Ralf Rangnick is ready to turn to youth after revealing six first-team players have been ruled out of Thursday's Premier League meeting with Chelsea.
United's 3-1 defeat to Arsenal last week – a fourth straight away loss – effectively ended their chances of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the Champions League.
The Red Devils have four games remaining of another trophyless campaign before interim manager Rangnick is replaced by Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag.
Rangnick is expected to use his final month in charge to integrate some younger players into the squad, with Hannibal Mejbri and Shola Shoretire taking part in training this week.
And Rangnick's hand has been somewhat forced ahead of facing Chelsea as Harry Maguire and Jadon Sancho have been ruled out with a knee injury and illness respectively.
Fred, Edinson Cavani, Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw also remain out, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka will undergo a late fitness test on Thursday.
Asked if United fans will therefore get an opportunity to see the likes of Mejbri, Shoretire, Alejandro Garnacho and Alvaro Fernandez, Rangnick said: "It's possible.
"But we also have to be fair to those players – it has to be the right moment. They should have a chance to play well and perform well – we can't just push them into a game.
"We will try to play the best possible team of those players that are available.
"Right now, it seems we have 14 in our professional team without the youngsters that are available and probably three or four of those young players will be part of the squad."
United have used only four players aged 21 or under in the Premier League this season, while the average age of their starting line-up is 27 years and 200 days.
Only seven sides, opponents Chelsea among them, have named an older average XI in the English top flight this campaign.
While United fans are eager to see some more youth in the side, Rangnick's main focus is on finishing as high as possible before bowing out.
"We have four more games to play," he said at Wednesday's pre-match news conference.
"The next two games are at home at Old Trafford and we will try to get as many points and win as many games as we possibly can.
"In order to do that we need to play on the best level we possibly can. Chelsea is a good team but we know that if we play well it's possible to win the game tomorrow.
"I don't think it makes sense now to still speak and speculate about the Champions League places, we need to be realistic.
"Even if we win all four games it's not in our hands. What is in our hands is how we play and our level of performance. It's important to finish on the best possible note."
United have lost three of their last four league games – more than they had in their previous 18 – and are six points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal having played a game more.
But Rangnick has warned his players they cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves as they attempt to salvage some pride in their remaining matches.
"If results are not going well, the morale, energy in the locker room isn't as good as it would be, but still we have to perform, this is what we're getting paid for," Rangnick said.
"It's important for the players, knowing the new manager, to show we are able to beat a team like Chelsea.
"This is our job, this is what everyone has to do and this is what we have been working for."
As focus slowly shifts towards the next transfer window, Rangnick suggested players will still want to join United even if they are not competing in the Champions League.
"It would be better if we played Champions League next season but this also affects other clubs; it's not only a problem Manchester United has," he said.
"The renewal of the contract of Bruno [Fernandes] shows this is an attractive club. With a new manager, new approach, this is still a massively interesting club.
"I look forward to helping Erik and everyone at the club to get the best and change the whole approach next season so Manchester United can be a top club."
United are unbeaten in their last eight home league games against Chelsea (W3 D5), keeping five clean sheets in that run since a 1-0 loss in May 2013.
FA Cup replays scrapped – the key questions answered
FA Cup replays have been abolished as part of a new agreement between the Football Association and the Premier League on the competition’s format and funding.
Here the PA news agency looks at the issue in closer detail.
What has happened?The FA has agreed to scrap all replays from the first round proper onwards. Replays had already been phased out from the fifth-round stage but will now be ditched completely. The format change will see all fifth-round ties, which have been played in midweek for the last five seasons, revert to weekends while ties in the fourth round, fifth round and quarter-finals will be played exclusively of Premier League ties.
The FA Cup final will be played on the penultimate weekend of Premier League games, but no top-flight matches will be played on the Saturday of that weekend.
The Premier League will provide up to an extra £33million per season to support the pyramid as a result of the agreement, the FA said.
Why has this happened?The primary driver has been the pressure placed on the domestic calendar by the expansion of UEFA’s club competitions from next season. The new format for the Champions League, for example, features an extra 64 matches next season compared to the current campaign, and spills into January for the first time, a month which had previously been the reserve of domestic football.
But why scrap replays in the first and second rounds, where Premier League teams aren’t involved?FA sources say that decision has been taken for the sake of consistency in the competition, and to help EFL clubs and those lower down the pyramid resolve their own congestion issues. It is understood the EFL Trophy is another candidate for expansion as Premier League clubs look for further playing opportunities for their young stars, although with talks on a new financial settlement between the Premier League and the EFL having stalled, it is not clear when – or even if – that change will come to pass.
FA sources have also challenged the idea that replays are major revenue earners for lower-league clubs. Of the 19 third and fourth-round replays in the last 10 years where an EFL side was away, 12 had an attendance of over 25,000. Only a very small percentage of first and second-round replays over the same period achieved attendances of over 7,000.
What else has happened?The mid-season break has been scrapped to allow a mid-August start date for the new Premier League season, which should enable top-flight clubs to ensure all players can get a consecutive three-week break in the summer. The new schedule also allows for the late May Bank Holiday weekend to be ringfenced for the EFL play-offs.
What has the reaction been?
The Football Supporters’ Association has not yet issued any comment on the move, but its survey from last year showed continued strong support for replays, with 69.5 per cent of respondents believing they are an important part of the FA Cup.
Nicola Palios, the vice-chair of League Two side Tranmere, said the FA and the Premier League had reached an agreement “to suit themselves at the expense of the rest of the football pyramid”, and said the new independent regulator would need the power to stop the Premier League “strangling” the lower leagues.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said the changes would strengthen the FA Cup while his Premier League counterpart Richard Masters said the changes had been agreed “without compromising the excitement of knockout football”.
The Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Maheta Molango said the move showed how decisions taken at FIFA and UEFA level had “a knock-on impact which affects clubs, and players, throughout the pyramid”.
“What football needs is a collective approach to a properly thought-out global fixture calendar – not a fight for available dates,” Molango said.
Cole Palmer an ‘absolute genius’ who could help England win Euro 2024 – Joe Cole
Cole Palmer is an “absolute genius” who could help England win Euro 2024, according to former international Joe Cole.
Palmer has lit up the Premier League following his move to Chelsea from Manchester City, scoring 20 goals and notching nine assists in a brilliant breakout season.
The 21-year-old is a contender to win the Golden Boot ahead of former City team-mate Erling Haaland and looks set to be on the plane as Gareth Southgate’s men try to earn Euros glory this summer.
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Palmer, who has won two caps, was not involved in last month’s friendlies against Brazil and Belgium due to injury, but Cole believes he can be the difference-maker in Germany.
“He has been sensational and there is an argument he could be Player of the Year – that’s how good he has been,” Cole told the PA news agency.
“You have to bring a player of that quality.
“The technicians are what are going to win us the tournament. They all have to go and they all have to have time on the pitch.
“Palmer is a top player. I have watched him play and he is a top, top player.
“Cole Palmer is an absolute genius.”
Cole is also impressed by Palmer’s mentality, highlighted by his refusal to hand a penalty over to squabbling team-mates Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke, despite already scoring a hat-trick in the 6-0 win over Everton.
Palmer kept his cool and scored a fourth to take his tally to 20 for the season.
Cole added: “It’s fantastic he has got that mindset – he is not a wallflower.
“He is a proper player, he will go anywhere on the pitch and take the ball, he backs himself.
“Sometimes people can look at that with disdain, saying it’s arrogance. It’s not arrogance. We need it and we need more players like that.”
Palmer is a special inclusion in Topps’ UEFA EURO 2024 sticker collection, where he is featured in the ‘Artist of the Game’ category.
Cole said of collecting stickers: “It is a rite of passage. Everyone who loves football gets to that stage where you are collecting.
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“It’s such a great thing to do, the trading, the anticipation of who you are going to get, who you need.
“It is just a great social thing for kids to do. It becomes nostalgic, it’s something that our parents did and our kids do, it’s part of our culture.”
:: Joe Cole was speaking to mark the launch of Topps’ official UEFA EURO 2024™ sticker collection, which is available to buy now.
Izzy Christiansen: English club taking European crown would be ‘massive’ for WSL
Former England midfielder Izzy Christiansen believes an English team winning the Champions League would be “massive” for the Women’s Super League.
No English team has won the competition except Arsenal in 2007, although Chelsea have come within touching distance of the trophy after reaching the 2021 final, but were beaten 4-0 by Barcelona in Gothenburg.
The Blues are hoping to go one step further this season as they continue their campaign with two semi-final ties against Barcelona this month and Christiansen believes an English Champions League winner would be beneficial for the WSL.
“Chelsea have been knocking on the door for the last three or four seasons with the Champions League,” she told the PA news agency.
“Everyone knows you almost have to go through that disappointment of being in a final, getting knocked out in the knockout rounds and the situation now where they’re in the semis, it’s going to be tight, but those previous experiences will definitely help them.
“If there were to be an English team to win a Champions League in the next few years then it would be massive for the league and solidify the work that goes into the league and creating this really high performing, sustainable, competitive model that brings out Champions League winners from our country year on year.”
Christiansen is no stranger to success herself in the Champions League, having been part of Lyon’s side who claimed glory in 2018-19, and she described playing in the competition as a “different” feeling.
“It’s like – as cringe as it sounds – there’s magic in the air, this feeling you feel on a Champions League gameday that’s just different,” Christiansen added.
“I think it’s really important everyone understands how big it is and if we can have teams that continually compete in the latter stages of that competition then it’s massive for the WSL.”
The WSL title race is set for another tight finish with Chelsea and Manchester City sat level on 46 points at the top with four games to go.
City sit second on goal difference and Christiansen believes her former club have been “brilliant” this season.
“It’s really interesting actually because I’ve seen a massive shift this season in the way that they play,” she said.
“Nothing’s really changed massively, they’ve been really consistent with the methodology, the style, the manager, the players.
“The squad hasn’t changed much since last season. Jill Roord coming in – if she was still fit you’d be wondering where City would be right now, probably a similar position – but the job Jess Park’s done since coming in, the job Alex Greenwood’s done, Lauren Hemp’s just been outstanding.
“Without the Champions League there’s been huge focus on the WSL and that consistency. The squad, the culture within the squad, all of these things matter and I think they’ve been brilliant.”
Christiansen was speaking ahead of this year’s London Marathon taking place on Sunday; she is running for the Bobby Moore Fund and admitted is is an “honour” to be doing so for the cause.
“It’s an honour really because Bobby Moore being a former England international, a legend of the game, he died of bowel cancer which is the reason why I’m running the London Marathon is to raise awareness of the early symptoms of bowel cancer,” Christiansen said.
“His wife set up the foundation when he died basically with the aim to raise as much money and awareness towards research, which I believe has been extremely successful.
“It was really nice the other day I had an email from Stephanie Moore, his wife, wishing me good luck and inviting me to a post-run drinks reception, which I’m sure will be very nice come around three o’clock on Sunday afternoon.”
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