Manchester United players should be embarrassed into action by Southampton comments

If anything is going to embarrass Manchester United into action this season then maybe it's the manager of a mid-table Premier League team telling the world how easy it is to expose them.

United brought Ralf Rangnick in to change the pattern of the campaign but maybe it will be words of Ralph Hasenhuttl that finally spark a response from a group of players who look to be going through the motions until permanent change arrives in the summer.

Hasenhuttl's comments sparked plenty of debate on social media on Saturday night, only a small section of which was actually devoted to the content. There was just as much discussion as to whether he should have said it and outed another team's weakness in public.

There may come a point when United are thankful for it, however. Ralf might soon be thanking Ralph.

To remind anyone who has been hiding away since 3pm on Saturday - and that must be a temptation for United fans at the moment - this is what Hasenhuttl said: "It is not a big secret that when they lose the ball that the reverse gears are not the best from everybody."

So basically, they don't want to track back when possession is lost. "Not a big secret" suggests this is a conclusion almost every Premier League team is coming to when they face United at the moment.

For players who have won countless medals, are amongst the best paid in the division and are supposed to be playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, that verdict should be a source of shame.

The comments from the Southampton manager led to a debate over the fitness of United's players and whether they have the physical capabilities to carry out Rangnick's instructions, but that is a red herring and even Rangnick admitted that fitness isn't a major