Erik ten Hag's biggest Man Utd challenge clear after Ralf Rangnick's "aggressive" comment

Manchester United had a brilliant weekend with perfect results going their way in the Premier League – and yet they still came out of it shrouded in negativity.

United’s 3-2 win over Norwich City was made all the more important by Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat by Brighton and Arsenal’s 1-0 loss against Southampton. Those results combined to create a glimmer of hope in the race for a Champions League place next season.

Ralf Rangnick’s side are fifth, three points behind Spurs, with six games left to play, despite all the ups and downs of their rollercoaster season. Qualification for the Champions League should be seen as the bare minimum at United, but considering the Red Devils are about to end a fifth straight season without any silverware, that really ideal isn’t the reality.

The reality, as Rangnick made very clear in his post-match comments, is that United are a dysfunctional side. Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick was all well and good – and earned a hugely valuable three points – but his manager couldn’t help but focus on the negatives.

"If you look at the two goals we conceded, especially the first one, we had the ball on the sideline but we were just not physical enough,” Rangnick explained. “As soon as there is body contact we have to be more physical, more aggressive, but we weren't. It was, for me, too easy, and that's why we are probably the only team in the league who concedes goals like this."

He added: "We should have defended in a smarter way and not allowed them to have two or three transitional moments with playing three versus two or four versus two. To be honest, Norwich could have scored earlier than we did concede the first goal. We could have conceded a goal earlier than that and that's why I'm not