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

[romufc]

By Ralfs 6 game in charge, what would you want to see from the team? And I’m presuming we also make definitive assessments of everyone we appoint after 5 games moving forward?

A change in style, something different maybe?

 

[romufc]

RR was brought in as an interim and with the knowledge that he hasn't been a hands on coach consistently throughout his career, his entire pull is the off the field planning and 'club building' that he is renowned for. His coaching remit is to put the basics of an offensive pressing system in place before the end of the season and that is now going to fall more and more on the 1st team coaches as that's not his strength. The issue isn't missing out on top four (as bad as that would be) it's that we have been on a slow and sticky downward spiral since SAF left and that fall needs to not only be stopped but also reversed. Recruitment was woeful under Ole and that was after the supposedly amazing transfer committee was formed, we also need to bring through more academy products. The club needs to completely change how it forward plans and recruits. Forget about seeing good football this season, at least not until Feb/Mar consistently.

Fine, for a second let me buy into what you are saying. If the issue is not about getting top 4, why start Matic, Cavani and the players?

If he is here to build for the future, are you telling me these players have a future at United?

What academy players? Greenwood is the best player and is replaced?

Ole used to get criticised for this, yet Ralf gets nothing?

 

[bond19821982]

By Ralfs 6 game in charge, what would you want to see from the team? And I’m presuming we also make definitive assessments of everyone we appoint after 5 games moving forward?

Sorry, the question is wrong. I need instant results and want us to win all matches. You guys blamed Ole for everything and see how it has turned out. Ole should have stayed on.

I don't care if the players had covid or an extended time of training, you need to show me results after 4 or 5 games. After all, we only conceded 5 against Liverpool, 5 against Watford and 5 against Leicester.

 

[RuudTom83]

1 week until Aston Villa, Ralf has seen them live in a few matches now and has his coaches in Manchester.

Lets hope to see some improvement in the next game.

 

[Ixion]

I get the impression he thinks the article reflects badly on the manager, when really it shows the players up.

Yeah I think like the report of players having to finish when its dark out would somehow drum up sympathy for them and like that it just makes them look totally unprofessional.

 

[bushyzor]

He just simply has too much work to do to turn one of the most passive teams in the league under Solskjaer, into a proactive, front-foot pressing unit. United's statistics compared to other Premier League teams this season are pretty damning:

• Tackles attempted: 18th
• Tackles won: 19th
• No. of times pressing an opponent player: 18th
• No. of times gained possession within 5 seconds of pressing: 15th
• Pressures in the middle third of the pitch: 15th
• Pressures in the attacking third: 17th

Thanks to Solskjaer, we're a team that sits deep, doesn't run very much and looks to clear the ball out of defence, rather than win it higher up the pitch:

• No. of clearances: 5th

It is going to take a long time to transform this squad from a rich man's Burnley into something fit for the modern game.

Great post. It’s crazy to see how quickly people are turning on RR. He needs to be given some time to work with the players. If the performances haven’t improved by the end of the season then sure, I’ll also be critical of him, but not in his first few weeks of being here.

The group of players we have have been playing a reactive and passive game for years under both Ole and Mou. No one is going to be able to undo that in a few training sessions. It’s going to take time.

 

[Hugh Jass]

He has had a good career but this is the PL. I am basing it on what I see infront of my eyes.

he hasn't been a manager in the last 18 months, he is not a coach.

He is good at giving the large one on control, pressing but we end up doing EXACTLY what we did under Ole.

I was told by the Caf that Ole was so bad that a half decent coach would get a tune out of us... I mean he has been in charge for 6 weeks and there is 0 difference.

When Ole came in, we saw a change of style and results
When Tuchel came into Chelsea we saw instant impact
When Klopp went to Liverpool we saw an instant impact.

Even if results dont go their way, the style, philosophy was there to be seen.

If you showed the performance under Ole v Ralf no one would guess there is a different manager.

One was deemed a Ole Ole Ole I love you and one is deemed a master.

Took Klopp about two years to perfect. I used be laughing at them so much initially when he took charge.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Fine, for a second let me buy into what you are saying. If the issue is not about getting top 4, why start Matic, Cavani and the players?

If he is here to build for the future, are you telling me these players have a future at United?

What academy players? Greenwood is the best player and is replaced?

Ole used to get criticised for this, yet Ralf gets nothing?

Why would you need to buy into what I am saying, that's exactly why he was hired.

