Man Utd showing signs of 'obvious' improvement, says Rangnick

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick said his side have shown signs of gradual improvement since he took over in December last year, but stressed that they are still far from the finished article.

The Manchester side currently sit in fourth place on 43 points, a point ahead of West Ham United in fifth but with a game in hand.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's away game against Leeds United, Rangnick told reporters: "We have won six (league) games, drawn four and had one defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers. That was one of the worst games we played.

"Since then it's obvious that the team has developed, that we control, not for 90 minutes, but for larger parts of the game. We are dominating and controlling games.

"To me, it's obvious speaking regularly to the players that they feel confident and strong on the pitch as a team. We have shown some improvement in the weeks and months, but there is still space for more in the future."

United's run of six league games without defeat has helped them break into the top four, but Rangnick warned against complacency in their bid to qualify for the Champions League.

"Everybody wants to play in the Champions League every season, but we have to be realistic," Rangnick said. "If you win two points (per game) on average in the whole season you are probably finishing in the top four.

"Right now, we have played 11 games, we have another 13 left and if you ask me now if I would be happy with another two points on average in those 13 games, I would probably say yes."

United face a Leeds team that are winless in their last three games and occupy 15th place in the standings.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)