Ralf Ragnick Defends Ronaldo, Says He Is Not To Blame For Man Utd's Lack Of Goal Scoring

Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick defended legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo, Friday, for not scoring enough goals for Old Trafford.

"It's not only about Cristiano Ronaldo," Rangnick told a news conference Friday. "That we should score more goals is obvious I think. We are creating enough chances and enough opportunities in the last couple of games but we just didn't score enough goals."

"But it's not only an issue with Cristiano, it's also an issue with all the other players, especially with the offensive players, that we don't score enough goals. If you bear in mind how many chances we create, it's something that needs to get better in the next couple of weeks. It's about rewarding ourselves with the results we deserve."

On Tuesday, the Portuguese superstar was dropped to the bench for their 1-1 draw with Burnley. Ronaldo has participated in five games without scoring a goal, his longest goal drought since 2010. Man Utd have also been lacking in goals, having scored two or more in a match just three times during Rangnick's 12 games in charge.

The 37-year-old has reportedly told his close friends that he is beginning to "feel his age" following his most prolonged goal scoring drought. Ronaldo has also been open about his unhappy situation due to the current club direction. He previously shared his aim to compete for major awards.

Meanwhile, Rangnick also made time to talk about the Man Utd captain Harry Maguire, who was slammed for his performance at Burnley. It is believed that Maguire was at fault for Burnley's goal in the second half. However Rangnick said he expects Maguire to get back to his best.

"I think he had an outstanding game against West Ham like all the rest of our backline," Rangnick said. "Against Middlesbrough, we didn't give away that many chances and against Burnley we could have defended that transitional moment better than we did. When [Wout] Weghorst got the ball we were two versus one. It was Harry and Scott [McTominay] against him and of course we should not have allowed him to go through that in that moment but it can happen."

According to Rangnick, Maguire was injured for more than two weeks. The interim boss commended the captain for his game with West Ham and undoubtedly believed Maguire could do the same against Southampton.