He was acadamey coach if i am correct maybe he should be back there. too inexperienced at this level besides he is young so he has time in the future. But probably ralph might think he needs him for now atleast as he needs to know the premiere league teams , players and strength and weaknesses..mckenna can give him some input. besides ralph is ony here for 6 month on paper.
Ralf Rangnick | ex-interim manager | does anyone rate him?
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He was acadamey coach if i am correct maybe he should be back there. too inexperienced at this level besides he is young so he has time in the future. But probably ralph might think he needs him for now atleast as he needs to know the premiere league teams , players and strength and weaknesses..mckenna can give him some input. besides ralph is ony here for 6 month on paper.
I think we massively overrated our squad in the first place, very unbalanced and messy.
Rangnick tries his best to form an opinion what to do with it while not losing ground.
Who expected us to play energetic and attractive football all of a sudden has not learned his lesson.
Rangnick tries his best to form an opinion what to do with it while not losing ground.
Who expected us to play energetic and attractive football all of a sudden has not learned his lesson.
I think people are severely underestimating how much this team (and club) have atrophied over the years. We've constantly made mistakes as a club in terms of our managerial recruitment, and then on at least one occasion then doubled down by keeping them for too long. Player recruitment has been awful in the main. We've had some hits, of course, but due to the turnover in managers and coaches, there's never a coherent plan when it comes to recruitment so you end up with a mismatch of players from different regimes.
We've never really implemented a distinctive style of play under any of our managers. LVG comes the closest, but that didn't work out for a multitude of reasons. So we've basically floundered and settled while our rivals have excelled on and off the pitch. Let's just look at the basics - we're not even that fit. We're simply not capable of maintaining a high intensity because we've been so under-coached and neglected in that department for years.
I'm also not convinced that this group of players are capable of playing the type of football that Rangnick or a ten Hag would want to implement. Even if they are, it's going to take time. Most likely beyond the 6 months that he's here for. I mean, aside from yesterday's game, we did see snippets of what he's about and what he wants to do. We had 30/35 minutes against Palace and the same against Young Boys. We just can't maintain it due to the aforementioned fitness issues, and the fact that Rangnick has only been here for 5 minutes.
We've never really implemented a distinctive style of play under any of our managers. LVG comes the closest, but that didn't work out for a multitude of reasons. So we've basically floundered and settled while our rivals have excelled on and off the pitch. Let's just look at the basics - we're not even that fit. We're simply not capable of maintaining a high intensity because we've been so under-coached and neglected in that department for years.
I'm also not convinced that this group of players are capable of playing the type of football that Rangnick or a ten Hag would want to implement. Even if they are, it's going to take time. Most likely beyond the 6 months that he's here for. I mean, aside from yesterday's game, we did see snippets of what he's about and what he wants to do. We had 30/35 minutes against Palace and the same against Young Boys. We just can't maintain it due to the aforementioned fitness issues, and the fact that Rangnick has only been here for 5 minutes.
It’s not scapegoating when it was reported that the players hated McKenna’s training sessions. As far as I’m concerned he’s just as much a part of the problem as Ole and Carrick were.
So far I'm really happy with him. There is a clear structure, and plan on how to use the players. During the post match, you can tell he wasn't happy at all despite winning. This is the kind of attitude we want from our manager.
I'm not too fond of the 4-2-2-2 myself and we might change again when the new manager comes in so i'm not too fuss about it especially when the results are coming. I'm more excited on the other changes that he is purported to be bringing in, faster decision making, releasing the ball quickly into channels rather than backwards passing and structured aggressiveness (no more headless chicken). You can already tell some of it evidenced in our players. For example MCT in last 2 games was making more forward passes, releasing the ball quicker and making more tactical fouls and more tactical discipline to stay in position.
I'm curious how our front four will perform for him over the remaining season. I'd prefer Greenwood over Rashford to partner Ronaldo but from Rangnick's comment it is clear he doesn't think Greenwood has the physicality to partner Ronaldo up front so we should be seeing more of Rashford x Ronaldo/Cavani for some time still.
