MANCHESTER UNITED fans let rip at ‘negative’ new boss Ralf Rangnick after he named Fred and Scott McTominay in his first starting XI.
The German takes charge of his Red Devils at home to Crystal Palace this afternoon.
And he opted to start the defensive midfield duo into the unchanged team from the side that started Thursday’s win over Arsenal.
One of the big casualties, therefore, is Donny van de Beek who must settle for a spot on the bench as Patrick Vieira’s side make the trip north.
David De Gea starts in goal at Old Trafford with a back four of Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, captain Harry Maguire and Alex Telles.
Fred and McTominay are the midfield pairing with Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford either side of Bruno Fernandes.
And Cristiano Ronaldo leads the line for Rangnick with the likes of Mason Greenwood and Juan Mata waiting in the wings ready to make an impact as subs.
Dean Henderson, Eric Bailly, Anthony Elanga, Nemanja Matic, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and forgotten-man Phil Jones make up the rest of the United replacements.
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That meant there was no place in the matchday 20 for Jesse Lingard or birthday-boy Anthony Martial after complaining of problems on Saturday.
Explaining his choices, Rangnick said: “The team won against Arsenal, they did well especially in the second half.
“Since everybody was fully fit and recovered there was no need to change the first XI.
“They need to enjoy it, it’s a question of energy – you could see it against Arsenal, in the end, they wanted to win that game, they invested a lot of energy into it.
“This, together with the massive support of the fans, should also be an advantage for us today.
“Jesse and Anthony indicated after training yesterday they didn’t feel well and had pain – this is why they are not in the squad.”
But United supporters fumed at the interim boss for his midfield selections while McFred was trending within minutes of the lineup being confirmed at 1pm.
One said: “McTominay starts, Van de Beek a sub. I am the first Ralf Rangnick out!”
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Another wrote: “It’s Palace at home, why is Ralf being so negative with McFred? Ridiculous.”
A third added: “We could have a prime Roy Keane and Claude Makelele and McFred would still play!”
And a final user commented: “So Dalot ahead of AWB. No start for VDB. And Elanga ahead of Amad, Lingard and Martial. Interesting.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
