Austria manager Ralf Rangnick has delivered his verdict on the performance of Leeds United’s Max Wober against France.
Wober endured a torrid evening against one of the early tournament favourites in France as Austria were beaten 1-0 courtesy of his first-half goal.
The Austrian media actually described Wober’s display as solid on the night, but in truth, it is hard to agree. The 26-year-old was booked for a rash challenge early on, nearly cost his side another goal with a slack pass, and was also brought off before the hour mark.
Wober certainly did very little to put himself in the shop window amid doubts over his future at Leeds, with Borussia Monchengladbach unable to meet his asking price.
With no loan clause in his deal this time around, the EUROs is effectively his chance to show potential suitors what he can do if he does want another exit.
Rangnick delivers verdict on Wober display for Austria
Austria actually delivered a very good performance against France and on another night they could’ve easily come away with at least a point, it not three.
With that in mind, that only intensifies the scrutiny on Wober as he really should’ve dealt with the cross from Kylian Mbappe better that ended up in the back of his own net.
However, speaking post-match, manager Rangnick perhaps unsurprisingly jumped to the defence of Wober and his involvement on the goal.
The former Manchester United interim boss simply put it down to bad luck, as oppose to a poor piece of positioning.
He said: “Well, it’s obvious that we are disappointed with this result. In 100 minutes we didn’t concede one goal from France, the only goal was a very unfortunate own goal. There’s no reproach at all towards Maxi Wober.
“But what is really important is that he doesn’t reproach himself. Among the team members, among the staff, everybody knows it was a situation that was super unfortunate. He received the ball on his head and couldn’t do anything.”
Roy Keane disagrees with Rangnick comments on Wober
Roy Keane was on punditry duty on ITV Sport for the game between Austria and France, and it would be fair to say he did not take such a forgiving view point.
Instead, Keane believes it was nothing to do with misfortune and all on his inability to get his body position right, simply labelling it as ‘poor defending’.
He said: “I just think he’s sprinting, he needs to slow down a little bit. It’s a decent ball into the box but I think that’s really poor defending.
“Everyone will say it’s a bit unlucky with the pace of the ball, but he’s just got to slow down and get his body position right. When you head it at that angle there is a good chance it goes into your own net. Really poor defending.”