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

[Ixion]

Villa 0 - 1: Shaw & AWB (Dalot on as sub)
Everton 1 - 1: Shaw & AWB
Leicester 2 - 4: Shaw & AWB
Liverpool 0 - 5: Shaw & AWB
Tottenham 3 - 0: Shaw & AWB
City 0 - 2: Shaw & AWB
Watford 1 - 4: Shaw & AWB

Chelsea 1 - 1: Telles & AWB (AWB gave away the penalty)

Arsenal 3 - 2: Telles & Dalot
Palace 1 - 0: Telles & Dalot
Norwich 1 - 0: Telle & Dalot
Newcastle 1 - 1: Telles & Dalot

Shaw & AWB can sit out a bit longer given the horror shows Telles and Dalot had to sit through.

 

[ZupZup]

That said, Rangnick can't just give Shaw an extended holiday with the expectation that he will come back in a few weeks, no problem.

His mentality will not improve, his hunger will not improve.

My concern is that Shaw has shown he is capable despite poor form this season. Telles is clearly not good enough. A new manager coming in should be a clean slate for the players and opportunity to prove themselves again… yet under Rangnick, Shaw has barely had a look in and is being benched for a much inferior player.

 

[arthurka]

3 games and he is already getting questioned not only here but also by some pundits. Always felt managing United is the most difficult job. The pressure here is immense.

The funniest part is that our fanbase is the biggest culprit, overrated squad, stuck in some romantic relationship with a 37 year old and nostalgic beyond believe. Ralf has been here 3 weeks and because he is stuck with a bunch of overpaid primadonnas with a clear lack of stamina and structure he is supposed to get things done that no other manager has been capable of doing since Fergie in that time. People need to get a grip on reality, this club is in deep deep trouble.

 

[VP89]

AWB also fecks up simple passes and he dreams of reaching Bebe's level in crossing.

He used to be a alright defender but this year, nope. He's got terrible positioning and his tackling has dropped a level.

You're just making shit up now.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Dalot gave the pass for Cavani's goal last night, granted he needed two bites of the cherry.

 

[Bilbo]

Surely you’d accept that building a squad full of players that have the necessary focus and workrate is one of the most important parts of any manager’s job description?

And we’ve seen plenty of examples in the past of managers building those qualities in a dysfunctional squad without selling and replacing every one of them.

I agree there’s no short term fix though. Certainly not in the frankly paltry time Rangnick has had with the players thus far.

Yes of course. It genuinely wasn't an attempt to put across a 'see, it wasn't Ole' message. I think though, that what we are seeing over the last couple of performances we are perhaps not concerned enough.

We've seen a new manager bounce that lasted roughly half an hour, a pressing approach (that looked great) abandoned in the same amount of time, and a set of players so utterly befuddled by a tactical switch that isn't really that profound that they've already started to visibly turn on each other.

None of this is any criticism of Rangnick, of course. I think he has the potential to improve us to a level that Ole probably wasn't capable of, but as I said in my post you replied to I think before that can happen we will go through a process during which a lot of supporters, those who aren't completely blinded by Ole hatred, will come to realise that actually the problems were deeper than him, and if we look back at his comments without bias its not an unreasonable assumption to say that Ole knew exactly what our problems were, it was just beyond his skillset to fix them.

We have to hope, and currently it is hope rather than expectation, that they are not beyond Rangnick too.

 

[spiriticon]

You're just making shit up now.

I am most certainly not. AWB is fecking terrible this season. What I've said here is about one thousandths of the observations that the caf has made in his performance thread.

 

[AshRK]

The funniest part is that our fanbase is the biggest culprit, overrated squad, stuck in some romantic relationship with a 37 year old and nostalgic beyond believe. Ralf has been here 3 weeks and because he is stuck with a bunch of overpaid primadonnas with a clear lack of stamina and structure he is supposed to get things done that no other manager has been capable of doing since Fergie in that time. People need to get a grip on reality, this club is in deep deep trouble.

It starts at the very top. Our board is the biggest reason we are in this mess. Ole should have been sacked after the Liverpool game and we could have appointed Conte but they worried he will trouble the Club's DNA which sometimes I wonder no one knows what that is.

I completely agree with the nostalgic part. Look at our twitter handle, man we love to live in the past. I always we as a club have a ego of the biggest club but are run like Sunderland.

 

[Acquire Me]

I underestimated us. I thought it might have taken to about mid January before supporters started to turn on him

 

[VP89]

I am most certainly not. AWB is fecking terrible this season. What I've said here is about one thousandths of the observations that the caf has made in his performance thread.

Not a single person has said he dreams of bebe crossing. Your argument collapsed on its own hyperbole.

 

[Oranges038]

Manager aside, we are seeing the same problems under RR as were there under Ole and Jose.

