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

[Lee565]

So far this season I actually preferred Carrick's mini spell.

It's looking like ralf is either just another hired dinosaur like lvg but without no big personality to stamp his authority or he is another yes man put in charge with the instructions not to drop the big names to please the club's sponsors

 

[Sultan]

Up against it trying to implement a new system and style of play mid-season during a covid outbreak

Would be wise to switch to a simpler system the players can implement because we/he doesn’t have time to get this system up and running the players aren’t suited to this style at all

Bingo!

The system even if perfected gives no guarantees of success. I don't think don't we have the right personnel in certain areas to implement it at this moment. Even if we did have the players who can be tuned to playing the system the timing might not be correct.

 

[Waynne]

He's not an elite manager based on his track record so why would we commit to him for 2 years unless he proves to be remarkable during those 6 months? The whole point is for him to see us through the season, hopefully instil some basic principles (actual coaching, pressing etc.) and get an understanding of what the club needs so that he can contribute from his consultancy role alongside a long-term manager.

You really think it will take 6 months to do all that? With this set of players?

If you're happy with these kinds of perfomances then 6 months is long enough to see results like this. You're not getting anything in 6 months.

 

[CallyRed]

Bit concerned he’s hired a bunch of failed coaches with no top level experience

Gone from a bunch of coaches with no top level experience to a bunch of failed coaches with no top level experience.
Maybe the next manager might get it right

 

[thegregster]

That has nothing to do with it. I would hope United would hire top level coaches in the first place.

Why should the likes of Ronaldo, Cavani and Varane listen to people who know less about top level football then themselves?

Sure. Its the coaches fault Varane was rubbish last night for the first goal.

People will go to amazing lengths on here to avoid blaming the players.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

So far this season I actually preferred Carrick's mini spell.

It's looking like ralf is either just another hired dinosaur like lvg but without no big personality to stamp his authority or he is another yes man put in charge with the instructions not to drop the big names to please the club's sponsors

Its been 3 games. We literally let a novice remain for 3 years where most of the fan base was happy to see him implement no style.

 

[Sultan]

There was some encouraging things from last night i liked the way we were fizzing the ball through the lines into the strikers/no10s and the press was good at times.

First half the system was working reasonably well but there was too many individual mistakes happening in particular Fred and rashford we needed a change in personell not a change in system, instead we got a change in system aswell that completely screwed us for the second half. Any control we did have was completely lost and absoulte chaos ensued.

We went from being broken on occansionly to be being broken on at will and went from having a way of playing out to having no way of playing out. We could of easily lost by a couple of goals and I don't think it particuly improved our attacking threat either, tactically very poor.

Its early days and the players are obviously gonna take a little time to get used to the system and tactics but seeing obvious tactical mistakes in game is worrying and hopefully not a common theme.

Sorry, but I thought we were very very poor in the first half and if anything, the second was a slight improvement.

 

[RuudTom83]

Carrick and Ole had years with the players.

Ralf has probably not had a free 48 hours with the whole squad…without Covid, Recovery or actually game time.

His next match is Thursday, the squad will have a recovery day and then will need to be setup for Burnley. A team Ralf and his coaches have never played against.

There are so many fires that need putting out at the moment, it’s very difficult to know where to begin.

 

[Tom Cato]

The last time we had a interim manager the team was unplayable for half a season.

What are the reasons the players arent responding as well to a new manager?

The players have no excuses for poor performances on an individual level at any point, simple missed passes and poor decision making is always on the players. The manager isn't on the pitch playing the game, they are.

 

[RORY65]

You really think it will take 6 months to do all that? With this set of players?

If you're happy with these kinds of perfomances then 6 months is long enough to see results like this. You're not getting anything in 6 months.

No but a start can be made, we're not getting anything this season anyway. I don't want them to need years to get used to Rangnick's system because there's little evidence to suggest that he's good enough a manager to merit giving him that sort of time, where he can have the biggest role in the coming years is in having a knowledge of how to build a serious football team and having actual expertise of the game above the manager.

 

[Escobar]

Lets see if he has the ball to bench some big names

 

[Garethw]

I don’t think the players are onboard with RR. The effort shown yesterday was disgraceful. I can quite imagine a lot of players thinking along the lines of oh well, this cnuts only here for six months I’m not learning a new system for that period.

I certainly don’t want RR pandering to these players, but I think we’d be much better off playing a pressing variation of the 4231 or 433 than trying to implement a 4222 formation that does not suit this squad at all.

One of the things I hated most during the ole tenure was the favouritism towards certain players even when they were playing like shite. Worryingly that’s a trend that seems to have continued under RR.

