Rangnick explains change in formation

The boss started with a 4-2-2-2 system he has largely preferred so far during his tenure, with Bruno Fernandes on the left, Marcus Rashford on the opposite flank and Mason Greenwood drafted into the side to partner Cristiano Ronaldo up front.

However, with the Reds trailing to Allan Saint-Maximin's opener, Ralf decided to alter the shape after the break.

"Obviously, we were one goal behind, so we needed a goal and we had to take more risks so we brought Edinson Cavani and Jadon Sancho on to play in a 4-1-3-2," said Rangnick.

"In some situations, including the goal we scored, we were good. Edinson has two other good chances to score and with him we had another striker who was dangerous in front of goal.

"It was not a question of formation - it was a question of how aggressive we were. It was a question of energy and, in those areas, we need to get better, including what we were doing when we’re in possession of the ball."

Reiterating his point during the press conference at St James' Park, Ralf added: "In the second half, we switched from a 4-2-2-2 to a 4-1-3-2 and had a couple of opportunities where we played the ball in behind their back four. But we were too open, not good in counter-pressing and we allowed them too many opportunities."

Fred and Greenwood were replaced by Sancho and Cavani at the interval, with Bruno Fernandes dropping deeper but part of a midfield three. Sancho went to the right, as Rashford switched to the left. Cavani, naturally, went up front with Cristiano Ronaldo and claimed the equaliser.

When Nemanja Matic was introduced late on for McTominay, who appeared to pick up a knock, he became the sitting midfielder and was often close to centre-backs Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane as the Reds threw some caution to the wind by pushing full-backs Alex Telles and Diogo Dalot up the pitch.

It will be interesting to see which formation Ralf employs in Thursday night's Old Trafford encounter with Burnley, our final fixture of 2021.