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

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Rocksy said:
I also get the feeling the consultancy role will not work out. The short-sighted board will look at the performances now and the players being unhappy and will move away from Rangnick. They’ll stick with Murtough and Fletcher, with no experience, like they did with OGS. Having had to coach this group I‘d imagine Ralf will want massive changes (not necessarily massive transfers) and players shipped out and paid to leave. That will probably be too radical for whoever is really making the decisions. The stupid thing is that, in the long run, Ralf being in charge of ins/outs, scouting etc would probably save/make the club hundreds of millions, even if the first couple of years hurt.
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It will take a lot of faith. Do they really understand that the current squad is miles of playing to football? Can they tune out all the criticism of the results to give Ralf time to change things? The board has looked bad for a decade, more likely they make another mistake.

Right now all were seeing is growing pains. Ralf doesn't have squad like Chelsea that just needs a formation change and they'll win the CL. If we can't get him a new midfield then 6 months after that to work with them, then we shouldn't have hired him.
 
One of the rare things the Caf has been in unison of last year is the need to strengthen our midfield. If there’s a lack of funds, can we sell on VDB and our other dross to bring 1 or 2 CMs in?
 
Bebestation said:
He is such an average manager.

We were not controlling the midfield yesterday but he didn't change it. Cavani was done in the second half but decided to keep him on whilst taking off one of the better players last night in Elanga.

Tbh, I don't care if he doesn't get money for a transfer - I have a feeling he will target weak ass players that are like Naby Keita at RB Leipzig that turn to shite in the PL.
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I think it is down to the option he has. There wasn’t anyone who he could replace Matic with
 
Bebestation said:
He is such an average manager.

We were not controlling the midfield yesterday but he didn't change it. Cavani was done in the second half but decided to keep him on whilst taking off one of the better players last night in Elanga.

Tbh, I don't care if he doesn't get money for a transfer - I have a feeling he will target weak ass players that are like Naby Keita at RB Leipzig that turn to shite in the PL.
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Bebestation said:
He is such an average manager.

We were not controlling the midfield yesterday but he didn't change it. Cavani was done in the second half but decided to keep him on whilst taking off one of the better players last night in Elanga.

Tbh, I don't care if he doesn't get money for a transfer - I have a feeling he will target weak ass players that are like Naby Keita at RB Leipzig that turn to shite in the PL.
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Not his fault, that's all he's ever known.
 
pratyush_utd said:
I think it is down to the option he has. There wasn’t anyone who he could replace Matic with
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No he had but he also would have to change formation accordingly like he said after the match. But he spent too much time wondering what if then they scored.

I've been supporting him but I started to realise why he hasn't been a successful manager. Guy definitely has the knowledge but simply too indecisive. There's no time for wondering what if in a football match.

However I do hope we'd stick with his football. That 30' yesterday was one of the best football I've seen at United for years. Villa didn't manage a single shot in that 30'.

This season is written off already given the divided dressing room and off field issues we're having. Make him our DoF and let him sign a new coach, preferably Ten Hag. Buy at least a good defensive midfielder and if possible a new RB. Raise the fitness and stamina level of the whole squad so they can run and press for the whole 90' instead of the current 30'. Get rid of the ones who can't or don't want to. Martial, Matic and Ronaldo for example. We actually don't need fancy signings just decent young, hungry, full of energy players. Then we'll be pretty good imo.
 
Amadaeus said:
I don't know why fans keep repeating this myth i.e., we have poor midfield and Fred and mct is the worst midfield united have ever had. Any true united fan will know that under Fergie we have had much worse, yet we still won a lot. For example, Gibson, o'shea, Anderson, cleverly, posibon, milne, djemba-djemba, klberson and so much more. Mct and Fred aren't close to being our worse midfield ever, yet alone the worse mid in premier league. I rather have mct and Fred over any midfield pairing below the bottom ten premier league team.
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Premier League football has moved on since then, next year it will be 10 years since Fergie is retired nevermind the times when he used to play oshea djemba2x etc in midfield. Time to wake up finally
 
flappyjay said:
Let's not rewrite history the last minutes of the 1st half and the 2nd half they were all over us not just the last 20. We are clearly disorganized defensively. As for energy we had donny and Lingard on the bench. We had enough to close out a a match.
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They were not all over us at all, it was a classic case of commentators getting over-excited whenever an opponent has a shot against us and our general nervousness as a fanbase right now.

