I still had doubt about him even though we just had the best Summer window ever within the last 10 years. But this appointment really shows he has that footballing acumen.
I'm pretty optimistic about the new manager now, whoever he/she might be.
Ralf Rangnick | ex-interim manager | does anyone rate him?
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I'm pretty optimistic about the new manager now, whoever he/she might be.
I wanted Ole to stay til after losing the Arsenal game so I could post this one: Junk. Go, Arsenal Loser.
This is horrible. United just went backwards. I don't know why people are excited but his style of football went extinct in somewhere between 2000-2006
I have some curiosity for the next months to see how Ronaldo will adapt to the pressing style he demands.
On the other side I can see Fernandes adapting very well to that style.
Or let’s put it that way, if it’s true he will remain as someone with power regarding football transfers and regarding the type of coach and football style to be implemented.
I suspect the recruitment for the future will be different and at the end of this season the older players will have to work a lot to prove they’re able to stay.
On the other side I can see Fernandes adapting very well to that style.
Or let’s put it that way, if it’s true he will remain as someone with power regarding football transfers and regarding the type of coach and football style to be implemented.
I suspect the recruitment for the future will be different and at the end of this season the older players will have to work a lot to prove they’re able to stay.
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Ya the LVG comparison occurred to me with all the talk about Ralf being a professor-like manager. To be fair to LVG, he had some good tactical displays with United but ultimately could not lead the team to success apart from the FA cup win (not to mention the football was terrible to watch).
To me the two biggest differences between Ralf and LVG are that 1) Ralf has been far better in both scouting and the transfer market as evidenced with his guidance of the Red Bull system and 2) Ralf's coaching tree is more concrete in that he directly trained a number of the managers who are now having success on their own whereas LVG really only directly trained one manager who could be considered top-level (Jose). Tellingly, Jose played a starkly different style of football to LVG whereas the managers who have been influenced by Ralf continue to use a lot of the same tactics that Ralf brought into the Bundesliga. The last point in particular is important as it suggests that Ralf's tactics are the modern tactics United needs to adopt to take the next step. In contrast, LVG seemed outdated in his approach with the likes of Pep and Klopp entering the league around the same time.
Recency effect in play here -- you have to remember the state the club was in during the Jose years and the LVG years -- then what Ole did to clean up. Otherwise, it's just a knee jerk reaction/statement.
According to some pundits, RR is a pragmatic philosopher of football. He doesn't need to have his teams pressing on high all the time. Ronaldo could just stand in between two defenders to force the goalie in a particular direction -- then they press from the middle onto that defender or DCM.
My biggest question will be Pogba. I cant see Pogba having that sort of discipline of pressing in packs/overloads that's required under RR especially in the middle of the park.
Exactly, it’s like the City players most of them were not how they are now when Pep took over or signed them. He… this might come as a shock to some, coached them to play his way…
It will only be a great way to grow his business if he improves us and is successful in the job. And if that's the case, then more power to him.
Beside Ronaldo also curious about Pogba. What I have more curiosity is if he will have power regarding football transfers in the future I doubt agents like Mendes or Raiola will have the type of influence they used to have. Only speculation of course.
"All those 3 players, including Mo Salah, were when they came to Europe, were not natural born ball winners. None of them. They were not the kind of players where everyone went 'Wow, they are pressing machines!' All of the things that happened at Liverpool were the job of the coach and coaching staff."
His eye for talent will be invaluable to us these next 2 and a half years
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I suspect with a new CEO, Arnold, their respective influences will diminish. Influence has to be worked on and developed over a period of time. But with a new guy, u start all over again. Then you add that with RR coming from a background/history of scouting and developing his own players.
RR sounds to me like he will be a solid reporting line to Arnold and a dotted-line reporting to Murtough/Fletcher. He could be like a Director of Culture/Philosophy or the Brand Director of United where the type of play has to match the brand perception of United. An over-arching role that encompasses both on-field (from 1st team to academy players) to off-field activities like training coaches to that philosophy. Like an Ajax of England.
I think its quite a corporate, logical organisational, transformative approach that Woodward/Arnold will be undertaking. There big question is whether he has a strong mandate to do this -- needs to be given from top-down. He will be stepping on a lot of toes whilst undergoing this transformation of a proper succession structure. He will need to weed out who the lifers are, those using United as a stepping stone and the incompentents.