Not sure if Pogba will play for us again due to his contract issues but it seems like we have Bruno, Sancho, DVD for the two no 10s and Sancho doesn't the stamina to play full 90 yet. He mentioned it before that the 10s are the most physical demanding in this position and we have three to rotate for two positions. It is a bit concerning especially when the fixtures start piling up. We suddenly look short handed - might be a good time to break in some of the youth players like what LVG did when he first came in.
I'm not too fond of the 4-2-2-2 myself and we might change again when the new manager comes in so i'm not too fuss about it especially when the results are coming. I'm more excited on the other changes that he is purported to be bringing in, faster decision making, releasing the ball quickly into channels rather than backwards passing and structured aggressiveness (no more headless chicken). You can already tell some of it evidenced in our players. For example MCT in last 2 games was making more forward passes, releasing the ball quicker and making more tactical fouls and more tactical discipline to stay in position.
I'm curious how our front four will perform for him over the remaining season. I'd prefer Greenwood over Rashford to partner Ronaldo but from Rangnick's comment it is clear he doesn't think Greenwood has the physicality to partner Ronaldo up front so we should be seeing more of Rashford x Ronaldo/Cavani for some time still.
Not sure if Pogba will play for us again due to his contract issues but it seems like we have Bruno, Sancho, DVD for the two no 10s and Sancho doesn't the stamina to play full 90 yet. He mentioned it before that the 10s are the most physical demanding in this position and we have three to rotate for two positions. It is a bit concerning especially when the fixtures start piling up. We suddenly look short handed - might be a good time to break in some of the youth players like what LVG did when he first came in.
This is an insightful post.
My impression with Ralf is that he is a purist at heart. Since he was at least the partial innovator of the gegenpress and the 4-2-2-2 formation, he is fully committed to it. Now, when you are building a club ethos, this is important because these by pure values filter down into many aspects of managing the club. Recruitment, transfer, academy, data/analytics, physio, etc. are all affected. His single minded focus is a great asset in a situation where he is the sporting director.
Now, why wasn’t he really successful in winning titles? Perhaps because he isn’t the pragmatist that Klopp, Tuchel and Nagelsmann have turned out to be. Also, the blend of Klopp’s pragmatism, man-management, media savvy and energy on the touchline is clearly title- winning stuff. Liverpool don’t play a 4-2-2-2, but the principles of the press and quick attack play (balanced by savvy possession) are still the key qualities of the tactics.
One more thing — it took awhile for Klopp to implement his plan. I expect the same here. I don’t believe that our players suddenly became shite, I think though, that while they are learning this system, there is uncertainty and that affects confidence.
Yeah I am hoping we are playing decent football by the time we go to Anfield, we haven't given them a game there since 2016.
What a bitter asshat, Tim Sherwood, trying to shore up viewership numbers of his lousy punditry by saying controversial crap? It's OK to say that getting over-excited about Rangnick's early wins is dangerous, but to say that "nobody wanted him", for feck's sake? REALLY? Not only it is patently untrue, but such a toxic, asshole thing to say! Shameful, truly shameful, even for Tim Sherwood. Not even gonna mention how nothing his own attempts at management was, doesn't matter - even if he were best manager ever, how can you say such shitty crap.
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They didn't "hate" his training sessions, the reports said they were left "uninspired" by his sessions and he was better with the younger players. Rangnick will decide if he's good enough to stay on. A coach only has as much autonomy as a manager allows him, we don't know what Ole was telling him to do or not do
Well it's also a lie, Chelsea wanted him a few months ago, along with others but he wanted a long term project of 3 years or more for security. He's also in his 60's, he doesn't want or need to be doing 1 season here and there all over Europe.
Tim's just pissed off that his agent has been giving him that line since he got sacked from Tottenham.
He said Chelsea wanted him last season but they were only offering the interim position.
Good point, but also sounds like you are taking something aspirational Rangnick said too literally. He was trying to make a point, I don't see him standing on the sidelines and timing how quickly we get the ball or finish the attack, neither do I expect him doing anything like that. Think how experienced of a manager he is, you really think he misses the nuance while we get it on a fan forum? Highly unlikely. Everything so far shows that Rangnick is pragmatic, and while he has principles and opinions, he is extremely adaptable and understands that you can't just copy/paste formulas from team to team.