Until around the 70th-minute, I thought the game was under control and a 3rd goal for us was more likely than a goal for them.
 
We wont see the benefit of what this guy is about until we have a midfield that can control a game for 90 minutes.
 
Honestly, dont think ralf will make it at united and the reason is becoz of some critical issues. He has stepped into the lying realm. This is where the manager claims that his team played better than they did. He said the first 30 min at aston villa where the best we have played under him. Hell no, not even close. We still cant attack with anything resembling team play and we definitely dont press as a team. Game after game, half after half, the team plays horrible and I see him lie more and more. Secondly, he never turns the tide of a game with some half time instructions to the players or by making the right subs. This issue is rarely really fixed by a manager no matter how many games you give him. Even under ole, this point was evident in the last 10 games of his first sesson...but we chose to ignore it. Lastly, he still gives chances to the wrong players. Look, mctominay and fred will never make it long term at united. So why waste time, why not give van de beek a chance. He has better odds. Same thing with Elanga over amad and rashford over sancho. Long story short, we still look like we dont train or if we do...we train the basics. We can wait till the end of the season, but I dont think these issues will change. Infact, I dont think we will make top 4 under ralf...we are just too disorganised in our olay.
 
I knew nothing of RR but before we got him I asked a question and I stand by it, "why was he managing at Locomotiv Moscow if he was even of 'United' quality". Surely if he was any good he would have been brought in by a bigger club.

Also , the fact that he snubbed an offer to be interim at Chelsea because he doesn't like the idea of starting mid-season but then a few weeks later he took it on at United because we threw in a cozy job upstairs afterwards makes me doubt his self belief and his intentions.

Basically he is isnt up to the job and knows it so he is going to piss about until the end of the season trying new formations and such, move upstairs, appoint a new manager that actually knows what they are doing then kick back.

His appointment is going to cost us a few decent players when we don't get top 4

I genuinely don't know why we even needed an interim. Should have got a new manager in summer. It was Conte for me all day long
 
pratyush_utd said:
I think it is down to the option he has. There wasn’t anyone who he could replace Matic with
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Wasn't Jones on the bench? At 2-0, Jones and Donny for Matic and Cavani was the sub to make so that we see out the match with Jones at DM, who is more combative and a midfield diamond for more control.

I respect what RR has done in the game but he is a bit shit relying on the same collective that was run into the ground by Ole which eventually sank him. He basically stood by and watched helplessly as the team limped towards defeat. That was inexcusable incompetence.
 
The United said:
And could have put Lingard, DVB etc this game to keep the intensity/energy a bit more at around 60 mins. Pressing early was not the issue. Not keeping/changing the shape or at least not fixing it was.
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That's true, however, Ralf isn't a big fan of rotation. So I'll stand by my point, I doubt we'll use intense pressing as a tool next game.
 
yipthatman said:
I knew nothing of RR but before we got him I asked a question and I stand by it, "why was he managing at Locomotiv Moscow if he was even of 'United' quality". Surely if he was any good he would have been brought in by a bigger club.

Also , the fact that he snubbed an offer to be interim at Chelsea because he doesn't like the idea of starting mid-season but then a few weeks later he took it on at United because we threw in a cozy job upstairs afterwards makes me doubt his self belief and his intentions.

Basically he is isnt up to the job and knows it so he is going to piss about until the end of the season trying new formations and such, move upstairs, appoint a new manager that actually knows what they are doing then kick back.

His appointment is going to cost us a few decent players when we don't get top 4

I genuinely don't know why we even needed an interim. Should have got a new manager in summer. It was Conte for me all day long
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Well for a start he wasn’t managing Lokomotiv Moscow
 
yipthatman said:
I knew nothing of RR but before we got him I asked a question and I stand by it, "why was he managing at Locomotiv Moscow if he was even of 'United' quality". Surely if he was any good he would have been brought in by a bigger club.

Also , the fact that he snubbed an offer to be interim at Chelsea because he doesn't like the idea of starting mid-season but then a few weeks later he took it on at United because we threw in a cozy job upstairs afterwards makes me doubt his self belief and his intentions.

