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

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Can someone tell me the benfits of:
1) 4-2-2-2 in general and the school of thought behind it
2) why this system suits us, gives an edge on our opponents and how this will bring out the best in our players?
 
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!

I completely agree but that's also the issue - nobody of that calibre would've wanted an interim job for 6 months.

We have to remember that Rangnick's job is exactly that, an interim. Despite last night's horror show, we haven't lost in the league since he's been appointed. Surely folk are now seeing that the majority of our issues lie in the playing staff - as much as Ole needed to go.

My assumption is his job is to secure top 4 and advise on who we need to ship out to the next manager, as well as his consultancy role after the summer. I highly doubt the next manager will be him unless he pulls a CL title out of nowhere and gets us playing good football. Even then, I don't think that'd be a good idea in the long term - he doesn't have the pedigree.

That being said, I do think he's about the best option we could've made given the availability of candidates at the time. Clearly work for him to do though after that worrying performance.
 
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.
If things don't go well do you often imagine a scenario involving Ole where it would've been even worse?
Say if you don't quite satisfy your missus one evening, do you just think, well Ole would've only lasted two thrusts before he came then wiped his prick on her nightie and went to sleep, so I'm happy? Full marks.
 
It doesn’t matter what system he use. If the players can’t move without the ball, there is no one to receive a pass. We are still very static and slow on the ball. Like another thread highlighting our passing not being very good either. I’m sure not playing games or training fully don’t help much either. Only way to fix this is higher intensity in training and playing games. Give the man some time.
 
Can someone tell me the benfits of:
1) 4-2-2-2 in general and the school of thought behind it
2) why this system suits us, gives an edge on our opponents and how this will bring out the best in our players?
We've been playing 4-2-4 and it was leaving McFred exposed every single game, 4 at Leicester, 5 against Liverpool, 4 at Watford etc. The idea is to stop shipping half a dozen chances a game. It is Rangnick's preferred system through his career so it was inevitable he'd try it.
 
Hes done quite well when hes been asked to implement his theory in the past though.
But does he enjoy the degree of control he had then here? Can he drop Ronaldo, Bruno, Maguire and Rashford? He is obviously not satisfied with the application from some of his players but does he have the authority to act on it in a way that wont create a sh*t storm and would the club back him?

The way I see it is that the club has backed itself into a corner by massively investing in deeply flawed players who can't hack it at the elite level. Think of Maguire, of Bruno with his carelessness in possession, of Rashford thinking he Ronaldo or of Ronaldo thinking he the player he was six years ago. Bar Sir Alex is there a manager with enough clout to sort this issue out? Then you have Scot, Fred and AWB with subpar technical skills but with major roles in the team.

This squad is flawed to the core and maybe that's why Ole never bothered with the fancy tactics, he knew they wouldn't hack it when the going gets tough.
 
Who are those players? Players who will win us things under the right set up. Besides our young players, I wouldn't blink an eye at anyone else we sell.
Well, they certainly showed a lot more fight and spirit last season to come back so many times.

What has changed this season? There's nothing there, they look like they don't give a toss.
 
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.

I don't think past performances should guarantee a player more chances. I believe in treating all the players fairly otherwise you just never will get the best from them.

If there is favouritism, there is no incentive for Shaw to perform well because he'll always play. There's also no incentive for Telles to improve because he'll never play.

You then get a status quo of rubbish repeated year after year because nobody has an incentive to do better.
 
But does he enjoy the degree of control he had then here? Can he drop Ronaldo, Bruno, Maguire and Rashford? He is obviously not satisfied with the application from some of his players but does he have the authority to act on it in a way that wont create a sh*t storm and would the club back him?

The way I see it is that the club has backed itself into a corner by massively investing in deeply flawed players who can't hack it at the elite level. Think of Maguire, of Bruno with his carelessness in possession, of Rashford thinking he Ronaldo or of Ronaldo thinking he the player he was six years ago. Bar Sir Alex is there a manager with enough clout to sort this issue out? Then you have Scot, Fred and AWB with subpar technical skills but with major roles in the team.

