"It’s Manchester United, that should not be happening" - Peter Crouch slams players for publicly speaking out against manager Ralf Rangnick

Former Premier League footballer Peter Crouch has criticized Manchester United's players for publicly calling out interim boss Ralf Rangnick on social media. Both Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard have recently refuted Rangnick's comments about them via social media in the last two months.

Crouch, who was on punditry duty for BT Sport for the Red Devils' 1-1 draw against Burnley in the Premier League last night, said (as quoted by Metro):

"When things go wrong there are arms thrown, people tweeting and coming out on Twitter and sort of undermining the manager. It’s Manchester United, that should not be happening!"

Rangnick claimed after their 2-2 draw against Aston Villa in January that Martial did not want to be part of the squad for that game. The Frenchman, however, put up a story on Instagram shortly after, stating that he would never disrespect the Red Devils by refusing to play.

The events repeated themselves in a sense last week. Rangnick stated ahead of the FA Cup defeat against Middlesbrough that Lingard had requested a couple of days off to clear his mind. The reason for the same was the Englishman's inability to secure a move out of Manchester United during the January transfer window.

However, Lingard took to Twitter to state that it was the club that advised him to take time off due to "personal reasons."

The two incidents have hogged all the headlines, mounting pressure on Rangnick. Manchester United's performances on the pitch haven't helped either, with the club picking up just three wins from their last seven matches across competitions. They have also fallen out of the top four spots in the Premier League.

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Peter Crouch believes next Manchester United boss will have a "real job" on his hands

Crouch added that the incidents involving Lingard and Martial are part of a larger slew of things currently wrong with Manchester United. He criticized the general body language of the players, stating:

"My worry has been with the players this season, a lot of people have talked about body language and attitude and these things in the dressing room you don’t like to hear."

The former Liverpool striker added that whoever the Red Devils appoint in the summer could have an unsavory job to do. Crouch said:

"Whoever comes in and takes that role after Rangnick this season has got a real job on his hands to make a harmonious dressing room again."

There is still no clarity on who will be in the managerial hotseat at Old Trafford at the start of next season. Rangnick himself remains an option while the likes of Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag have also been linked with the job.