That is the midfield two.

They are two of the most technically limited midfielders ever to play consistently for the club. They offer nothing, no defensive prowess and cannot control and pass the ball well enough or quickly to make stuff happen, no vision, too many touches and no ability to dictate the play to control the game and move the opposition around. 70% of the ball yesterday and created nothing of note, yet Newcastle waltzed through the midfield at will.

No manager would win anything of note with Utd by sticking with playing those two.

 

[spiriticon]

My concern is that Shaw has shown he is capable despite poor form this season. Telles is clearly not good enough. A new manager coming in should be a clean slate for the players and opportunity to prove themselves again… yet under Rangnick, Shaw has barely had a look in and is being benched for a much inferior player.

The fact is that Shaw hasn't performed this season, which should make his place up for grabs by anybody. It could be Telles, or it could be a young player from the academy. Anybody.

The idea that we have favourites who should be given more chances than others is a serious fault from the Ole era. That sort of leadership mentality is something that needs to be changed. I am still annoyed that Maguire is still there, fecking shit up week in week out without a hint of danger of losing his place.

 

[spiriticon]

Not a single person has said he dreams of bebe crossing. Your argument collapsed on its own hyperbole.

Ok I shall use less hyperbole.

AWB is an utterly shit crosser.

 

[Water Melon]

Ralf Rangnick is an interim manager. In his 3 games with us so far 1 was good, 1 was meh, third was poor (considering 16 days of rest). Would I want Rangnick as a permanent manager? No. Would I trust him to do a clear out and get rid of prima donnas while brining in players who would run through a brick wall for the club? Yes. I sincerely hope that we are in talks with Ten Hag to take over in the summer, while keeping Ralf as a mentor/consultant who would apply his vast knowledge towards improving the football related issues of the club. With Conte at Spurs, Arteta at Arsenal with both teams having no European football to play, I doubt we will make top 4. Will be extremely happy to be proven wrong.

 

[sparx99]

It seems strange though I mean he was always going to try and change our playing style drastically and make us a pressing team which was going to take time.

Yet we bought him in for six months, is that really enough time for him to achieve anything?

Presumably lay some foundations for another high press manager to follow.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Yes of course. It genuinely wasn't an attempt to put across a 'see, it wasn't Ole' message. I think though, that what we are seeing over the last couple of performances we are perhaps not concerned enough.

We've seen a new manager bounce that lasted roughly half an hour, a pressing approach (that looked great) abandoned in the same amount of time, and a set of players so utterly befuddled by a tactical switch that isn't really that profound that they've already started to visibly turn on each other.

None of this is any criticism of Rangnick, of course. I think he has the potential to improve us to a level that Ole probably wasn't capable of, but as I said in my post you replied to I think before that can happen we will go through a process during which a lot of supporters, those who aren't completely blinded by Ole hatred, will come to realise that actually the problems were deeper than him, and if we look back at his comments without bias its not an unreasonable assumption to say that Ole knew exactly what our problems were, it was just beyond his skillset to fix them.

We have to hope, and currently it is hope rather than expectation, that they are not beyond Rangnick too.

Seeing as Rangnick is only here for half a season I think he can only reasonably be expected to make a start on fixing these deep underlying issues. We should see some sort of noticeable improvement before the end of the season but it was always wildly optimistic to see a dramatic improvement in 2 or 3 games. Even more so with all the craziness of covid closed training grounds.

I also think it’s possible things get even worse before they get better. The combination of a profoundly flawed squad and players who haven’t even attempted a coherent pressing game in years means things could get very messy over the next 5 to 10 games. I think we’ll see a noticeable improvement in performances and results after that though. We just have to hope top 4 is still attainable by then.

 

[2 man midfield]

The new manager bounce lasted 2 games

For me our problems last night were summed up by Rashford’s body language. Got skinned by Saint Maximin and just stood there watching as he ran at our defence. He just couldn’t be arsed, and in a system like Rangnicks that is just about the worst thing he could’ve done.

 

[sparx99]

Always worth remembering Klopp finished 8th after taking over mid-season and lots of questions were asked in that first 7-8 months. Guardiola only finished 3rd his first season before he got the signings he wanted.

 

[Devil81]

Ragnick did say in one of his early interviews certain players may not be capable of playing the pressing game that he favours.

Personally I look at our team and don't think any of them other than Cavani and Bruno like chasing the ball down.

He needs time, let him assess what he's got.

 

[Kaos]

Always worth remembering Klopp finished 8th after taking over mid-season and lots of questions were asked in that first 7-8 months. Guardiola only finished 3rd his first season before he got the signings he wanted.

This is worth remembering. Klopp got Liverpool to the pinnacle after gradually binning the players he felt weren't up to it, while recruiting those suited to his system.