There are certain players from last night that do not deserve to play against Burnley. They need dropping even if it means they are replaced with youth players. Some players appear to have a sense of entitlement that their position is guaranteed. That type of thinking needs to be removed from the equation entirely. Nobody should be safe from the bench.

 

[Chairman Steve]

Klopps opening Liverpool season of 2015/16 was erratic results wise. Low scoring games, 1 goal victories, Beat a good team one week then got comprehensively beat by a poor team the following week. A far cry from what they are now.

Solskjaers opening games of nothing but wins was some freak of nature that is extremely rare, and Solskjaer kept all the coaching staff there and everyone had had enough of Jose trying to get himself fired.

Ralfs got a whole new coaching setup like Klopp did, and it took a while to see some true fruition but you saw signs of potential coming along during that time.

 

[Bobski]

He is a caretaker manager, the players know it, and whatever we hope on here he is not going to be allowed to make massive core squad changes until he is either confirmed full time or a new manager comes in and begins their own rebuild.

 

[Ixion]

The last time we had a interim manager the team was unplayable for half a season.

Well, until he was made permanent. We lost 5 of the last 9 that season, only winning 2. Feck knows what it takes to make this group just give everything no matter who's in charge.

 

[Tincanalley]

We look exactly the same in terms of work rate and tactics that we did with Ole here.

We lumber around the pitch looking lost while resorting to hoofball against a Newcastle side struggling against relegation. Meanwhile they cut us apart time after time.

DDG is the sole reason we walked away with a single point.

Shambolic.

Lay off the Hyper Bowl! Isn’t Dalot pass to Cavani a reason? Isn’t Cavani’s hair a reason? Isn’t …

 

[Lentwood]

I honestly think the footballing IQ of this forum is getting lower and lower by the week.

Did people honestly believe that a new man could come in and ask players to play a brand new formation, a completely new style and, for many, different positions and everything would just click overnight?

I'd love to know how many people spouting their expert opinions on here have played the game to any sort of even good amatuer level.

 

[FrankDrebin]

I don't know why ,after our equalizer, we just started lazily lumping it upfield.

Not exactly the innovative brand of football I had in mind with Ralf.

 

[Kablamo]

German Van Gaal.

Madness to get in an interim and go down the long term "philosophy" route at the same time.

 

[Hammondo]

Did he do an interview after the match?

 

[RUCK4444]

Shaw is one of the best leftbacks in the country when on form, and AWB is still young enough to be coached. No more excuses.

Agree. I’d swap them both into the starting 11 immediately.

Along with Cavani who absolutely must play imo. Drop Rashford, play Cavani in his place up top with Ronaldo.

For all this talk that Telles and Dalot are attacking fullbacks, they are fundamentally worse players than Shaw and AWB imo. The latter two are arguably involved more than we’ve seen from Dalot and Telles in the last games anyway.

To help implement this system we need passing options higher up the pitch and players with a good engine to get up and down, none of the collective have a particularly good cross (Telles on his day but he’s not good enough generally speaking imo and I said that the moment we bought him.)

 

[Garethw]

That's alot of money sitting on the bench twiddling their thumbs.

A week or two on the bench could be the kick up the backsides that they need.

 

[Ixion]

Agree. I’d swap them both into the starting 11 immediately.

Along with Cavani who absolutely must play imo. Drop Rashford, play Cavani in his place up top with Ronaldo.

For all this talk that Telles and Dalot are attacking fullbacks, they are fundamentally worse players than Shaw and AWB imo. The latter two are arguably involved more than we’ve seen from Dalot and Telles in the last games anyway.

To help implement this system we need passing options higher up the pitch and players with a good engine to get up and down, none of the collective have a particularly good cross (Telles on his day but he’s not good enough generally speaking imo and I said that the moment we bought him.)

Shaw and AWB have been awful. You cant just ignore that and blindly play them no matter what.

 

[Keefy18]

That's alot of money sitting on the bench twiddling their thumbs.

Couldn't give a fiddlers fart.

I'm more a fan of giving young lads a try who want to play for the club and will put in the required work rate.

I'd happily drop Rashford for Elanga and give Diallo a bench spot here n there to keep Rashford in line and performing.

Harry has been a disaster this season, our CB pairing should be Vic and Varane.

 

[AshRK]

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.

 

[littlepeasoup]

Isn't playing progressive, exciting, pressing football after three games and a COVID outbreak; clearly not good enough. Christ on a cracker.

 

[thegregster]

I honestly think the footballing IQ of this forum is getting lower and lower by the week.

Did people honestly believe that a new man could come in and ask players to play a brand new formation, a completely new style and, for many, different positions and everything would just click overnight?

