Manchester United break is perfect for what Ralf Rangnick needs

Usually, 18 days without action would be a cause for much frustration but this time it seems like everyone concerned with Manchester United could use a bit of a break.

A brief respite against an equally delinquent Tottenham aside, United have endured another turgid few weeks. A goalless draw with relegation strugglers Watford was followed by yet another humbling at the hands of neighbours Manchester City before United were eliminated from the Champions League on Tuesday in a rather meek and embarrassing fashion.

Jadon Sancho, Fred, Raphael Varane and David de Gea aside, practically every United player is in a dire run of form, negativity is once again seeping through the cracks and there's a dark, dark cloud looming over Old Trafford. Thankfully, it'll be nearly three weeks until the cloud gets a chance to grow any more ominous.

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United were supposed to play fierce rivals Liverpool at the weekend but have been given a glorious reprieve from yet another potential beating, due to the Merseyside outfit being in FA Cup quarter-final action instead. After that, the international break is back, which will bring club football to a halt for two weeks.

It's the second international break of the year after a bonus round was inserted in January during what was supposed to be the Premier League winter break. Most of United's squad did manage to enjoy some time off though some were away representing their countries as South American and Asian nations were given time to catch up with World Cup qualifying fixtures that had been disrupted by the pandemic.

The previous break couldn't have come at a much worse time for United. They were in the midst of