Home » Fans divided over Ralf Rangnick’s war of words with Anthony Martial

Fans divided over Ralf Rangnick’s war of words with Anthony Martial

by Red Billy

Manchester United fans have been reacting to the war of words that has broken out between manager Ralf Rangnick and forward Anthony Martial.

Martial has been absent from the matchday squad for some time and his agent announced in early December that he wanted to leave the club in January to get more game time.

With no deal looking close, the situation would appear to have escalated and after yesterday’s 2-2 draw at Aston Villa, Rangnick claimed that Martial had refused to join the matchday squad.

The comments sparked a response on Instagram from the Frenchman late last night, who said ‘I will never refuse to play a match for Man United.

‘I’ve been here for seven years and I never disrespected and will never disrespect the club and the fans.’

Rangnick’s public discussion of private matters with players is becoming more regular. At the pre-match press conference he also criticised Marcus Rashford, saying that the player had ‘room for improvement’.

Fans have been divided in their response to the Martial spat. Some believe Rangnick and think he is right to have named and shamed the 26-year-old, while others believe Martial or think that it should have been handled behind closed doors.

Some of those in support of the manager said:

‘So Ole lied about Martial being hurt and now RR lied about Martial refusing to travel? I think I’ll stick on the side of Ole and RR until evidence is presented.’

‘Can’t see Ralf lying, I think Martial jus trying to duck the heat.’

‘[Would] the ‘manager’ of United speak out in front of the press, on camera, and blatantly lie about a player who clearly doesn’t want to be on the bench and is looking for a move? Not buying it, Martial covering his tracks here.’

‘Martial was exposed heavily by Rangnick and now he’s trying to reduce the damage. No way Rangnick would make a statement like that publicly if it wasn’t true.’

‘It’s hard to believe a footballer nowadays … It’s all PR. Martial never looks like he’s 100% committed. I may be wrong, but him and Pogba seem more like mercenaries to me.’

‘Hhhm who should I believe? [A] guy who’s walked around the pitch for two years and made it clear he wants to leave? Or the new manager trying to restore some order to this out-of-hand team?’

‘Call them out one by one, this tendency of keeping them happy and defending them should stop..at the end of the day they are all average.’

Some of those who disagreed with the manager’s comments said:

‘You want a player to keep quiet and watch his manager tell the media that he didn’t want to be in the match day squad? Come on, Martial has been at the club for seven years. The manager got it wrong.’

‘Why is Rangnick sabotaging our boy like this? It’s toxic man, not a good look for the player and the club.’

‘Why does he need to explain himself? He wants to leave due to … not being played so why would he refuse to play? It doesn’t make sense.’

‘Ralf cannot even steady the ship he was as appointed for…man doesn’t want to give other players chances.’

‘German nerd is gonna have to hold it.’

‘We’re actually going to have to sack an interim manager…’

Whatever the case, the war of words has certainly upped the ante as far as a January departure for the Frenchman is concerned. Or, as one fan put it, ‘What Marital has done is smart. It’s already well known that he wants to leave, but it’s seemed unlikely that it would happen.

‘Martial knows full well that creating tension like this would increase the chances of him leaving in January.’

Latest Top Stories...