We cant expect Bruno to deliver accurate passes / Ronaldo to press hard in every game for 90 mins OR McTominay to become Kante overnight
But they have their own strengths like Bruno's assists and goals / Ronaldoo's canniness in scoring goals and in form Rashford stsaying on defender shoulders
so Ragnick must find a system to accommodate these players and get the best rather than imposing something our players not capable of
He looks like an intelligent man and i am sure he will find a good solution without upsetting the group
But they have their own strengths like Bruno's assists and goals / Ronaldoo's canniness in scoring goals and in form Rashford stsaying on defender shoulders
so Ragnick must find a system to accommodate these players and get the best rather than imposing something our players not capable of
He looks like an intelligent man and i am sure he will find a good solution without upsetting the group
Sherwood strikes me as someone who resents tactically astute managers as they keep 'passhun and desiah!' merchants like him out of a job.
Ragnick mentioned when Klopp joined Pool in middle of the season he tried to impose his pressing game on players and half of the team ended up with muscle injuries
So he is clever enough not to repeat that mistake but slowly he will take his team to play his style in months (not in days)
He knows they dont have much recovery time between matches either so he wont push thenm hard in training too.....Sometimes in life you have to go with what you got until you are ready to aim high, so results are what matters for now but the flow will come in eventually.
So he is clever enough not to repeat that mistake but slowly he will take his team to play his style in months (not in days)
He knows they dont have much recovery time between matches either so he wont push thenm hard in training too.....Sometimes in life you have to go with what you got until you are ready to aim high, so results are what matters for now but the flow will come in eventually.
we gave Ole three years and half a billion dollars. Let see what RR can do by the end of his 6 months.
We need a bit of patience. Comments about why Phelan or McKenna are still here, why McFred is starting, why Donny is on the bench, why Rashford/Bruno are playing terribly, why the players didn't press as well yesterday etc. Rangnick has been here barely over a week, the performance yesterday likely surprised him as much as anyone and he's still learning about the players and they about his systems. It's probably going to be a tricky couple of months before we start to see real progress.
The usual from some members of the cafe, kill him before he gets a chance to warm up. The other fella ran the place cold and they couldn't bare to get rid of him.
No progress made since Ole left. Sorry.
Ole needed to go, no doubt. But, what we did against Tottenham was miles better than the last few games.
This 8 sec bullshit is a throwback to something Norways legendary national coach (Egil Olsen) would say back in the 90’s «it is better to play the ball over the sidelines than to keep playing, becouse then we can win the ball back and score within four moves».
That strategy has been proven wrong by every top team the last 20 years. There is no way you get to +90 points with that play system.
I think he have some very good ideas about football, but I fear he dont grasp the total that needs to be in place too win the PL. Just look at the evolvement of Klopp and Tuchel.
I dont think Ragnick is the type of person who think he should learn from his students. It also looks like he has a rather big ego to go along with that.
I really dont see how he would fit with lets say Pochettino.
Ole needed to go, no doubt. But, what we did against Tottenham was miles better than the last few games.
This 8 sec bullshit is a throwback to something Norways legendary national coach (Egil Olsen) would say back in the 90’s «it is better to play the ball over the sidelines than to keep playing, becouse then we can win the ball back and score within four moves».
That strategy has been proven wrong by every top team the last 20 years. There is no way you get to +90 points with that play system.
I think he have some very good ideas about football, but I fear he dont grasp the total that needs to be in place too win the PL. Just look at the evolvement of Klopp and Tuchel.
I dont think Ragnick is the type of person who think he should learn from his students. It also looks like he has a rather big ego to go along with that.
I really dont see how he would fit with lets say Pochettino.
This place after 3 games 
This has to be troll post
Surely Rangnick likes and often used the 4222, but it is not like he is always using it. For example we usually played a 433 under him and were highly successful. He is fully committed to the principles how he thinks football should be played, and he does definitely believe that a 4222 can be very effective to implement those principles, but he is definitely able and willing to use different formations.
However I imagine that he will stick for a few games with the 4222 now, as he likely wants to have a clear solid base for his team, and then be able to adjust once this has become instinctive to the players.