We need to go through the same purge. Our rebuild job unfortunately goes beyond just signing a DM to 'complete the puzzle'. The signings Ole and Mourinho have made have been utter gash for the most part. Rashford, Maguire and the like are not going to be spearheading a successful United at the top. We'll need a complete rebuild of the squad all across the pitch.

 

[Galactic]

Yes. Let’s start rating him after just a few games.

 

[GoldanoGraham]

I think that Ralf is clearly exposing some players with how he is trying to set them up - there is a cold reality coming for some. I like that he doesn’t waffle around after the game making excuses for them.

Over the next few games I think we will start to see some changes again in which players start - and how players react to the chance and how they react to being dropped.

Fernandes and Rashford will be the first two dropped (although Bruno is suspended for the next game anyway).

As hard as it was to watch last night I think that if we kept winning poorly then everyone would be going overboard rather than Ralf exposing us at the moment to the level that we cannot compete at. There is a long road ahead but I’m confident the right process is now underway.

He really really needs to buy a decent holding midfielder to start with and to make a statement.

Also - needs to play Cavani whenever he can.

 

[Flexdegea]

Laughable thread.

Guy literally in the job and barely had any time with them on the pitch.


If anything he prob realised who total shite, and still making the same mistakes. Fred and Maguire spring to mind. Massive job their moving players out and players in.


I'd give him total control to fix this issue beyond the 6 months

 

[mk7]

This is worth remembering. Klopp got Liverpool to the pinnacle after gradually binning the players he felt weren't up to it, while recruiting those suited to his system.

We need to go through the same purge. Our rebuild job unfortunately goes beyond just signing a DM to 'complete the puzzle'. The signings Ole and Mourinho have made have been utter gash for the most part. Rashford, Maguire and the like are not going to be spearheading a successful United at the top. We'll need a complete rebuild of the squad all across the pitch.

+1

We put our trust in the wrong players as being the leaders and figureheads of this team. I am still convinced that especially Rashford was and can again be an excellent player, not so sure about our "captain" tbh ..

 

[bond19821982]

The funniest part is that our fanbase is the biggest culprit, overrated squad, stuck in some romantic relationship with a 37 year old and nostalgic beyond believe. Ralf has been here 3 weeks and because he is stuck with a bunch of overpaid primadonnas with a clear lack of stamina and structure he is supposed to get things done that no other manager has been capable of doing since Fergie in that time. People need to get a grip on reality, this club is in deep deep trouble.

And added to that Covid outbreak too.

We are a bunch of whining groups who don't literally have any patience. We expect everything to happen overnight. We expect people to make changes immediately. Ralf hasn't even had the full group to work with.

 

[giggs-beckham]

A change to a more familiar formation would greatly help in my opinion

 

[studs]

Thread shouldn't be opened, that question could of Been asked in Ralf's performance thread.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

A serious question - have we done a very man United thing and totally flip flopped styles again? Fans on the forum saying Ralf can't get anything from Bruno, Ronaldo, pogba, Sancho and needs a team of hard working young players to be signed... If that is true, is he the stupidest interim manager possible and either should have been a long term appointment and commit to a new project / clear out the Bruno's of the team or we should have signed someone who had a chance of getting the best out of the squad we have over the time he will be here.

Given we are where we are, we should really be looking at getting a very similar manager in the summer and trying to move Bruno and rashford etc on. I know people saw rangnick doesn't get on well with hassenhuttl but rangnick will barely be involved with the club by the sounds of things, and Ralf H is the closest available manager to RR based on what we are hearing today, that he can't work with top players and needs them replaced by hard working hungrier players.

I'd be fine with that if we actually commited to it, just annoying that we 'committed' to a different type of build and recently spent 80m on Sancho and 60 on Bruno who are both two of the best players in the world

 

[Bilbo]

Seeing as Rangnick is only here for half a season I think he can only reasonably be expected to make a start on fixing these deep underlying issues. We should see some sort of noticeable improvement before the end of the season but it was always wildly optimistic to see a dramatic improvement in 2 or 3 games. Even more so with all the craziness of covid closed training grounds.

I also think it’s possible things get even worse before they get better. The combination of a profoundly flawed squad and players who haven’t even attempted a coherent pressing game in years means things could get very messy over the next 5 to 10 games. I think we’ll see a noticeable improvement in performances and results after that though. We just have to hope top 4 is still attainable by then.

Agree for the most part, though I would go so far as to say that Rangnick's signficant brief in his time here is not to fix the problem but to figure out what it actually is.

Once again we are faced with a summer of hard decisions ahead of us

 

[King7Eric]

It’s the players and was under Ole too.