As for your questions RR can't change history, he has the players he has at the club and he's barely had any training session with the full squad due to covid/Carrington closing. He's going with senior experienced players and so far it's been ugly but ok (10/15 points in the PL) but the issue is really in whatever is going on behind the scenes which you suspect is some kid of player divide. Can he sort that out? I don't know but at least he will address it unlike Ole pretended everything was great.

Re academy products, the fact you've asked is exactly the point.

You can't really reference Tuchel at Chelsea because he came in and most of the team had played 3 at the back under Conte who is arguably the best at training that system in the world.

Klopp's Pool were a shambles for the first year or two - you could see the attacking movement coming but defensively they were all over the place. Pep even with huge spending had a poor first season. Ole had the bounce (which was also a ridiculously easy run of games) and then we nosedived and had the worst form i can remember from a United team to end the season. Very few managers, bar Conte at Chelsea if I think about it, come in first season, put in a new tactical style in place and are immediately successful.

 

[Barthez]

In Ralf we trust. You can’t keep blaming manager after manager….

 

[Anustart89]

It’s in the eye of the beholder isn’t it? Shaw’s interview yesterday felt like an indictment of his teammates as well but he concluded by basically throwing a gauntlet to the manager that he hopes to see more ideas on the training pitch.

It’s pretty obvious that the reason that they can’t make accurate, basic, passes or give the ball to a player in a better position than themselves is because the manager hasn’t pushed that idea to them. I mean, you have to tell Luke Shaw et al to pass the ball accurately for it to happen on the pitch.

If I were Rangnick, I’d be in training today showing the Cavani non-pass to Greenwood, Sancho non-pass to Ronaldo and Rashford’s pathetic attempt at a through ball saying “here’s an idea, pass the fecking ball properly”.

 

[BlueHaze]

With this group of pompous arrogant crap players we have we all know this season won't end well. These crybabies only play well for a short period if they have someone who is a sheer motivator and makes everyone happy. That says it all for you, they need someone to motivate them to play for Man United.

Rangnick has come in and thought he could have this group of toddlers play his gegenpressing type football, gegendepressing more like it. They are already crying and moaning and have lost 5 points to Newcastle and Wolves.

Said it countless times, for a club this size we have far too many passengers.

 

[VanDeBank]

Similar leaks happened under LVG and Jose so its someone like Lingard, Shaw, Jones, DDG that when things are going difficult want to throw the manager under the bus. I doubt Lingard gives a shit now he's leaving so I doubt its him.

That's seem so weird. All of those were mainstays under LVG.

 

[GaryLifo]

Can't wait for Ten Haag or Pochettino to come in, in the summer and then be dismissed as crap when they don't turn us into prime Barcelona within 3 matches.

You cannot fix the utter mess that Ole left behind in 5 minutes.

 

[horsechoker]

Can't wait for Ten Haag or Pochettino to come in, in the summer and then be dismissed as crap when they don't turn us into prime Barcelona within 3 matches.

You cannot fix the utter mess that Ole left behind in 5 minutes.

Poch:
Why did we hire some PSG reject who couldn't win the champions league with Neymar, mbap, and messi?

ETh:
Why did we hire someone who has never managed at the top level nor managed big players?

 

[Cassidy]

It was certainly more thought out than the three words you wrote.


He said in his very first press conference that prior to joining us, he watched our games against Liverpool, City, Watford, Chelsea and Arsenal (the day before that presser).

Seriously so he watched some games on TV, what does that tell him about players who did not play / were not getting picked by the previous manager?
What does that tell him about who was performing in training etc, seriously?

Prior to the Wolves game, he had managed us for 5 games (Crystal Palace, Young Boys, Norwich, Newcastle and Burnley).

He is starting to make some of his own decisions now for instance he dropped Rashford and Fred, but at the moment he is still very much getting to know the squad

 

[Cassidy]

He has had a good career but this is the PL. I am basing it on what I see infront of my eyes.

he hasn't been a manager in the last 18 months, he is not a coach.

He is good at giving the large one on control, pressing but we end up doing EXACTLY what we did under Ole.

I was told by the Caf that Ole was so bad that a half decent coach would get a tune out of us... I mean he has been in charge for 6 weeks and there is 0 difference.

When Ole came in, we saw a change of style and results
When Tuchel came into Chelsea we saw instant impact
When Klopp went to Liverpool we saw an instant impact.

Even if results dont go their way, the style, philosophy was there to be seen.