I'd love to know how many people spouting their expert opinions on here have played the game to any sort of even good amatuer level.

A lot of the Ole out brigade were telling us Ole was the worst manager in the PL. In fact many of our players were leaking similar claims about Ole and the coaches. So if he managed to get 74 points over a season then even an average manager should be getting 85-90 points with this squad. There are no excuses now Ole is gone.

 

[Waynne]

No but a start can be made, we're not getting anything this season anyway. I don't want them to need years to get used to Rangnick's system because there's little evidence to suggest that he's good enough a manager to merit giving him that sort of time, where he can have the biggest role in the coming years is in having a knowledge of how to build a serious football team and having actual expertise of the game above the manager.

We're not getting anywhere this season and guess what happens 6 months down the line when the next season starts? Yet again another top 4 chance missed because we're arsing around with a 6 months contract for this guy.
You don't want them to take years to get used to Rangnicks system yet after this 6 months he's pissing off and the cycle will begin anew. A new manager, a new system, probably needs new players too. I'd rather suffer through results now to get to the end goal and start seeing something resembling a football team at the start of next season than suffer now and the suffer again in 6 months when the next guy takes over.

Its just an endless cycle of interims on interims. You don't see the other elite clubs operate this way.

 

[Judas]

I don't know why ,after our equalizer, we just started lazily lumping it upfield.

Not exactly the innovative brand of football I had in mind with Ralf.

Reminded me of the EL final. Got the equalizer thinking we’d kick into gear and it never happened. Although I had no real hope of that last night in truth.

 

[Jezpeza]

What i have seen so far has felt a bit like the LVG era - fairly solid but cant really create chances and score. Boring. Hopefully there is more to come but will we get there with only 5 months?

also age old problems - mcfred need to be replaced so they become squad/bench players. Just not good enough to be our main midfield. We dont look fit enough. Individual errors - stuff from varanes gaff for the goal to misplaced 10 yard passes and players being blatantly out of position because they obviously aren't thinking about it.

 

[Bilbo]

What we're seeing here is the start of a process that will lead United fans to a realisation that they aren't ready to accept - that being that Ole wasn't necessarily the biggest problem at this club.

Read the transcript of Ralfs recent interviews and they are highlighting the same issues as before. Lack of passion. Lack of effort. Players losing personal battles. Players making basic mistakes all the time. The difference is who is delivering the message and how it is being delivered. One of Oles biggest faults was that he was not a naturally charismatic speaker. Ralf has that, and combined with a better pedigree it gives his comments more weight, but ultimately the message is the same.

Its a deep rooted issue within our squad, one that is highlighted not just from watching opponents outworking us every match, but also from seeing the impact that our most important player, Cavani, has on our performances whenever he is on the field.

We can tweak our tactics to shore up the middle, and then re-tweak them again when we realise that exposes our flanks, and again and again until these players finally realise that it's not the system, or the manager, or anything else that causes us to struggle. It's their own lack of focus and workrate.

Let's hope that Ralf can unlock the secret before its too late. Its not going to happen overnight, that's for sure.

 

[Tincanalley]

The players are already throwing ragnick under the bus.

Spot on. The players don’t like the bossy vibe. Remember LVG tapping his watch towards Di Maria? Bruno is an amazing talent but wayward. He was the onfield manager in the Ole era. Now that he’s being moved about and discipline required of him, he ain’t happy. He’s trying, unhappily. I suspect he can still work and we will learn to use him effectively but those around him will need discipline.

I don’t know what was wrong with Fred last night. He got brushed out of the way too easily. That’s the physicality RR was talking about, maybe.

I’d bring back Shaw for the next game. Varane needs to play his way back to sharpness. Maybe Harry too (I’d give them the Covid thing; some may have been sick).

My suggestion is line up a replacement for Pogba and Martial. Drop Rashford, drop Ronaldo. Work with a coalition of the willing. Not saying Ronnie etc aren’t willing, but we need a basic setup that works - he’s the icing on the cake. I’ll be sorry (and worried) to see Cavani go. Still it’s only four matches. Just watched Keano and Scholes and Beckham getting beaten 3 -1 by Sheffield in 98 - what was the Caf like that day

 

[NewYorkRed]

I honestly think the footballing IQ of this forum is getting lower and lower by the week.

Did people honestly believe that a new man could come in and ask players to play a brand new formation, a completely new style and, for many, different positions and everything would just click overnight?

I'd love to know how many people spouting their expert opinions on here have played the game to any sort of even good amatuer level.

Judging by some of the “expert” opinions I read on here, I can guarantee most have not played the game at all. Everything is either super reactionary, or super theoretical. Its hilarious.