How so?
I really hope Ragnick can get this togheter if you where in any doubt of that.
He has been here just over a week and you say no progress has been made. What could possibly happen in a week???
How long before the term Ralph Cultists is used on here?
To all your Ralph outers…
To all your Ralph outers…
This! Let’s hope we can progress with positivity here and there game by game. When we overcomes small hills one by one, we suddenly find we have climbed a big mountain.
The game against Norwich was really poor but it's way too early to judge anything really.
Agree in this.
Just a reminder. When Ole set us up like this, we got our best results under him. This was not the real problem with Ole.
The problem for United and Ole this season is the idea that we should dominate games with ball. That was somewhat the requirement since we got Sancho, Ronaldo and Varane in the summer.
Now. If that is not requirement (which it should not be), we can just fall back to same play system Ole did very well with, sit back and counter, and we should be fine.
But, if are to go for this high press system and should play with very littel risk when we have the ball — that is a very different system. It will be very interesting to see if that can work. I agree here that Ole played with way to high risk with the ball on our own half. How much did we give the ball away? Most in the league?
Exactly but the way the hype train got going after the Place win was crazy. The guy literally did nothing but meet the players.
I hope the guy is successful but our squad needs a lot of work. I don’t want to sound anti Ralf, which I’m not, but I feel people are falling for the idea of Ragnick because of the best implementation of his system ala Klopp.
Not managing for a few years and not managing personalities like we have at our club can be very detrimental to him.
Everything is working alright so far. RR’s top priority for now is getting results so we qualify for the CL. Meanwhile he will slowly implement a new system. Absolutely no need to have them pressing like hell for 70+ minutes in 2-3 games in a row and then have them injured in such a hectic December period.
Meanwhile he will make sure that the next manager has a similar style and by the time he arrives players will be used a little more to the new system, plus the new manager will have a transfer window and pre season.
Only those will be disappointed who are hoping for him to do a Tuchel and win the CL. This is not happening unless we buy well in January or VdB suddenly turns even into half the player Carrick or Scholes were.
Meanwhile he will make sure that the next manager has a similar style and by the time he arrives players will be used a little more to the new system, plus the new manager will have a transfer window and pre season.
Only those will be disappointed who are hoping for him to do a Tuchel and win the CL. This is not happening unless we buy well in January or VdB suddenly turns even into half the player Carrick or Scholes were.
First thing he said when he came here was winning is priority #1 and then style of football will come.
So far so good. He knows to win he’s had to keep opposition xG low. That’s exactly what he’s done. Great job
So far so good. He knows to win he’s had to keep opposition xG low. That’s exactly what he’s done. Great job
Tim should be a manager, totally wasting his talents on Sky Sports 
Yeah whether in possession or out of possession, the important part is knowing where to be on the pitch. With Ole it felt very much like he winged it. Ralph hopefully will teach that. And most of the principles he teaches can then be adapted to the new manager. I’m just excited to see a system in place. And eventually players running off the ball. To no longer see a situation where one player has the ball and 6 are just standing there, would be a huge step forward.
How long will your give Pochettino before you get on his back? Surely more than 3 games I presume or is this treatment reserved only for coaches you didn't approve of in the first place?
It was disappointing yesterday because we never pushed up and made the pitch small like we did against Palace. But then yesterday all our forwards were crap unlike against Palace. We were playing with 7 players yesterday. 7 and Half if you add Sancho. I also did not see RR urging them to push up. Maybe he decided that it was too early to get them to push up as we had run out of gas against Palace.
Yes I think so too. Top 4 is right there for us now, we could blow it and the manager knows.
We saw for 30 mins what the players can do vs Palace but it will take a while to get the team to do that each week or even to raise the general fitness for higher all round standards without burnout.
It really annoys me that we pay money for premium sports provision and they offer us punditry from the likes of Tim Sherwood.
And this has what to do with the interim manager... Just wondering
Related to a video a few a posts above where Tim Sherwood mugs off Rangnick because he knows feck all about him.
From a team shipping 3/4/5 goaps each and every match to two wins and a draw with 2 clean sheets, having been here less than a month, he's doing just fine.
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