This squad is flawed to the core and maybe that's why Ole never bothered with the fancy tactics, he knew they wouldn't hack it when the going gets tough.
There is too much presumption about what he can and can't do here. He's had 3 games and a 16 day break in between the last 2 fixtures due to covid. He's barely worked with the squad.

I think he will drop players he feels need to be dropped yes. He dropped Sancho and Greenwood already in different games. He's immediately dropped Shaw for Telles and AWB for Dalot. I'm not sure about Maguire because he hasn't had the chance to drop him yet really. Lindelof caught covid so Maguire and Varane made sense. The defence had not conceded a goal before Newcastle so it's not like he had a big reason to suddenly bring say, Baily in.
 
You then get a status quo of rubbish repeated year after year because nobody has an incentive to do better.

Maybe Man Utd should just stick me up front and put Rashford on the bench because he is playing poorly. Don’t worry about the fact that I am useless.

He needs to sit on the bench for a few months as an incentive to get better. This will be very helpful to Man Utd’s performances.
 
There is too much presumption about what he can and can't do here. He's had 3 games and a 16 day break in between the last 2 fixtures due to covid. He's barely worked with the squad.

I think he will drop players he feels need to be dropped yes. He dropped Sancho and Greenwood already in different games. He's immediately dropped Shaw for Telles and AWB for Dalot. I'm not sure about Maguire because he hasn't had the chance to drop him yet really. Lindelof caught covid so Maguire and Varane made sense. The defence had not conceded a goal before Newcastle so it's not like he had a big reason to suddenly bring say, Baily in.
Both Varane and Maguire didn't make sense and I would have understood if he had played one of them. Was Bailly injured or has he had COVID too because he is certainly a better option on current form? Thing is there are roles locked in our team and the players in those positions aren't really kicking up trees so when you see the same shite being repeated by two different managers you start to wonder whether there is pressure from somewhere else.
 
Maybe Man Utd should just stick me up front and put Rashford on the bench because he is playing poorly. Don’t worry about the fact that I am useless.

He needs to sit on the bench for a few months as an incentive to get better. This will be very helpful to Man Utd’s performances.

Rashford does need to be benched for a few months. So does Luke Shaw. A few weeks isn't gonna cut it.

Maybe you're happy with seeing this group of same players play every match but never getting anywhere near the title. But I'm not.
 
Because Ole inherited team which was coached and didn't had fitness problem. Problem was morale.
Ragnick inherited completely uncoached team with major fitness issues. That can't be fixed in a few months.
That's rubbish, their fitness level was appalling under Mou.
 
Both Varane and Maguire didn't make sense and I would have understood if he had played one of them. Was Bailly injured or has he had COVID too because he is certainly a better option on current form? Thing is there are roles locked in our team and the players in those positions aren't really kicking up trees so when you see the same shite being repeated by two different managers you start to wonder whether there is pressure from somewhere else.
Lindelof had covid, I don't know about Bailey. Maguire was fine for us in the previous games and I would say also under Carrick. Varane has been training since before Norwich, so I think we're clutching at straws if we're picking that center back pairing as a big issue on hindsight for the manager.

He has rightly looked at the whole team being an issue, and not really formation related. You need to make better decisions and work harder on the press if you're wearing the United shirt. I don't think Sancho or Bruno or Ronaldo were in too foreign a role. Everyone's been begging to see Greenwood centrally and he operated in the very front, or in the 10 of the central 2 - but was pretty atrocious. So was Rashford.

I don't think 4222 is our system for the long term and I don't think Rangnick thinks this either. But if the players actually pull their fingers out then it would likely protect our defence most. It makes sense for him to try and prioritize this after walking in from Ole's thrashings.

If you ask me the biggest culprits are the ones who we are not discussing. The full backs. 4222 is threatening as an attack if the full backs are threatening in their overlaps. Dalot is the most dogshite right back I've seen wear a United shirt, and this is after Darmien. Telles outside of a good cross is doing very little too. If you put anyone, say Regulon/Tierney/James/Alonso/etc. in their roles then I think the XG bumps up maybe by an entire digit than what we normally see.
 
Shaw is definitely better than Telles but he’s been poor this year. Hopefully he gets back in against Burnley and performs. I’m not Dalot’s biggest fan but he was okay I thought - and AWB has been hugely inconsistent this year. He looked totally devoid of any confidence against young boys.
 