 

[Biggins]

Dude, its been three games. He came midseason and then had a covid crisis. If anyone over the age of 13 is unhappy with him already you seriously need to get your head checked.

No, we should be playing like prime Barcelona by now. There is absolutely no hope under Ralf. We need to sign Zidane, Poch or other miracle maker as there is no chance for Ralf to turn it around. Klopp turned Pool into a machine after first two trainings after all. Or something like this...

 

[RORY65]

We're not getting anywhere this season and guess what happens 6 months down the line when the next season starts? Yet again another top 4 chance missed because we're arsing around with a 6 months contract for this guy.
You don't want them to take years to get used to Rangnicks system yet after this 6 months he's pissing off and the cycle will begin anew. A new manager, a new system, probably needs new players too. I'd rather suffer through results now to get to the end goal and start seeing something resembling a football team at the start of next season than suffer now and the suffer again in 6 months when the next guy takes over.

Its just an endless cycle of interims on interims. You don't see the other elite clubs operate this way.

But if you are committing for a longer period to a manager who is clearly not at the same level as our rivals then you are setting up for years of aiming to come 4th as a best case scenario, even if we look like more of a team with Rangnick next season it's likely not going to be good enough to get near the top sides because he's never done so before but for an interim that's not a problem.

We couldn't continue with Solskjaer but the options we wanted for the long-term weren't available (I actually think Conte would've been the most likely to make us champions in the next few years but the club didn't want him) so Rangnick as an interim with the possibility to tap into his expertise over the next few years was the best option while giving the time to hopefully identify the right permanent manager.

 

[Offsideagain]

I said when he was appointed that when we lost a game the ‘Ralf out’ cry would go up. The match last night seemed like a loss and it’s started. FFS at least give the bloke three months before he is judged. All the ABU’s have crawled out of the woodwork questioning RR’s credentials. He has only just got a back room staff in that he wants and they have had no time to work with the squad. Even a Michelin starred chef can’t make a decent meal from shit ingredients and last night showed us who is up for it (not many) and who isn’t up to it (quite a few).

 

[TwoSheds]

No Ole could not have been in charge of that. Ole had som very bad games the last months and was rightfully sacked.

This performance was something else. This is how 4-2-2-2 looks like when nobody is ready for it. If you have played football yourself, try to imagine beeing part of it. Must be an awful experience.
4-2-2-2 is allmost never played for good reasons.

Ragnick knows there is a lot of negative emotions in the team after the losses to Liverpool, City and Watford..and then he wants to go and play a very difficult play system? Oh lord.

I have never seen McFred this bad. It was like crazy bad.

If we played a simple 4-4-2 or 5-4-1 we would have won that game rather easy.

What is it exactly about a massive, pale 6'4 Scotsman and a tiny midget, black Brazilian that is so confusing that so many fans seem to think they're the same player? Fred was utterly appalling and deservedly got hooked. McTominay was very good. Him and Cavani were the best outfield players by a distance.

 

[Tincanalley]

Something radical clearly needed to be done at half time. And it did improve us for about 20 minutes. Despite continued dreadful individual performances all round. And let’s be honest, our squad is a fecking shambles. You can’t polish a turd.

I can’t wait to see who gets picked for Burnley - and how they respond. First real test, etc…

 

[Offsideagain]

No, we should be playing like prime Barcelona by now. There is absolutely no hope under Ralf. We need to sign Zidane, Poch or other miracle maker as there is no chance for Ralf to turn it around. Klopp turned Pool into a machine after first two trainings after all. Or something like this...

Er, are you sure you are a United fan? Playing like Barca in a month? BTW it took Klopp a couple of years not two training sessions. I can only assume you had a good Christmas.

 

[Keefy18]

I honestly think the footballing IQ of this forum is getting lower and lower by the week.

Did people honestly believe that a new man could come in and ask players to play a brand new formation, a completely new style and, for many, different positions and everything would just click overnight?

I'd love to know how many people spouting their expert opinions on here have played the game to any sort of even good amatuer level.

A fair expectation is seeing some new faces around the squad selections, considering many of the senior players aren't performing.

We've a bloated squad, albeit some questionable players around it.

No reason why Elanga / Diallo couldn't start over Greenwood / Rashford. I'd have Bailly / Vic over Harry immediately! Harry is definitely capable of better but his heads up his arse and keeping him captain, christ.

Bruno could do with a game here n there on the bench and Donny starting.

What I don't get as well is, even considering a 4-2-2-2 set up... our squad is overloaded with wide attacking players, yet he chooses this? What makes it worse is he select a bunch of wide attacking players in that set up?

We've the players for a versatile 4-3-3 and it was what I was hoping for.