Manchester United have appointed Ralf Rangnick as manager until the end of the season following the sacking of club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Ralf Rangnick has been announced as Manchester United’s new interim manager. He will be in charge until the end of the current season, and he will then take up a consultancy role for two years following that.
Ralf Rangnick’s appointment has come with much optimism and is a real statement of intent from Manchester United. Rangnick may not have the CV of the other elite managers of the Premier League, but his influence is unrivalled. He was pivotal in the development of 'Gegenpressing', which is where a team, upon losing possession, would immediately attempt to win the ball back in an attempt to pressure the opposition, as well as trying to regain the ball and quickly counter attack. This style of play is seen in most of elite football, and his influence on German coaches such as Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel has given him the moniker of the ‘godfather’ of German football.
Rangnick also has a good track record on rebuilding clubs and making teams over-perform. RB Leipzig is arguably his biggest achievement, with the club going from the fifth tier of German football to the Champions League during his time as mainly director of football, but also as a manager on two brief occasions. Rangnick, therefore, certainly has the reputation and pedigree that matches the elite managers in the league.
Rangnick will no doubt bring a lot to the club in terms of developing an identity and in his coaching ability. His ideology on football is one that is arguably the boldest and exciting ever seen on the Old Trafford touchline. Speaking on the Coaches’ Voice YouTube channel in 2021, he described his football as “heavy metal, rock and roll, its not a slow waltz”.
He added: “We hate square passes, back passes, just having the ball ourselves doesn’t make sense."
Rangnick also described his approach to football management: “The job of a football manager is to transform this idea of football into the heads, hearts, brains, veins of your players."
Manchester United fans therefore should expect to see some highly progressive football, with Rangnick’s style of football being comparable to Klopp’s Dortmund or Liverpool.
This is with good reason, as following a 4-1 demolition by Rangnick’s Hoffenheim of Klopp’s Mainz, Klopp sought out to develop his style of play to one similar to Rangnick, with Klopp going on to achieve incredible success and the Liverpool boss is now seen as a master of Gegenpressing.
Rangnick’s United will no doubt be playing high up, press heavily and coherently, and will play risky balls and a direct style, something which appears the complete opposite to the tactics deployed post-Sir Alex Ferguson.
Rangnick’s biggest contribution will be his ability to form a cohesive unit, something which has plagued United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Norwegian's team felt more like of a collection of individuals at times under his tenure rather than a unified team playing with one purpose.
This won’t be the easiest of tasks, and Rangnick’s biggest challenge will be trying to work with Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood, and try to turn them into far less individualistic players.
Ronaldo will be a big challenge in of itself, with Rangnick having to make a decision between building
a team around him to allow the Portuguese superstar to thrive whilst maintaining his individualism, or opting for Edison Cavani or Greenwood and dropping Ronaldo in the process.
Rangnick will also have a chance to build a long-term identity, like he has at RB Leipzig. He will have a consultancy role after his interim period is over at the end of this season, and in this role, he will be able to advise the club on any problem areas, such as player recruitment and playing style, and he may even be able to influence the manager who will take over after his short tenure.
The club have been crying out for a figure who has a vast amount of experience and knowledge on footballing decisions, with the post-Sir Alex club structure being far too backwards and counter-productive to the club’s aims. And with Rangnick, they have someone who can turn the club into an exciting attacking outfit, and hopefully for many United fans, help build the club into a title winning outfit once again.