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.

Right. He's only been here a few weeks and two games have been postponed. He's had the lurgy to contend with and the loss of some of the coaching staff. He's had to evaluate each player to see where and if they fit with his system and he's got until season's end to get us into the CL places and leave the team in decent shape for the new manager.
 
United had consecutive top 4 finishes in the last two seasons under Solksjaer. We even started this season reasonably well.

The wheels only started to come off some time after the beginning of the season. You'd have expected the new manager bounce to overcome it, but even Rangnick hasn't been enough to get the wheels back on.

With all the old coaches gone, the common denominator between Ole's last days and RR's first days is the dressing room. There's literally nothing else it could be. Something is rotten in the state of Old Trafford.

If I had to guess, I think it's a power imbalance among the senior players. Ronaldo's arrival has changed the pecking order and nobody seems to know who's responsible for what. The attackers now all seem to be more individualistic than ever - like they all want to outshine each other rather than help each other. It's probably becuase there's so much confusion about what the new roles are.

Obviously, the tactics don't help either. The 4-2-2-2 significantly blunts Bruno. And when he's unhappy, everything seems to fall apart.

I supported Rangnick's idea to make sweeping changes on day 1. But in hindsight, this group of players needed something less radical to nurse them through the transition. I think we should try the 4-2-3-1 again, and give Ronaldo some time on the bench. We need to take baby steps, with only one or two new ideas being introduced every week.
 
Lindelof had covid, I don't know about Bailey. Maguire was fine for us in the previous games and I would say also under Carrick. Varane has been training since before Norwich, so I think we're clutching at straws if we're picking that center back pairing as a big issue on hindsight for the manager.

He has rightly looked at the whole team being an issue, and not really formation related. You need to make better decisions and work harder on the press if you're wearing the United shirt. I don't think Sancho or Bruno or Ronaldo were in too foreign a role. Everyone's been begging to see Greenwood centrally and he operated in the very front, or in the 10 of the central 2 - but was pretty atrocious. So was Rashford.

I don't think 4222 is our system for the long term and I don't think Rangnick thinks this either. But if the players actually pull their fingers out then it would likely protect our defence most. It makes sense for him to try and prioritize this after walking in from Ole's thrashings.

If you ask me the biggest culprits are the ones who we are not discussing. The full backs. 4222 is threatening as an attack if the full backs are threatening in their overlaps. Dalot is the most dogshite right back I've seen wear a United shirt, and this is after Darmien. Telles outside of a good cross is doing very little too. If you put anyone, say Regulon/Tierney/James/Alonso/etc. in their roles then I think the XG bumps up maybe by an entire digit than what we normally see.
I get what you are saying but Varane has been out for a month whilst Bailly has played well whenever he has been called upon so I don't get the rush to start a player coming back from a relatively long lay off ahead of someone who has given us the best CB performances this season.

I think people, coaches included, have their first team locked and aren't as open to different ideas or players out of a certain clique and this is hurting us because the chosen ones have allowed complacency to creep in and once it takes hold you can't just turn it off at the flick of the switch. Ralf has come in and seemingly bought into the same idea.
 
If things don't go well do you often imagine a scenario involving Ole where it would've been even worse?
Say if you don't quite satisfy your missus one evening, do you just think, well Ole would've only lasted two thrusts before he came then wiped his prick on her nightie and went to sleep, so I'm happy? Full marks.

what an absolutely bizarre comparison.
 
I get what you are saying but Varane has been out for a month whilst Bailly has played well whenever he has been called upon so I don't get the rush to start a player coming back from a relatively long lay off ahead of someone who has given us the best CB performances this season.

I think people, coaches included, have their first team locked and aren't as open to different ideas or players out of a certain clique and this is hurting us because the chosen ones have allowed complacency to creep in and once it takes hold you can't just turn it off at the flick of the switch. Ralf has come in and seemingly bought into the same idea.

Really? Bailly is always better when he's not actually playing.
 
He has done well, take your blinkers off
He’s had some shaky games as well though, consistency is missing with him.

He plays an unbelievable game and then follows that up immediately with a super shaky performance.

