RALF RANGNICK insists his Manchester United flops did NOT throw in the towel against Manchester City.
But he admits there is a huge gap between his side and the champions after Sunday’s dismal derby defeat.
Ralf Rangnick insists Man Utd did not give up in their 4-1 derby defeat to Man City
Two goals apiece from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez saw City cruise to a 4-1 win at the Etihad.
United – missing Cristiano Ronaldo – put up a decent showing in the first half, scoring a great goal through Jadon Sancho.
But they failed to turn up after the break, letting City run riot in what Roy Keane called a ‘shameful’ performance.
Indeed, the stats show United made just 16 passes in the last 10 minutes of the game – while City recorded 120.
And ex-Red Devil Keane was joined by Gary Neville in condemning the ‘egos’ in Rangnick’s dressing room.
However, the German tactician insists his players did NOT give up at the Etihad.
Rangnick believes United’s flops actually tried hard to keep up with City’s blistering tempo.
But they were only made to look poor due to the gulf in quality between the two sides.
Rangnick explained: “To be honest, I didn’t have the impression that they didn’t try.
“But it’s difficult against a team like Man City, once you are 3-1 down against the best team in possession of the ball on the planet, it’s difficult.
“I cannot blame anyone for not having tried and put effort into that game, but it was difficult after the third goal.
“After 28 games you’re as far apart from each team as the table shows (22 points).
“The second half showed that if they are in their momentum and if they are 3-1 up then it is almost impossible to keep them away from your own goal.
“Look, I am still the manager for another 10 games in the Premier League and for hopefully a few more games in the Champions League and it doesn’t make sense now to start some speculations about how many players would we need, on which positions would we need them.
“This is not my issue. Right now it’s about preparing the team for the Tottenham game and after that for a very important game against Atletico in the Champions League.
“Right now, we have to be – and I am – happy with the players that we have. This is clear. We lost two, if not three strikers since Christmas, everybody knows (that).
“Again, this is a fact and we have to deal with it. I am not complaining about that so for us it’s important to look ahead and make sure we develop the team, we have in the last couple of weeks and months.
“We do not always play against Manchester City. We have other teams and we showed that against West Ham and against other teams, like Leeds, that we are capable to win those games and this is my major job in the next two-and-a-half months.”
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