Ralf Rangnick admits he has been ‘surprised’ by quality of the Premier League

Rangnick has been surprised by the quality in the league

Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick has admitted that he has been "surprised" by the quality of the Premier League's bottom-half clubs. Three of the first five games United have played under Rangnick have been against teams in the relegation zone, taking just five points from a possible nine, whilst struggling to impress in any of those displays. Ahead of their visit to Aston Villa on Saturday night, Rangnick has admitted the quality of England's top-flight had taken him by surprise, claiming he was expecting a similar experience to one in Germany, where Bayern Munich have dominated in recent years. "What has surprised me a little is that the teams in the lower ranks of the league are very physical, tactically astute and play in a very organised way," he told the Daily Mail.

"In this league even against the bottom teams it is never easy, the top teams can lose those games.

"In Germany, if Bayern play the bottom teams in 10 games they will ordinarily win eight or nine."

The German also acknowledged that his United side have yet to fulfil their potential in his games in charge so far, but insists that it's a work in progress and that the best is yet to come. He said: "I was fully aware this cannot happen overnight. It's a work in progress but we have shown we have conceded fewer goals than a couple of weeks ago.

"It's also about controlling the game and obviously we have taken a few steps but things can still get better and we have to find the best possible formation.

"We need to make sure we have the best, freshest players on the pitch and this means we can change formations during the game or from one game to another.

"It's still a work in progress and there are still quite a few things to improve."

Related links:

• Ralf Rangnick ‘doesn’t know’ why Marcus Rashford is struggling
• Ralf Rangnick issues warning Man United players: adapt or leave
• Seventeen Man Utd players want a move away as Ralf Rangnick faces player exodus