night, Man Utd currently with in fifth place a massive 23 points behind leaders Manchester City.
"Right now this is exactly what Manchester United needs to want, to finish fourth in the league," Rangnick admitted.
"I think this is the highest possible achievement that we can get with no other things.
"Yes, the Champions League, hopefully to proceed into the next round in the Champions League, which is also not an easy one. But in the league currently it's number four, that's our ambition."
Man Utd's season has stalled of late largely due to being unable to hold onto a lead.
They have scored first in each of their last three matches but have won none of them, and Rangnick admits that is something they need to address and quickly.
With that in mind, he plans on using the club's sports psychologist Sascha Lense to help.
"The situation is pretty clear. In 11 out of 13 games since I arrived we scored the first goal and we were 1-0 up - but we didn't win all of them," Rangnick said.
"Especially in the last three games it was very sad that we didn't win those games. This cost us four points in the league and the next round in the cup.
"The players understand and feel how and why we are doing a good job and now it's about doing that sustainably for an entire game and this is exactly what our next step is that we have to take.
"We didn't concede a single goal the last weeks in the first half, but the next step is to raise our level and to stay focused physically, mentally, tactically, we just gave away those goals too easily.
"Look at all those goals that we conceded in the second half. It was just too easy and it was also our own mistakes that we made to allow the other teams to score."
Rangnick brought in Lense as part of his backroom staff when he was placed in interim charge following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - and he is already utilising the expertise of the former Germany youth international.
"Obviously when you're 1-0 up and in three consecutive games concede an equaliser… this also affects the mind of the players," he said.
"That it affects also the mindset of players is obvious, they are still human beings. They are not robots. This is what I mean by taking the next step."
