Man Utd stars' Ralf Rangnick 'disaster' fears amid secret Antonio Conte regret

As Manchester United endure a challenging period under Ralf Rangnick, a number of players have reportedly voiced their dissatisfaction with the appointment.

The German took over after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's November dismissal, with a view to steadying the ship before the end of the season before taking on a consultancy role to help the next permanent manager get up and running.

Mauricio Pochettino is one of the leading contenders for that post, with Ajax's Erik ten Hag and Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim among the others linked with the role.

However, it has emerged that some members of the current squad believe United should have moved for Antonio Conte when the Italian was in contention for the job before Rangnick's arrival.

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Despite suffering defeat in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against his former club Chelsea, Conte has enjoyed a strong start as Tottenham manager.

The north London side are unbeaten in the league since his arrival, and The Sun reports that a number of squad members have privately suggested they would have liked the former Inter Milan boss to take over from Solskjaer before the turn of the year.

The report cites a source who has described the situation at United as a "complete shambles", with another fearing "disaster" during Rangnick's short tenure in the dugout.

Conte was linked with United immediately after Solskjaer's dismissal, with Pochettino also among the names mentioned back then, but Rangnick was hired as part of what has been presented as a longer-term strategy.

However, after a limp performance in defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers left the German's side playing catch-up in the top four chase, further issues have come to light.

"We really struggled, we couldn't get hold of the ball and when we didn't have the ball we weren't aggressive enough," defender Luke Shaw said after the 1-0 home loss, reminding some of the comments made by goalkeeper David de Gea after what ended up being Solskjaer's final game.

"You look at the players we have, we have unbelievable quality, but sometimes quality is not enough. We need to bring the intensity and more motivation," Shaw added.

There is not just one issue facing United at the moment, with a combination of factors appearing to make for a worrying atmosphere in the dressing room.

Several players remain frustrated at a lack of minutes, with Rangnick failing to ease fears which date back to the Solskjaer era, while there have also been questions asked of assistant manager Chris Armas.

United have also been dealing with injury issues, with Paul Pogba still yet to feature under Rangnick and a succession of defensive setbacks seeing Phil Jones handed a first United start in nearly two years.

Conte's Spurs sat two points behind United when the Italian replaced Nuno Espirito Santo at the start of November, but are now two ahead of Rangnick's side with a game in hand.

United have played half of their 38 Premier League games, and whether Rangnick's tenure is considered a success or a failure may rest with their ability to regain the necessary ground in the second half of the campaign.