{"id":4619,"date":"2022-01-03T15:06:04","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T20:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2022\/01\/03\/why-harry-maguire-is-absent-ronaldo-got-captaincy-nod-vs-wolves\/"},"modified":"2022-01-03T15:06:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-03T20:06:04","slug":"why-harry-maguire-is-absent-ronaldo-got-captaincy-nod-vs-wolves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2022\/01\/03\/why-harry-maguire-is-absent-ronaldo-got-captaincy-nod-vs-wolves\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Harry Maguire is absent &amp; Ronaldo got captaincy nod vs Wolves"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Manchester united boss Ralf Rangnick has, on Monday, provided an insight into some of the more eye-catching personnel calls in his latest matchday squad.<\/p>\n<h2>Wolves test<\/h2>\n<p>Rangnick\u2019s men are of course currently locked in action in Manchester.<\/p>\n<p>On the back of a return to winning ways in a 3-1 triumph over Burnley in midweek, the Red Devils have welcomed Bruno Lage\u2019s Wolves to Old Trafford, for a Premier League clash.<\/p>\n<p>The matchup marks a crucial one for United, amid the club\u2019s efforts to secure a top-4 berth.<\/p>\n<p>As things stand, Rangnick and co. sit in 7th spot in the English top-flight, four points adrift of 4th-placed Arsenal, but boasting a pair of games in hand over Mikel Arteta\u2019s men.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1631066\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1631066\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1631066\" src=\"https:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1361958318-1024x646.jpg\" alt=\"Why Harry Maguire is absent &amp; Ronaldo got captaincy nod over de Gea for Man United vs Wolves\" width=\"1024\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1361958318-1024x646.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1361958318-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1361958318-768x485.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1361958318-1536x970.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1361958318-2048x1293.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1361958318-910x575.jpg 910w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1631066\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">MANCHESTER, ENGLAND \u2013 DECEMBER 30: Scott McTominay of Manchester United celebrates with team mate Nemanja Matic after scoring their sides first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Burnley at Old Trafford on December 30, 2021 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Maguire latest<\/h2>\n<p>As such, it goes without saying that a 2nd successive three-point haul is very much on the agenda for Monday evening\u2019s hosts.<\/p>\n<p>In turn, it no doubt came as a blow to all associated with the club when, in the buildup to kick-off at Old Trafford, word was forthcoming that Ralf Rangnick would be unable to call on a key member of his fist-choice backline.<\/p>\n<p>The player in question? Harry Maguire.<\/p>\n<p>Upon Manchester United\u2019s starting XI to face Wolves being unveiled, English international Maguire was nowhere to be seen, with the additional absences of both Victor Lindelof (Covid) and Eric Bailly (AFCON) having culminated in a first start for almost two years for forgotten man Phil Jones:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">? Our first starting XI of the new year\u2026<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MUFC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MUFC<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/MUNWOL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MUNWOL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Manchester United (@ManUtd) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ManUtd\/status\/1478040971854159884?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Speaking ahead of the action getting underway in Manchester, Ralf Rangnick was therefore inevitably drawn on Maguire\u2019s whereabouts.<\/p>\n<p>And the interim Red Devils boss went on to reveal that his captain was ruled out of this evening\u2019s action owing to a chest problem picked up against Burnley last week:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2018Harry had that knock on his chest against Burnley, we thought he would be good but yesterday it was impossible, he had too much pain when he was standing around and sitting, it was clear it was impossible to play.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When pressed on his decision to entrust Cristiano Ronaldo with the captain\u2019s armband, rather than long-time United servant David de Gea, meanwhile, Rangnick added:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2018The question was is it David or him, these are the players who have been playing for the longest period of time and I wanted a field player as captain which is why I chose Cristiano.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Why Phil Jones is starting for Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo captaincy explained <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/mufc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#mufc<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UIQ671OF2g\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/UIQ671OF2g<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Man United News (@ManUtdMEN) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ManUtdMEN\/status\/1478052284793688065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com\/premier-league-live-streaming\/manchester-united-vs-wolverhampton-wanderers-live-streaming-watch-premier-league-online\/\">Manchester United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers live streaming: Watch Premier League online<\/a><\/h4>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com\/news\/the-latest-step-manchester-uniteds-cristiano-ronaldo-is-taking-to-maintain-top-fitness\/\">The latest step Manchester United\u2019s Cristiano Ronaldo is taking to maintain top fitness<\/a><\/h4>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 Manchester united boss Ralf Rangnick has, on Monday, provided an insight into some of the more eye-catching personnel calls in his latest matchday squad. Wolves test Rangnick\u2019s men are of course currently locked in action in Manchester. On the back of a return to winning ways in a 3-1 triumph over Burnley in midweek, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7],"tags":[13,14],"class_list":["post-4619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-football","category-sport","tag-football","tag-soccer","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}