After ‘humiliating’ a Manchester United player in front of the entire team when they were in the dressing room, Ralf Rangnick caused the player to become extremely angry.
After Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired from his position as manager of Manchester United in December 2021, Rangnick was appointed to the position of interim manager. His tenure at Old Trafford was extremely brief.
Prior to his departure, he was in charge of 31 games, during which he won 11, drew 12, and lost eight. His departure occurred when Erik ten Hag was appointed to the position of overseeing the Austria national team.
The 66-year-old is most remembered for his forthright comments about the current state of the club that he made during interviews and press conferences. However, around the time that his tenure came to an end in April 2022, he also left the United dressing room shaking with shock.
Phil Jones was given a surprise start for the match against Liverpool at Anfield, where United was defeated by Liverpool by a score of 4-0. Jones was only making his second appearance of the season due to absences caused by injuries.
At halftime, Liverpool was leading by a score of 2-0 thanks to goals scored by Luis Diaz and Mo Salah. Jones was substituted out of the game following the break.
Jones stated that it was the only time in his career that he “lost it” and was “absolutely raging” over being substituted for Jadon Sancho. He made this statement while he was being interviewed on the High Performance Podcast.
He made a phone call and said, “Ralf came in at halftime and said, ‘right, I’m going to make a change.'” “Phil is going to come off,” someone said, and I remember that the entire dressing room kind of went (makes a shocked face) as if to ask, “Why is he bringing Phil off here?” I am aware of what everyone was thinking at the time.
“I ripped off my boots, slammed them down on the ground, and yelled out, ‘You’re taking the f***ing p*** out of me.'”
In the dressing room, I have never lost my head, and I have never been so emotionally invested in the experience that I have lost myself in the dressing room. In addition, I believe that was the only instance in my professional life in which I completely lost it. I had a complete and utter rage. raged out. That he made me feel degraded.
“Humiliated me in front of an Anfield crowd first and foremost, fearsome rivals, and the fans and my family and the players.”
Jones’s United career was plagued by injuries, but the most significant problem he faced was the perception that he had performed admirably on Merseyside and was a “easy scapegoat” to be removed from the team.
“We were 2-0 down at halftime, weren’t great, and I don’t think we had a shot on target with the first half,” he continued. “We were not great.” Nothing was flaking off at all. As it turned out, I had performed fairly well in the game.
“Taking into consideration where I had been and what I had been going through in terms of my knee and injuries. When I look back at the game, I will note that I did not give the ball away, and that I maintained my composure even when I was under intense pressure. To say that I was exceptional would be an understatement; however, I did not deserve to be taken off the pitch at halftime.
There were a lot of players on the pitch who were much worse than I was, and I was the one who was easiest to take off. What a convenient scapegoat you are!
In the subsequent match, Jones made his 229th and final appearance for the club, which was a victory over Brentford by a score of 3-0. Through his release from United, he was unable to participate in the entirety of the 2022–2023 season and ultimately decided to retire at the conclusion of the season.
xz