He performs when he’s first brought back in, then can’t really back it up in his next performance. And I actually like the player, so that’s not a dig at him, just frustration that we can’t get the consistency out of him.
 
Maybe Man Utd should just stick me up front and put Rashford on the bench because he is playing poorly. Don’t worry about the fact that I am useless.

He needs to sit on the bench for a few months as an incentive to get better. This will be very helpful to Man Utd’s performances.
He is having a shocker at the minute though, but I know what your getting at… I’d definitely give you game time ahead of Martial though in fairness.
 
Ralf Rangnick is a fantastic interim. We all know Ole should have been amicably replaced in the summer with his mission complete. However that didn’t happen but it can’t be changed now, we have to hope it has taught the board a lesson and that they have learnt from it.

IMO, Ralf is almost the best interim that was available. He is much more than a manger. Its only 6 months so all he needs to do is steady the ship. I'm really pleased that it seems the club are ready to admit they need help and are allowing external expertise (Ralf) to come in to consult for better football decisions. It’s impossible to get a world class manager as an interim mid season. I just hope we can bring in our number one target in the summer.
 
Really bad performance all-round. Slow, lethargic and completely void of ideas on the pitch. But considering the free-fall we had with Ole at the end I guess this is progress? I've said it before, it is way too early to make any judgement but yup, that was really bad.
 
He’s had some shaky games as well though, consistency is missing with him.

He plays an unbelievable game and then follows that up immediately with a super shaky performance.

He performs when he’s first brought back in, then can’t really back it up in his next performance. And I actually like the player, so that’s not a dig at him, just frustration that we can’t get the consistency out of him.

Exactly. I would love Bailly to be consistently good, but he isn't. Even at his best, he's always inches or seconds away from disaster. It's simply how he plays the game.
 
Exactly. I would love Bailly to be consistently good, but he isn't. Even at his best, he's always inches or seconds away from disaster. It's simply how he plays the game.
Yeah he’s ‘controlled chaos’ even at his best.

Frustrating player as he has the attributes to be a good CB.
 
People tqlking about deop
Yeah he’s ‘controlled chaos’ even at his best.

Frustrating player as he has the attributes to be a good CB.

I've often wondered if likes of Bailly could do a job in MF? Not become a mf player as such long term. But simply as a sort of cover or something different until we sign someone.

Probably a daft thought but over the years many a player has adapted their game to become a different cog in a team.

When SAF took over I recall him using McGrath in mf. Think we lost the game.

Not saying it has to be Bailly specifically. Maybe AWB, lindelof...

Don't slate me on this I'm just not feeling mcfred and don't currently see alternatives amongst the youth right now.

Likes of Conte are renown for making players better/good in positions. I'm hoping Ralf has the same mindset.

Or just signs someone in the Jan window
 
There was some encouraging things from last night i liked the way we were fizzing the ball through the lines into the strikers/no10s
This is the only positive I've seen so far. He's clearly instructed our midfield and defence to pass forward more often and there was some really nice balls played into the feet of our attackers in first half yesterday and against Norwich but they didn't make enough of them.

I honestly think our main problem in the three games so far has been our front 4 are absolutely diabolical in possession. Miscontrolling basic passes and messing up basic passes to team mates. This results in us turning over possession every 5 seconds and gifting the opposition a chance to hit us on the counter. Even if we become good at winning the ball back, you can't afford to be losing the ball every 5 seconds and maintain control of the game, we're gifting the opposition too many opportunities to hit us in transition which means we can never get any momentum.

Overall I don't like the formation, doesn't seem to suit our best attacking players and lack of width is a problem. There was nothing majorly wrong in my opinion with the 4231, loads of good teams play this formation. The issue was 3 years of poor coaching and lack of cohesion/understanding between the players, which can be fixed without changing to a completely alien system.
 
If we want to play Ragnicks way then we need to replace Fred, and have a lot better full backs, we have one in Shaw.

Sancho must start for me, we need wide men who can assist and score especially when Ronaldo is rested.
 
People tqlking about deop


I've often wondered if likes of Bailly could do a job in MF? Not become a mf player as such long term. But simply as a sort of cover or something different until we sign someone.