If you showed the performance under Ole v Ralf no one would guess there is a different manager.

One was deemed a Ole Ole Ole I love you and one is deemed a master.

Well maybe that is why...

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Did he explain the Greenwood sub?

 

[allen7]

Honestly we are better in defensive shape and more attacking intent with some vertical passes. These are the improvements i see so far.
what we need more is pressing the opponent at dangerous positions, fullbacks involvement while attacking and obviously midfield control.

 

[berbatrick]

Wow. I was hoping it was an injury. He was the only good non-defensive player. Take off Sancho, Cavani, even Ronaldo before him.

 

[crossy1686]

Sorry, the question is wrong. I need instant results and want us to win all matches. You guys blamed Ole for everything and see how it has turned out. Ole should have stayed on.

I don't care if the players had covid or an extended time of training, you need to show me results after 4 or 5 games. After all, we only conceded 5 against Liverpool, 5 against Watford and 5 against Leicester.

Fecking madness the expectations in here sometimes isn’t it?

 

[RedDevil@84]

Sounds similar to what Ole used to do. Doesn't matter how Greenwood performed on the pitch, but he will get subbed first.

 

[Ixion]

I thought the reaction to taking off Greenwood was OTT. I didn't expect him to be the one subbed but aside from the killer pass in the first half he didn't create anything or trouble the keeper himself. Like Rangnick said he was one of the better players but not exceptional, I wouldn't want Mason himself to be thinking his performance last night was where it needs to be.

It does make me think though that fans are starting to look at the cons of having Ronaldo and Cavani for a season though, it's all well and good if you're going to be challenging but if not then it's pointless and you should be looking to the future.

 

[crossy1686]

Yeah I think like the report of players having to finish when its dark out would somehow drum up sympathy for them and like that it just makes them look totally unprofessional.

Imagine your only issue was finishing training when it’s dark?

Maybe that’s the reason we’re shit in the late games? Our players don’t like the dark?

 

[allen7]

I think greenwood is the only player who clearly understood his system and played between the lines multiple times. The problem is we don’t have strikers who skillfully drop deep and move further more of like greenwood passing into the 4-2-4 formation front line.

 

[mu4c_20le]

By Ralfs 6 game in charge, what would you want to see from the team? And I’m presuming we also make definitive assessments of everyone we appoint after 5 games moving forward?

Conte's first six games in charge

3-2 Vitesse
0-0 Everton
2-1 Leeds
1-2 Mura
2-0 Brentford
3-0 Norwich

Some goals would be nice. We've only scored more than one goal in two of his games, Arsenal and Burnley.

 

[Bastian]

I'm 100% behind him, but he really needs to be ruthless now. And he may have to utilise the media to exert pressure. He's got nothing to lose really. Well, maybe a pot of Glazer stolen gold, but his reputation is at stake here.

 

[Ralph1386]

Seriously so he watched some games on TV, what does that tell him about players who did not play / were not getting picked by the previous manager?
What does that tell him about who was performing in training etc, seriously?

Seriously between 5 games on TV and 6 games on the pitch it already tells him a lot about the underperforming players and the ones who shouldn’t be starting. Seriously. Seriously?

 

[GaryLifo]

Poch:
Why did we hire some PSG reject who couldn't win the champions league with Neymar, mbap, and messi?

ETh:
Why did we hire someone who has never managed at the top level nor managed big players?

Yep... reckon you're spot on with this. Players who have failed time and again, some under more than one manager.... and people want to sack the interim boss after 5 games. You couldn't make it up.

 

[oreon]

Can't wait for Ten Haag or Pochettino to come in, in the summer and then be dismissed as crap when they don't turn us into prime Barcelona within 3 matches.

You cannot fix the utter mess that Ole left behind in 5 minutes.

Stop. Ole didn't create the mess it was there when he came in. Just because he wasn't the solution doesn't mean he should be blamed for the current state. This goes all the way to the SAF era when CR7 was sold. We lost him and then Tevez and the money wasn't properly reinvested in the club. SAF allowed the squad to age and left Moyes with a squad that needed complete rebuild. Ed when we finally started to invest wasted a ton of money & fired a lot managers. So here we are. With millions of dollars wasted and no closer to a title then when SAF left the club

 

[oreon]

Yep... reckon you're spot on with this. Players who have failed time and again, some under more than one manager.... and people want to sack the interim boss after 5 games. You couldn't make it up.

