MIDDLESBROUGH can spring an FA Cup shock and beat Manchester United as they have a better defence, says Neil Warnock.
The Red Devils were drawn at home to the veteran manager’s former club in the fourth round after scraping past Aston Villa on Monday.
Warnock left Boro in November after being replaced by Chris Wilder in the Riverside dug-out.
But he believes the Championship side have a good chance of producing an upset against the 12-time FA Cup winners at Old Trafford next month as his old club have better defenders.
Warnock told talkSPORT Breakfast: “They’ve got great individuals but not a team and I don’t see that coming.
“They’ve got my old team Middlesbrough in the next round of the FA Cup and I wouldn’t swap any of their defenders for the back three at Middlesbrough – Dael Fry, Anfernee Dijksteele and Paddy McNair.
“I think they’re better than Man United‘s defence.”
United captain Harry Maguire has come in for heavy criticism this term after a number of below-par displays.
@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Regular.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:400;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Medium.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:500;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:400;font-stretch:semi-condensed;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-Bold.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:700;font-stretch:normal;font-display:swap;}@font-face{font-family:’The Sun’;src:url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.woff’) format(‘woff’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.ttf’) format(‘truetype’),url(‘/assets/fonts/the-sun/TheSun-HeavyNarrow.svg#’) format(‘svg’);font-style:normal;font-weight:700;font-stretch:condensed;font-display:swap;}.css-qu9fel{border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}.css-b9nmbi{margin-bottom:16px;border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}
Most read in Football
.css-1gojmfd{margin-bottom:16px;}
BETTING SPECIAL – GET £40 IN FREE BETS ON THE AFCON
But Warnock has urged Ralf Rangnick to do more to try and get the skipper back in form.
Warnock added: “The team at the moment, it looks like they all look after themselves. Harry Maguire’s the captain but I think he needs help at times. I think they’ve got a major problem at the moment.
“For me it’s more of an arm round in an office job. It’s not his physical aspect, it’s just like everything in life is against him at the minute.
“If you’re a manager you should have your finger on the pulse. You can tell he’s not happy, he’s not doing this and that, you’ve got to get him to one side and find out.”
⚽ Read our Manchester United live blog for the latest news and transfer gossip from Old Trafford
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk