Ralf Rangnick | ex-interim manager | does anyone rate him?

[mu4c_20le]

Exactly, and can't seem to drop Ronaldo for political reasons. Ronaldo is the antithesis of the way he wants to play, yet plays every game. Work that one out. We're as bad as PSG for that. You can't play pressing with this version of Ronaldo.

Ronaldo isn't preventing others from pressing

 

[NoLogo]

I said it when we hired him and I'm standing by it now. He ain't the best coach around, there is a reason no big club ever went for him, he is a great squad and club builder though, he should be DoF or CEO of this club and not the head coach. But it is what it is now, we waited too long, the squad building was again shite and we are fecked for the near future, depressing months ahead for us and it didn't start with hiring Rangnick as the interim manager, even though this will probably not be great for his authority either.

 

[ICHM]

Rangnick is not the answer quite clearly. Conte could have been the answer.

 

[Hughie77]

Is he our big Phil Scolari?...

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

We've played 442 the last two games.

Yep, it's 442, or even back to the dreaded 424 shape that got Ole fired, it's not much of a 4-2-2-2. 4-2-2-2 is the French magique carré with Platini and Giresse where you have two number 10s fitted in. This is just two wide players playing like wingers.

 

[TheGame]

I expect Ralf to realise when the system isn’t working and clearly this one is not so he needs to change it up as we are not controlling the midfield and are too open.

 

[Hansi Fick]

Sorry but could you elaborate on your last sentence? I couldn’t quite catch your point.

My sense of Bielsa is that it's amazing and unique how he can get his teams to play exciting, intense, high quality football, the passing, the running, the combinations; but he is erratic away from the pitch, changing clubs and falling out with executives. Not that I blame him. Rangnick has had successful long term projects not centered around only coaching.
That's why I don't think the comparison carries too far.

 

[Saddy]

Just got called out big time in that interview - no midfield selected BY HIM and a shocking team selection to start the match that's on him !

 

[UnsungHero]

It's a disgrace that people are already turning on him. What the hell do people expect?

He's had about a month here, with a covid-enforced break. The players we have don't fit his system for a start (or any systems really), which isn't going to make things easier.

The biggest crime is how we stuck with Ole for so long when it was obvious he was taking us nowhere. The squad started rotting and here we are.

 

[Hughie77]

Hard to press when you're strike force us 70 years old. I know his intention is to press, and that takes time so I won't go too much on that. On the ball though? There's not much plan there other than just hit it forward as direct and as early as possible. 0 control, 0 midfield play, 0 cohesive play. It's more reliant on counter attacking than we were under Ole last season. And I'm not sure that that's not his vision either.

Tend to agree, the front press from the front 2 is not there if that what he wants, look why can't we just keep the ball for a few passes? That's not happening either, to much defending to much pressure on the back 4 leads to sloppy goals like Wolves.

 

[Pronewbie]

My sense of Bielsa is that it's amazing and unique how he can get his teams to play exciting, intense, high quality football, the passing, the running, the combinations; but he is erratic away from the pitch, changing clubs and falling out with executives. Not that I blame him. Rangnick has had successful long term projects not centered around only coaching.
That's why I don't think the comparison carries too far.

I see. That makes sense. I was thinking more along the lines of their influence on a generation of coaches/managers with a highly energetic pressing style. But yes that’s where the comparison ends and falls short quite quickly.

 

[stevoc]

Hes got the worst possible squad in the league in terms of playing the way he wants.

I'm sure it'll all come together by the end of May just in time for another manager to come in and change it all around again.

 

[DizeeGorilla20]

His credentials have always been questionable.

What has he really achieved of note in his 30 years in professional football despite supposedly being the godfather of "gegenpressing" ? (which we aren't even looking to play).

I'm convinced that 99% of people did not even know he existed before Ole was sacked and the fact that he was given a 2 year "consultancy" role before proving himself is mind boggling

 

[big_jeffstar]

It’s not the manager, it’s the players..
they literally do whatever the hell they like, they either don’t have any footballing intelligence, or they just can’t be bothered.. you can see how his overall demeanor has changed just based on his pre match interviews, in just over a month!..I think he’s realized that this job is bigger than he ever imagined, we have a team of random players that don’t compliment each other, with no redeeming factor whatsoever…the defence is awful, the midfield is worse, and the attack is good on paper, but can’t (or won’t) pass to each other.
The team needs gutting from back to front.. it’s another rebuilding project I’m afraid, and personally I’d only keep four of them..
Varane, Bruno, Sancho, Greenwood
Get ETH in, and let him replace whoever he wants to with no recompense.. it can’t be any worse

 

[PlayerOne]

4-4-2 in the PL in 2022. Does Rangnick even watch this league?

 

[Hansi Fick]

I see. That makes sense. I was thinking more along the lines of their influence on a generation of coaches/managers with a highly energetic pressing style. But yes that’s where the comparison ends and falls short quite quickly.

In that regard, yes, you are right, there's parallels.

 

[mu4c_20le]

I'm sure it'll all come together by the end of May just in time for another manager to come in and change it all around again.

see, this is what annoys me. He's an interim manager, his job should be to get immediate results, not stubbornly stick to somethign that isn't working. If the next manager comes in and changes everything, that's his prerogative.

 

[Litch]

RR got the job and realised that he actually likes being at a big club and therefore doesnt want to piss the Glazers off.

 

[Hansi Fick]

4-4-2 in the PL in 2022. Does Rangnick even watch this league?

Yeah it is pretty ironic, how English media and fans jumped on his reputation as a pioneer and revolutionary of tactics, when that pioneering consists of playing an English direct and high-pressing 4-4-2 in Germany in the 90s when sweepers were still common.. there, have your "modern coaching" back.

 

[DizeeGorilla20]

I said it when we hired him and I'm standing by it now. He ain't the best coach around, there is a reason no big club ever went for him, he is a great squad and club builder though, he should be DoF or CEO of this club and not the head coach. But it is what it is now, we waited too long, the squad building was again shite and we are fecked for the near future, depressing months ahead for us and it didn't start with hiring Rangnick as the interim manager, even though this will probably not be great for his authority either.

His "consultancy" role is the biggest load of crap and a total embarrassment. Nobody even knows what it will entail and it was embarrasing to hear him struggling to define exactly what it was in his first interview.

He made the same demand (for a consultancy role) to Chelsea when they wanted him as an interim and they turned him down, which if United was a serious club we would have done too.

Let's assume he actually is good enough to assume a DoF type role, what happens if he leads us to 6th or 7th place as interim? Surely his ability to get the support required to make any serious changes as a "consultant" will be compromised from day 1. He'll basically just end up being another Mike Phelan. A guy is employed by the club but nobody really knows what he does.

 

[Leftback99]

I feel like this 5 months will be a total write off with these players. We need to rip it all up and start again in the summer. Weed out the worst.

 

[Matt851]

We hired an interim coach we were supposed to be excited about more because of his abilities as a dof than as a coach. However once he finishes his coaching position he won't be dof, only a consultant, but supposedly it will be good because he might be able to teach the inexperienced people we hired in the dof/technical director roles how to do their roles. What the feck is this shambles? The most shocking thing is how so many of our fans were convinced this was all great a few weeks ago

 

[Chief123]

So another manager who is shit? No.

it’s blatantly obvious now this group of players have a seriously shit mentality. Some of these players have had 4/5 managers at Utd now. We can’t keep blaming the manager. The attitude of some of these players is shocking.

 

[Roboc7]

His "consultancy" role is the biggest load of crap and a total embarrassment. Nobody even knows what it will entail and it was embarrasing to hear him struggling to define exactly what it was in his first interview.

He made the same demand (for a consultancy role) to Chelsea when they wanted him as an interim and they turned him down, which if United was a serious club we would have done too.

Let's assume he actually is good enough to assume a DoF type role, what happens if he leads us to 6th or 7th place as interim? Surely his ability to get the support required to make any serious changes as a "consultant" will be compromised from day 1. He'll basically just end up being another Mike Phelan. A guy is employed by the club but nobody really knows what he does.

He’d be most valuable to us in a DOF type role but doesn’t seem like club have really decided whether that will happen or not and this looks like such a mess he’ll end up a scape goat and will be gone once interim gig is up. As ever whole thing looks half hearted and shambolic.

 

[BlueHaze]

What I will say is that when a new manager comes in there's usually a jolt of energy running through the team and performances will improve. We have been the complete opposite. I saw positive signs against Palace but from there it's been dire to watch.

We could easily have lost against Norwich away as well as to Newcastle. Our game today was also depressing to watch. This team will not qualify for CL. Whoever our new manager will be, I feel sorry for him having to work with so many crap players.

 

[sugar_kane]

Some evidence of co-ordinated pressing today but nothing else to get excited about so far.

It’s all laboured, sloppy low energy football without even the spark that we had occasionally under Ole due to the freedom he allowed the players. Too much long ball shite for my liking too, and he seems to be in general safety first which I’m surprised by.

The Ronaldo captaincy selection today was a worrying call, suggests he won’t countenance dropping him anytime soon which is what is sorely needed.

I am glad he realised quite quickly that Telles is a huge downgrade on Shaw. I’m also hoping he realises similarly quickly that we cannot afford to bench our best player (Bruno) even if he is prone to mistakes, that Fred works ten times as hard as McTominay, that starting two OAPs up front will kill all our attacking spark, and that Sancho isn’t ready for a guaranteed starting spot.

 

[Barthez]

So another manager who is shit? No.

it’s blatantly obvious now this group of players have a seriously shit mentality. Some of these players have had 4/5 managers at Utd now. We can’t keep blaming the manager. The attitude of some of these players is shocking.

Nothing else to add but you are 110% correct. Posters unfortunately always think that it’s the manager and not the players.

 

[Dan-Utd]

As a manager Ralf Rangnick does not have the best record and yes the Red Bull clubs he's been working behind the scenes at have been successful but that wasn't just down to the one man.

But in terms of him being moved upstairs at the end of the season - this isn't a small club which is looking to grow - this is a real big club, moving it forward will be a hell of a lot harder than what he's been doing at the Red Bull clubs.

So much hype about him - why is he working in Russia? was there no big clubs trying to sign him up since he left RB Leipzig? Alan Pardew works in Russia.

As with any manager, I wish him well, I just feel a lot of the Twitterers claiming we've pulled off a master stroke should relax a little and not be too expectant.

As I said back in January, if he was all that he wouldn't have been working in Russia,

Look at Mourinho in his first Chelsea spell he was able to make all the players feel special and did great things with them - then he stopped evolving with the future and now he's basically an average manager with an expensive price tag.

Now look at Rangnick, people are like he created Gegenpressing, he's going to be great - as with all things in life they have to evolve, Microsoft created Windows 95 which at the time was great, if it hadn't evolved and we were still using it today... it would not be great.

It's one thing to create something great but you need to be able to evolve it as life goes on, the creator isn't necessarily the person who can evolve it and take it forward, Klopp and other managers who have adopted it have evolved it.

According to Wikipedia, the most games Rangnick managed for one club in one spell was 166 when he was at Hoffenheim, apart from that he's done 98, 86, 75, 70, 65, 52, 51, 36, 23... those figures don't suggest he's a long term success, more of that he starts something good and it either goes wrong or someone else evolves it... he's managed 728 games since 1985 and not all of those are in the top division.

Compare that to Mourinho, 185, 178, 144, 136, 127, 108... even that's more long term than Ralph's numbers... he's managed 1022 games since 2000.

My message is that fans should remain calm, he may be a wonderful director of football but his stats don't suggest he's a wonderful manager at the top level, I don't know why there was so much hype around him and suggestions of him bringing the glory days back but it's sad to see people slating him for not being superman when there was never anything to say he would be superman considering the other clubs he has been at have been smaller than Manchester United.

 

[UnitedSofa]

His credentials have always been questionable.

What has he really achieved of note in his 30 years in professional football despite supposedly being the godfather of "gegenpressing" ? (which we aren't even looking to play).

I'm convinced that 99% of people did not even know he existed before Ole was sacked and the fact that he was given a 2 year "consultancy" role before proving himself is mind boggling

Why "Prove" yourself when you have lots of Football men in the game singing his praises from the rooftops.

One of Klopp and Tuchel said that they should be worried (a half serious joke) now Ralf has come in.

I'd rather listen to them than the Man Utd online fanbase to be honest.

 

[DRJosh]

The truth remains that we’re a distinctly average mid-table side with a few talented individuals.

This result isn’t entirely on RR.
Often it’s easier to see a new manager as a quick fix because that is a tangible/relatable change from the fans’s perspective. It feeds into the narrative of hope.

Our problems however are systemic and it concerns the entire club culture as a whole.

 

[VidaRed]

Rangnick needs to rule with an iron fist and sell a few big names to show who's boss.

The player power needs to be relegated to the dustbin.

Follow the managers instructions or get pushed out. The board and the fans needs to back the manager.

 

[kirk buttercup]

So another manager who is shit? No.

it’s blatantly obvious now this group of players have a seriously shit mentality. Some of these players have had 4/5 managers at Utd now. We can’t keep blaming the manager. The attitude of some of these players is shocking.

I agree with this

 

[The United]

He did not need to rule with an iron fist or have 'balls' or whatever. It is weird people are obsessive with that kind of shit. Both LVG and Jose did not succeed with us doing that and they continue to fail mostly in other places too.

Are we even sure that RR knows how to implement his ideas across the team at this level properly with the help of failed MLS coaches.

At this level, convincing players to follow a manager's idea is important. Obviously if you have crap way to implement good ideas, no one will follow it. And loads of managers at every level would have 'good' ideas.

 

[::sonny::]

Before I came we conceded 2 goals per game average or more, today we could a have a clean sheet but we didn’t

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[glazed]

it’s blatantly obvious now this group of players have a seriously shit mentality.

These players are a product of their environment where they've been hung out to dry too often - pressured to win but not taught how.

What I saw today was a team too slow to attack and too easy to overload. Same as before. That's going to need coaching and a new midfield to fix. Just as before. And we can't high press with a forward line whose average age is 35.

Change will take time. The idea that it wouldn't was just another stupid wishful playstation fantasy football notion.

 

[bond19821982]

He basically said we didn't have enough aggression and intensity to defend. I have no idea why isn't Fred playing them. He needs control and so understand why Matic is playing . But play Fred as well and ditch this 4222. We are being found out in every single game. We done have the forwards to play 4222 RBL game.

If he wants to stick to 4222, ditch one of Ronaldo or Cavani and bring a proper forward.

 

[Ixion]

It is really fecking weird how we dont press, not even in the first few minutes at home, it's just some token closing down but nothing like what we need. There's no energy or cohesion yet he clearly wants it from his interviews.

 

[The United]

Why "Prove" yourself when you have lots of Football men in the game singing his praises from the rooftops.

One of Klopp and Tuchel said that they should be worried (a half serious joke) now Ralf has come in.

I'd rather listen to them than the Man Utd online fanbase to be honest.

Managers rarely talk shit about each other unless you are Jose.

RR obviously had 'some' inputs in the way many German managers play. That does not mean he is good himself with his own methods. Those two mentioned managers don't even strictly implement his methods on their own teams.

 

[Ixion]

His treatment of VDB is the only thing that has me questioning Rangnick, or more specifically how much input he's really having.

 

[Jacko21]

So far, he hasn't elicited the kind of response that he needs from the players. But why is that? What is breaking down?

Beyond the lineup and beyond the formation, why hasn't he been able to get the players to apply themselves beyond that brief 30 minutes we saw against Crystal Palace?

It's bizarre.