Manchester United reached a deal with Ralf Rangnick to become the club’s interim manager. The 63-year-old, often referred to as the ‘godfather’ of modern coaching in Germany, is currently on contract with Lokomotiv Moscow.
The deal runs through May as the club continues to look for a permanent replacement. The rumored deal does indicate Rangnick would have additional 2 years with the team as a consultant.
“I think they could do with a left back,” Rangnick had said in 2020 of United. “I know they have Luke Shaw, but I’m not so sure if he’s still on the same kind of level you need to be for a club like Manchester United.”
Rangnick’s tactical expertise is projected to make an immediately impact, especially given the quick build0up style Rangnick incorporates that could allow players like Bruno Fernandes to thrive with frequent line-breaking passes and support.
“Thomas became a coach through me,” Rangnick has said in the past of Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel. “He was my player at Ulm and had to finish his career because of knee problems. I gave him a job as our under-15 coach. He didn’t even intend on bing a coach, he was working in a bar in Stuttgart.”
“My Hoffenheim team player Jurgen [Klopp’s] Borussia Dortmund back in 2008,” Rangnick said of the now-Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. “We beat them 4-1 and Jurgen said, our style was exactly the kind of football he wanted to play with Dortmund. Within two years, he had transformed the team and had them playing with that style of play.”
Simply put, Rangnick has a special way of looking at the game.
“If John Murtough, Darren Fletcher and Manchester United are smart, they will listen to Rangnick, place their trust in him and learn from him,” German football specialist Matt Ford said. “This could be the first correct step the club has taken in 16 years.”
Rangnick has managed the likes of Hannover, Schalke, Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig.
He also took Ulm to the Bundesliga for their first time, while also taking Leipzig from a regional league to the Bundesliga.
Most expect to see United immediately have a more organized, higher-energy attack with this change. He constantly preaches active, ball-orientated pressing, and the swarm-like strategy usually yields structured counter-attacks.
United are back in Premier League action this weekend vs Chelsea, but Rangnick is not expected to clear paperwork by then. United will still have Michael Carrick at the helm this weekend.