Probably a daft thought but over the years many a player has adapted their game to become a different cog in a team.

When SAF took over I recall him using McGrath in mf. Think we lost the game.

Not saying it has to be Bailly specifically. Maybe AWB, lindelof...

Don't slate me on this I'm just not feeling mcfred and don't currently see alternatives amongst the youth right now.

Likes of Conte are renown for making players better/good in positions. I'm hoping Ralf has the same mindset.

Or just signs someone in the Jan window

Yep. If we're smart we sell Martial and Lingard and buy another CM.
 
Rashford does need to be benched for a few months. So does Luke Shaw. A few weeks isn't gonna cut it.

Maybe you're happy with seeing this group of same players play every match but never getting anywhere near the title. But I'm not.
I would bring Shaw back now because telles is rather shit
 
People tqlking about deop


I've often wondered if likes of Bailly could do a job in MF? Not become a mf player as such long term. But simply as a sort of cover or something different until we sign someone.

Probably a daft thought but over the years many a player has adapted their game to become a different cog in a team.

When SAF took over I recall him using McGrath in mf. Think we lost the game.

Not saying it has to be Bailly specifically. Maybe AWB, lindelof...

Don't slate me on this I'm just not feeling mcfred and don't currently see alternatives amongst the youth right now.

Likes of Conte are renown for making players better/good in positions. I'm hoping Ralf has the same mindset.

Or just signs someone in the Jan window
Yeah it’s been debated a lot and the general consensus is that CB’s at that point in their career find it hard to step into a DM role due to the positional requirements (to be a decent DM.)

It seems a little easier for a DM to drop into a CB role like we’ve seen with Matic or Carrick in the past, but you don’t often see CB’s move into a DM role unless it’s at a young age.

Definitely best to go all out on the best possible DM we can gain in Jan, especially as the Jan window is just a few days away.
 
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.
Let's not pretend that he has had an easy ride during these 3 weeks. New staff, not a full squad to work with because of Covid and let's face it very disjointed squad of player who are far off the physical standard players at Utd should be at. Half of the squad wants to leave the rest is in a deep Euro blues. Let's at least give the guy couple of months, he hasn't lost a match and that for me is something to build on and he is at least honest that we just aren't good enough. What do you want realistically? A club that has been in disarray for 8 years won't get fixed in 5 training sessions and 3 weeks of hard running.
 
Right. He's only been here a few weeks and two games have been postponed. He's had the lurgy to contend with and the loss of some of the coaching staff. He's had to evaluate each player to see where and if they fit with his system and he's got until season's end to get us into the CL places and leave the team in decent shape for the new manager.

Not sure the tone of this, but that's fine, and I'm very much on board, I said when he came there will be some painful performances until we get any consistency.

Only slight concern for me is if he will be able/willing to drop big name players if it's not working, and if we have enough capable players that will learn fast enough or be willing to buy into what he he wants them to do quickly enough for a CL place next season, but if he can move a couple of players out and get at least a midfielder he wants in January then that would be a very good sign.
 
So you went from sticking behind Ole (who was in relegation form) after 3 years in the club to moaning about the new manager after only 3 games.

If I didnt know any better I'd think you came on here to pick a fight instead of discussing the team.
 
Have to see what transpires in a few months. February this team should start getting used to how Ralph wants them to play . Yesterday was awful and got a point. Only thing everyone can do is hope hope hope they got it right!
 
What did you expect from Rangnick? Yes, some people made him sound like The Godfather of football, and thought the treble was on. But really, come on. He has been here for less than a month or so. Started with a few matches within a short space, meaning no real time to train. Then the covid-situation. I mean, he is not doing miracles.
Varane was obviously poor yesterday, after a long break due to injury. But who would you play instead?
Some criticize certain players, and yes, they are not good enough. But what should he do? There are no-one else to play. Greenwood started, and he deserved a chance. But was very poor. Sancho got on, and was equally poor. Rashford was really poor for 90 minutes. The same for midfield.
Just realize it lads, the players are not good enough to play football the way we want. And are not good enough to play like to manager want them to. The ship will be steadied, don't worry. But be realistic. Top 4 seems very far away..
 
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