We’ve entrusted the completely wrong kind of players over and over. Cavani James Fred Bruno Herrera, we need more players with industry to make things happen for the more skilful ones. The balance is all wrong. We are still carrying far too many prima donnas. Getting out fought every second week is no fun.

Well I agree players are the biggest issue, but I'm surprised you mention Bruno as the kind of player we need. I've said it before, even last season, we'll struggle to be a top top side if Bruno is one of our key players. He is far too mercurial and emotional to build a title winning team around. Games like yesterday, against Watford and City just illustrate that. We'll struggle to have true control of a game as long as we keep looking towards him as our primary creative outlet.

 

[Rooney24]

Ole would have just accepted that last night and in the post match interview driveled on about how we never gave up, or United DNA, or something like that, all the while with a daft grin on his face, and finishing it off with "the great thing about football is we have another opportunity to put it right in the next game" after drawing or losing for the umpteenth game in a row.

So I'm happy at this point that Rangnick called called it out for the gash that it was. Full marks.

 

[supernaniskill]

Difficult to say so early on and the covid shutdown didn’t help! I’m hoping he can figure out his best 11 by mid Jan at least and start to have that 11 play in the style he wants. Let’s hope he doesn’t crumble to board/fan pressure on needing to play the “stars”. Play the ones who best suit your system, simple.

 

[ZupZup]

The idea that we have favourites who should be given more chances than others is a serious fault from the Ole era. That sort of leadership mentality is something that needs to be changed. I am still annoyed that Maguire is still there, fecking shit up week in week out without a hint of danger of losing his place.

That’s ridiculous. Some players do deserve more chances because they have earned that. Shaw was the best left back in the league last season. Form is obviously important too, but Telles is not playing well.

Telles is not very good and will never be good enough. Maybe a new manager would be the kick that Shaw needs to recapture his form… but we won’t know whilst he sits on the bench for an inferior footballer who is not playing remotely well enough to keep his place in the side.

 

[el3mel]

I thought Dalot was playing well yesterday all honestly. His crosses in second half weren't half bad.

 

[glazed]

We have a team that didn't take direction under Ole. So, what makes you think that they'll be doing what Rangnick wants?

Seriously, this squad needs to be gutted by at least 50% of the brainless fools that don't comprehend the concept of teamwork.

It's not their fault. They were never bought to function as a team with complimentary strengths and weaknesses. And we haven't coached them that way. We won't deconstruct years of bad club policy in a week or a month.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Ole would have just accepted that last night and in the post match interview driveled on about how we never gave up, or United DNA, or something like that, all the while with a daft grin on his face, and finishing it off with "the great thing about football is we have another opportunity to put it right in the next game" after drawing or losing for the umpteenth game in a row.

So I'm happy at this point that Rangnick called called it out for the gash that it was. Full marks.

Yea i was thinking the same. If it were ole he would have been delighted with the performance.

 

[el3mel]

The funniest part is that our fanbase is the biggest culprit, overrated squad, stuck in some romantic relationship with a 37 year old and nostalgic beyond believe. Ralf has been here 3 weeks and because he is stuck with a bunch of overpaid primadonnas with a clear lack of stamina and structure he is supposed to get things done that no other manager has been capable of doing since Fergie in that time. People need to get a grip on reality, this club is in deep deep trouble.

I'm just asking for signs of improvement or work being done with this group of players. What I have been seeing so far is just more of the same shit show under Ole. I don't even see signs of the team trying to press or trying to build attacks coherently.

It's not a big deal as the guy is an interim anyway and won't be on the touch line next season, but Ralf needs to improve. Both Norwich and Newcastle games were trash and De Gea saved our arses in both of them.

I hated Ole's reign with passion and couldn't wait to see the back of him, gave a breathe of relief when I heard the news of his sacking but I'm not going to pretend Ralf has been doing a good job since he was hired just because I wanted Ole out. He needs to improve the team.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

It was never going to be a quick fix, made harder if you're trying to convince alot of players who really aren't up for, or even capable of playing his sort of football.

 

[Foxbatt]

I don't think he is getting the best players to play in this system. I have no problems with Fred and McTominay because he doesn't have anyone else to play there.
But he has plenty of options elsewhere. I feel if he is playing 4222, then he should play DVB and Bruno. Up front he has so many options. He simply should drop Rashford to the bench. Rotate between Ronaldo, Cavani, Greenwood and Sancho.

 

[simplyared]

It's going to be difficult for him to steer this ship in the right direction I'm afraid. We needed a bigger name to come and orchestrate this group of players. A person who the likes of Ronaldo, Fernandes, Cavani, Sancho etc would look up to and show respect for from day one. Example: Not that we could expect a Pep mind, but I'm pretty convinced he would have got much more of a tune out of these players than we are getting now. We need a BIG name with a proven record to take charge of these players. Ragnick isn't that person!