Sack an interim so we can hire another interim and then hire a manager who failed to win the French farmers league with PSG. Yeah the logic from some fans makes no sense

 

[sparx99]

Conte's first six games in charge

3-2 Vitesse
0-0 Everton
2-1 Leeds
1-2 Mura
2-0 Brentford
3-0 Norwich

Some goals would be nice. We've only scored more than one goal in two of his games, Arsenal and Burnley.

Arsenal he wasn't in charge for.

 

[GaryLifo]

Stop. Ole didn't create the mess it was there when he came in. Just because he wasn't the solution doesn't mean he should be blamed for the current state. This goes all the way to the SAF era when CR7 was sold. We lost him and then Tevez and the money wasn't properly reinvested in the club. SAF allowed the squad to age and left Moyes with a squad that needed complete rebuild. Ed when we finally started to invest wasted a ton of money & fired a lot managers. So here we are. With millions of dollars wasted and no closer to a title then when SAF left the club

I didn't say the whole mess was Ole's fault. If you check my post history you'll see I was one of those defending Ole up until this season. I'm citing his mess as he's the most recent one in a long line of failures.

You are correct that there was an issue as far back as having no proper plan to follow Ferguson.

 

[marcus agrippa]

Took Klopp about two years to perfect. I used be laughing at them so much initially when he took charge.

With Klopp, I could see clear signs of a different type of Liverpool. He had them playing differently from Rogers. I remember Lallana getting subbed off near collapse because he'd run so much.

I'm struggling to see what's different about Rangnick's United from Solskjaer's. That's what worries me. I need something to buy into.

 

[GaryLifo]

Sack an interim so we can hire another interim and then hire a manager who failed to win the French farmers league with PSG. Yeah the logic from some fans makes no sense

You've massively missed the point of this post fella.

We are being satirical

 

[Matt851]

Honestly we are better in defensive shape and more attacking intent with some vertical passes. These are the improvements i see so far.
what we need more is pressing the opponent at dangerous positions, fullbacks involvement while attacking and obviously midfield control.

Are we actually any better defensively or have we just played a succession of the worst teams in the league? Even wolves can't really score goals

 

[sparx99]

With Klopp, I could see clear signs of a different type of Liverpool. He had them playing differently from Rogers. I remember Lallana getting subbed off near collapse because he'd run so much.
I'm struggling to see what's different about Rangnick's United from Solskjaer's. That's what worries me. I need something to buy into.

The context matters though. We've had a huge covid outbreak, busy fixture list, little training time, complete coaching staff change, and low confidence. It's not exactly ideal for implementing new ideas.

This comes back to why Ole should have been sacked before the international window. It would have given us time. Fingers crossed a full week of training will help.

 

[Castia]

I’ve heard the players have been given 2 days off? They’ve just had 2 weeks off through covid and played about 2 games in 3 weeks isn’t it MORE training that’s needed? ridiculous

 

[Sandikan]

I had been getting LVG vibes so far, but weirdly there is a lot of Mourinho in what we've seen on the pitch.

Ronaldo/Cavani striker partnership is Mou all over, as is the safety first approach and reversion to long ball tactics.

His straight talking nature around the players is also Mourinho-esque, this is going to be quite jarring for the players who were constantly protected by Ole. They need a kick up the arse, but are they going to take it from a man who is only in the job for six months max?

Not saying either approach to man management is right or wrong, more just making an observation that this appointment has been another random twist, rather than a logical step in terms of our overall evolution.

How do you get LVG vibes out of interest?

His footy was tedious and made very few chances, but he was the only manager we've had since Fergie who had a very definite way of playing, a proper system.
We got a few tasters of genuine control, in a couple of purple patches where it looked like he'd really cracked it.

The irony, is that a Ronaldo in his system could have been magnificient!

 

[VanDeBank]

He's made some poor decisions like not instantly dropping Maguire (he's been atrocious all season) and implementing a new formation.

An interim should be short sighted, not implementing some grander philosophy and auditioning for the permanent job.

Right guy, wrong role. At least we got it half right. Too bad his job upstairs wont mean crap. He should've been our TD not a consultant with no power.

 

[#07]

When we played Crystal Palace it felt like there was an idea being implemented. It wasn't perfect. It was there though. At least for 45-60 minutes.

Since that point we have regressed massively. I would love to hear why from Ralf himself.

Are the players not listening? Has he decided they can't do what he needs them to? Has the English league changed his approach? We need answers.