RALF RANGNICK is sticking to his guns over the issue of Anthony Martial refusing to be involved with the Manchester United squad.
That is the reason the Red Devils boss gave for the French star not being involved in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Aston Villa.
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The player subsequently denied he had refused to play stating on his social media site: “I will never refuse to play a match for Man United.
“I’ve been here for seven years and I never disrespected and never will disrespect the club and the fans.”
Martial has not trained for the last two days despite there being no suggestion of an injury.
And ahead of United’s trip to Brentford tomorrow Rangnick said he was not changing his stance from what he said after the Villa game that the forward had said he did not want to be involved.
Rangnick said: “All the things that needed to be said I said after the press conference. I had a conversation with him on Sunday, a personal conversation with him about what happened & how I saw the whole situation. The matter is now resolved.
“He didn’t train yesterday and the day before yesterday, he will probably train today and then I will take the decision if he is nominated or not and then take the decision.”
United are desperately trying to off load Martial but have not had a single bid for him or a suitable loan offer.
The club could not name their full quota of substitutes for the Villa game due to Martial’s absence.
Although it is unlikely that he would have been called upon as the team collapsed from a dominant 2-0 lead to conceded twice late on and only get a share of the points.
Now Rangnick is calling for a full 90 minute performance at Brentford having been impressed by what he saw in the majority of the game at Villa Park, which he though surpassed what they produced in the 1-0 cup win over the same side earlier that week.
He said: “If I compare our two games, the cup and in the league, we did a lot better in the league game at Villa Park.
“The performance in the first 70 mins was really good. I liked our movement, structure, and the way we pressed in the first and second line, and how we defended our own box.
“We need to build on that at Brentford but for 90 mins, or however long the game will take place.”
Rangnick is hopeful of having both Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford available for selection after recent injury issues.
Ronaldo has missed the last two games but will walk straight back into the team if he comes through training without any problems.
Rangnick heaped further praise on the player ahead of the Brentford game after he this week received another Fifa award in recognition of his record 115 goals for his country.
Rangnick said: “What he has done in his career so far, 900 goals in competitive games, nobody has achieved that before in the last 80 or 100 yrs and this shows what kind of a player he is, what an exceptional player he is.”
The United boss insisted, however, that the team cannot just rely on him performing miracles to get them through games.
He said: “Even with an outstanding Cristiano Ronaldo we are talking about a team sport in the most competitive league in the world.
“He cannot do things on his own. He is one important member of this team and this is how we have to develop it.”
United are hopeful of having Paul Pogba available for selection after the up coming international break after he returned to training this week.
Rangnick said: “He’s present, physically, mentally and what I saw is very promising.”
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