Difficult political minefields everywhere. Most fans tend to look at things from a short term perspective and especially as a line item. But organisation structures and managing them are a 3D chess game with every pawn, rook affecting other pieces. Plus its a moving train.
Hopefully with RR we will set up a structure that allows the right hand and the left hand working insync.
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Finally one appointment we all can get behind
I dont think that's an issue. The good stuff about glazer reign is that they never want to wrestle footballing control. They just want profit and leave tthe football to football man. Shame they met the wrong ones so far.
It's all title. Ceo doesnt mean arnold will be bothering about football. He'll just ended up signing dotted lines.
Yes, insightful stuff you’re putting here.
Anyway a club with the traditions as Manchester United regarding not only the perceived football DNA, almost 3 decades of Ferguson, and all the people who work let’s say on the Football Academy certainly isn’t as easy to implement that vision without facing strong resistance.
It’s not the same thing as Red Bull. If it’s only related with the professional team, scouting, recruitment, etc, then it’s doable.
The only thing I am not so sure is that Erik Ten Haag is the type of coach Rangnick would recommend, even less Pochetino, but it’s too soon to speculate about that.
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If we take his RB roles, his remit was to blend or match the brand identity with the type of playing style thus the change from an old age profile squad to one of the youngsters where pressed aggressively and attacked vertically. Heavy metal, have wings can fly sort of identity.
My question is then what is Manchester United's brand identity and what sort of playing style is that? In my eyes, United is that of tradition, history as evident in our fan's Gold/Green, traditional stadium etc.
How does that translate into RR's heavy metal playing philosophy unless Arnold's planning on a whole new brand identity for United (as most new CEOs will have, a new direction) -- younger, hipster, gen Z etc.
Judging on the interviews RR has done in the past, he seems like he is a cultural re-engineer. So it will be the sort of people United will hire (both players and staff), the output that they will produce and the environment that they will work in. He will blend both the footballing side together with the commercial arm with having past experiences of restricted financial constraints in upstarts like RBs -- unlike Chelsea or City.
Its a massive undertaking unless Arnold is naively missing out the implications of RR and his skillsets. Its a McKinsey level sort of vision at 120,000ft with an Accenture level of hands-on execution all in one set of arms & legs.
It's a lot easier to buy under the radar at RB Leipzig than at Manchester United.
Interest from United is its own endorsement. And that endorsement is its own reason for a price hike.
It's like trying to buy something from a middle eastern market as a westerner. It's one price for the regular locals and a completely different price rich foreigners after they see you coming.
A lot of us are expecting one of Poch or Ten Hag to be a given in the summer, but what happens if Ragnick recommends we bring in a left field, relatively unknown bundesliga manager who he feels best fits the philosophy of style he wants United to progress with - do you think we'd entertain it? This is assuming that this would be on the back of a successful interim spell, since if it ends up being a disastrous 6 months the club will obviously tell him to zip it.
That's excellent. But tbf must be a system of a number of people who signed those players.
Woodward has always been kneejerk in his choices of managers -- whether its the hipsters choice or otherwise. Pragmatic to philosophical to pragmatic and then a cleanup man like Ole. I think they will wait & see if RR can perform some minor miracles and see if he develops a proper structure that is streamlined and matches the long term sustainability of the United brand.
One thing is that Arnold doesn't have the pressure or expectations that Woodward faced in the past -- of learning on the job, wanting to prove himself to be better than his predecessor under a more complex, rebuilding period and not knowing the footballing landscape as well as his predecessor -- who had the luxury of stability and success under Fergie.
Who knows, if RR does well as a manager, Arnold may just want to keep him beyond six months. If it ain't broke...
The ones under pressure in the short term will be Murtough, and the current 1st team coaching staff as I suspect Arnold will ask RR to evaluate them.
Yeah me too. Ole was too nice but from what I heard this guy is really serious and a bit ruthless. With his "natural ball winner" talks he'll definitely tell every players to run and press. The question here is whether Ronaldo would and could do it. If not it's the bench for him I think, Rangnick won't be afraid of Ronaldo's status and he'll only stay for six months anyway.
Chelsea.
Will that manager win the Premier League? I know I'm oversimplifying the argument (and he's just an interim) but my view is that any benefit from Rangnick is going to come from his supposed reputation as a tactical guru and squad builder. So hopefully he delivers on that because I wouldn't be too pleased if he gets a few good results and Woody makes him permanent as apart from one good stint at Schalke, he's shown no indications he has it to compete at the highest levels.
United brand is winning, when you win a new sets of fans are born. The rest are just romance.
Sure I started during 92s where we're still forming our dominance, but i wont even see us on tv if we're not successful and facing Juventus on the Champions league.
So all those united dna mumbo-jumbo and wing play etc means nothing if we're spanked left right center playing like a bozo against well drilled team
Ask chelsea fans, what sort chelsea way they're playing? The winning ways.
United ways is worthless without the trophies to back our ways.
I'm practical, any winning ways is united ways. Renarate it as Renaissance, resurgence, new MU, or whatever, win first talk later
Woodward biggest mistake ... and I'm not blaming him for that... is listening to SAF and hired Moyes
This is a good appointment. Most of the Utd fans seem to be happy with Ralf. I am curious to see how the team will improve over the next few months. Hopefully Ralf can provide some structure and direction for Utd going forward.
It wasn't really his call at the time. Pretty sure Moyes was decided as our next manager before Woodward's first day at the role. SAF was adamant on it so the board as a whole listened.
Woodward's just been very shit since then though. LVG, Mourinho and Ole were his decisions.
He will. This is one hill im fighting for us to be patience and giving time
Ole was SAF
Lvg was shit, jose was logical business move.
It's a series of unlucky sequence, but ed is not a fool. Green yes but i dont blame him for flipping between believing his business logic vs. Listening to a fooball decision made by SAF.
It's not an easy choice to make
The more time I spend looking into him, the more relaxed and happy I feel. It seems to be a more important signing than the new long-term manager will be. Foundational changes are what we have been lacking and what has caused so many false dawns over the past years.
Going forward, we might really have continuity, we might finally have a system, a structure to build upon and to grow.
I‘m very excited about which of our existing players will breakthrough their bad form and/or attitude just by knowing exactly what is expected from them. If a real system doesn‘t help them unlock their system, then nothing will. Then, without doubt, we can move them on without any whatifs.
Happy days
Going forward, we might really have continuity, we might finally have a system, a structure to build upon and to grow.
I‘m very excited about which of our existing players will breakthrough their bad form and/or attitude just by knowing exactly what is expected from them. If a real system doesn‘t help them unlock their system, then nothing will. Then, without doubt, we can move them on without any whatifs.
Happy days
Moyes wasn't his first choice though. I think Pep said that they met but could barely comprehend what Fergie was trying to tell or ask of him?
I still think Jose would have been the best replacement for Fergie -- he was always good with ageing, older squad. He was brought in 4 years too late. Then after Jose's usual short stint, bring in a re-builder, like a Rangnick.
That's the thing about football fans. They tend to look at line items rather than the totality, a 360 look and they tend to have 20/20 hindsight vision. 99.9% of us here arent paid 7 figures salary and for a good reason.
I think you're giving him too much benefit of the doubt. All these decisions to prematurely hand out contract extensions, being too slow to sack managers before it was too late, that was all him. He's pretty much gotten every major decision wrong. SAF had defended Ole in recent weeks and months, but it was Woodward who in his infinite wisdom decided to give him a new 3 year deal after embarrassingly bottling a Europa league final, only to be forced to sack him months later....again belatedly, ignoring the windows he had during the international window.
That‘s the beauty of it, isn‘t it. We don‘t need to keep him as manager, even if he is successful. He‘s changing our bigger picture, long-term. Systemic change. He can tinker in the background and let the coming and going managers take care of the everyday details.
Call me Mr Platitude if you like, but he‘s teaching a man to fish, not giving him one.
Yeah, yeah…I‘ll get my coat
Doesn't absolve Woodward of the fact he' completely out of his depth at his role. He has the job simply because he's been a Glazer man from the onset, not out of merit or reputation. His incompetence in the footballing side of the business has been exposed for all to see in the last 8 or so years he's been at the job.
I think he was under the tutelage of Gill and was the heir apparent anyway.
But the major mistake was having both Fergie and Gill retiring at the same time which didn't allow the succession process and plans to be executed progressively. That's on Glazers. They should have not accepted Gill's retirement for another year or so. It just made Woodward's job more impossible.
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