Wreck-it Ralf Attitude of Manchester United's players is a huge concern for boss Ralf Rangnick

All the word is that Ralf Rangnick has a guaranteed two further seasons with Manchester United 'upstairs' as a Director of Football.

For me, he is halfway up the stairs already, because the players are not putting in a shift for the German.

But for the brilliance of David de Gea in goal last Tuesday night, Brighton would have beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford.

That sentence alone should cause alarm bells to ring with any fan of the Red Devils.

They are a group of individuals doing their own thing, not a team, and there's no sign of anything changing soon.

At this rate, United are going to struggle to get a top-notch coach to come into that dressing room in the summer to take over from Rangnick.

After all, so much money has been spent over the last ten years, and there's no sign of something good gelling.

A Zinedine Zidane, a Mauricio Pochettino or someone like Erik ten Hag is going to be very wary about what they might be taking on!

In the short term, United have two huge matches in four days.

If, last August, you gave Leeds United supporters a guaranteed win in any game this season, with the fans back in their seats at Elland Road, it would be this afternoon's clash with United.

The two clubs, separated by the Pennine Mountains, are huge rivals. And their fans don't like each other either.

Regular readers of this column will know that I love watching Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds' team.

They play the game in the right way and goals flow in their matches.

Sometimes they take a hammering, because of the open nature of their style of football.

And they have taken two hammerings from United in the last two meetings. They will have revenge on their mind today.

Then on Wednesday, United face the very opposite of Leeds, for Atletico Madrid defend with a fury. Their players simply hate conceding a goal.

With Antoine Griezmann, Joao Felix and Thomas Lemar operating at the other end of the pitch, the Spanish champions will take a lot of beating over two legs.

It will take a performance of skill, class and concentration, that we haven't seen from United for a long time, to come out of this game with even a draw to take back to Old Trafford for the second leg.

I usually leave commenting on matters at Liverpool to my fellow Sunday World columnist John Aldridge.

He's knows what's going on at that club.

But I can't help looking in as an outsider at what must be going on in the corridors of power at Anfield over Mo Salah (inset).

On Wednesday last, Liverpool went to Inter Milan and played the way Italian teams used to play in the European Cup when I was around.

They were defensively strong, gave nothing away and then relied on their star strikers to nick a goal.

Roberto Firmino scored first and then Salah surely put Liverpool into the Champions League quarter-final with a typical 'fox-in-the-box' turn and strike.

Salah turns 30 in June, a birthday when a footballer's monetary value, no matter how great he is, begins to wane.

What do Liverpool do? Do they break their pay structure to keep Salah?

Or do they retain Mo for the last year of his existing contract, knowing that he can walk away for no fee in the summer of 2023.

The other alternative is to get a lot of money from the highest bidder this summer.

I'm sure Jurgen Klopp is telling his club board that Liverpool have a far better chance of winning next season's Premier League or Champions League if the Egyptian is playing for them.

But Liverpool's owners are hard-nosed businessmen, who have made a success out of investing in different sports. They don't sound like the sort of people who will let a prime asset depart for no return.

This is a huge story that will run and run. And the outcome of it all will have a huge impact on the fortunes of the top clubs in England next season. I believe Salah is that good.