Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has confirmed that there is a striker shortage amongst the squad after the draw vs. Watford in the Premier League.
At the start of the season, many fans would have said that the team had quality options up front, but that standard hasn’t been seen as of yet.
Some players, including Anthony Martial, have left the club to go out on loan and with the poor fitness levels of Edinson Cavani, United have been left with only Cristiano Ronaldo as an out-and-out striker.
Other players such as Bruno Fernandes. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Elanga can fill the position themselves but it’s clear to see the squad is lacking in that game-changing striker.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Rangnick admitted after the fifth draw of the season that there is a shortage of goal scoring options available to him.
Throughout the entirety of February, United drew four of their games, which really highlights the lack of depth since Martial’s departure.
During the final draw of the month, Ronaldo hit the post at the start of the game which seemed to affect the rest of his performance, as he got really agitated and started to look his age.
Cavani has missed a large portion of this season and hasn’t cracked on since his stunning goal vs. Fulham towards the end of last season.
This season, he has only scored twice and it looks increasingly likely that he will be leaving on a free transfer in June.
Rangnick summed up the difficult situation the team find itself in for the rest of the season when he spoke to the media after the result against Watford.
“Edinson, as you said, is not available, We don’t have that many other central strikers,” he said.
“I brought on for the last 15-20 minutes Marcus and Jadon. Almost all the offensive players we have in our squad were on the pitch.”
“As I said, we have to play with those players that we have available. I spoke with him [Ronaldo] yesterday before the game, before the training session he told me that he is fully fit to play and that’s why I decided to have him in the starting XI.”
This could be a hint that the manager feels misled in regard to Ronaldo’s fitness, as he was clearly visibly tired towards the end of the game.
United fans will be wondering why Rangnick loaned out Martial in the first place but the player only scored one goal in three starts before his temporary departure. Mason Greenwood’s absence was also unexpected.
It looks all but confirmed that the squad will undergo a summer rebuild, with that striker role now potentially the top priority.
Rangnick is set to work on the rebuild behind the scenes once a new manager is appointed.