'It's not easy!' Nemanja Matic makes new manager excuse for Man Utd's struggles

Nemanja Matic believes Manchester United’s failures this season have not been helped by all the uncertainty around the manager’s position at Old Trafford.

Current boss Ralf Rangnick was drafted in as interim head coach back in November after Ole Gunnar-Solskjaer was sacked following a dire run of results.

However, under Rangnick, United’s fortunes haven’t improved much, with the side languishing in fifth place and desperately trying to salvage a top-four finish.

The Red Devils hope to have a new man in charge by the summer but midfielder Matic thinks not having somebody permanent at the helm this season has had a significant impact on their form.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: ‘There is a pressure on us but we have to know how to deal with that and to perform in the best way.

‘For players sometimes, if you know the manager is not here next season, it is not easy when you change manager. Every new manager needs some time to work on it and we are trying to do what he wants from us. In some games we did that well, in some games not great.

‘When the players think the manager is only here for a few months it is not easy for him. But we are all professionals we need to follow his ideas because it is good for him, good for us and good for a club.

‘We have to be honest and say that every player has to do more. We have to better as a team, there is no more excuse and the last nine games we have to win seven or eight.’

United currently sit four points behind fourth placed Arsenal who have a game in hand on the Manchester giants.

At the start of the season, the summer signings of Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo were supposed to herald a new era at Old Trafford. But a resurgence hasn’t materialised.

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