Basically he is isnt up to the job and knows it so he is going to piss about until the end of the season trying new formations and such, move upstairs, appoint a new manager that actually knows what they are doing then kick back.

His appointment is going to cost us a few decent players when we don't get top 4

I genuinely don't know why we even needed an interim. Should have got a new manager in summer. It was Conte for me all day long
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He wasn’t managing Moscow, he didn’t turn down the Chelsea job this season.
 
Rangnick inherited an unbalanced, overrated, massively paid with poor attitude huge squad with 2 summer signings who are barely good enough to start (Elanga > the English Messi), 3 EPL level goalkeepers, around 8 wingers but with only one DM whose 33 years old. Getting Rangnick now was also stupid. His gegenpressing is completely opposite to whatever Ole's 'tactics' (smiling and saying fantastic?) entailed. This upheaval might make sense if the club wanted a change of direction but its horrible if it wants to stir the ship safely to port for next season.

However there are some things I disagree with the guy. His 4-2-2-2 system (which he ratified) and his inability to make subs which costed us.

I'd say he should be allowed to sign 2 CM. If Ole was allowed to waste 415m largely on mid table signings then surely the godfather of gegenpressing deserves 60m-70m on 2 CM.
 
If we manage to get Ten Hag but don’t buy a proper DM, redcafe is going to want him sacked by November tbh.
 
I swear most of you all think a manager includes a magic wand…..have some patience at least you can see what he’s trying to do, which for the last manager you couldn’t even see that.

Give the guy some time. But of course, this is the CAF, we don’t give time.
 
Most disappointing thing for him is how he basically did feck all during the 2nd half in which Matic was getting drowned step by step. Yeah Fred did well in that advanced position for the 2nd goal but after that, he should have been asked to stay close to Nemanja and protect the middle.
Rangnick is not a very good tactician tbh but I don't even understand the point of having him in this temporary role anymore. It makes no sense to me. Even if the options aren't great, leaving Matic out there was criminal and let's not even mention the pointless late subs of Lingard/DVB
 
AneRu said:
Wasn't Jones on the bench? At 2-0, Jones and Donny for Matic and Cavani was the sub to make so that we see out the match with Jones at DM, who is more combative and a midfield diamond for more control.

I respect what RR has done in the game but he is a bit shit relying on the same collective that was run into the ground by Ole which eventually sank him. He basically stood by and watched helplessly as the team limped towards defeat. That was inexcusable incompetence.
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Er, did they not limp to a 2-2 draw rather than a defeat?
 
Xk byno said:
This is what happens when you keep hiring sh.it. Managers from Moyes down to Ralf rag... After SAF retired klopp was available, even pep took a one year sabbatical leave yet we appointed Moyes and old LVG. conte was available but we went for regressing mourinho. Nangelsmann was available we keep persisting on clueless ole. Conte became available again for the second time we still keep hoping for ole to come good until when the inevitable happens, we went for a man whom we didn't even fancy before for a dof role. This is how we wasted a whole decade.
How sure are we, that this board members will get it right this time?
Please get ETH please.
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Cannot disagree with any of this.
 
kouroux said:
Most disappointing thing for him is how he basically did feck all during the 2nd half in which Matic was getting drowned step by step. Yeah Fred did well in that advanced position for the 2nd goal but after that, he should have been asked to stay close to Nemanja and protect the middle.
Rangnick is not a very good tactician tbh but I don't even understand the point of having him in this temporary role anymore. It makes no sense to me. Even if the options aren't great, leaving Matic out there was criminal and let's not even mention the pointless late subs of Lingard/DVB
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There's no going back now, so just stick with the plan, get to the summer hire ETH or Poch, and hope that Rangnick's first hand experience of the squad reaps benefits in his new role.
 
kouroux said:
For sure. There is no going back so let's finish this horrible season already
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I agree, it's likely going to be grim for the next few months. But the bar has been set so low that I still just happy enough with Ole gone, and us having some sort of legible plan this time.
 
UnitedSofa said:
I swear most of you all think a manager includes a magic wand…..have some patience at least you can see what he’s trying to do, which for the last manager you couldn’t even see that.

Give the guy some time. But of course, this is the CAF, we don’t give time.
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I'm all for giving time and I still have faith in Ralf, as I do believe his ideas are needed.
However I also think he should have reacted yesterday - Matic especially should have been taken out and Jones/anyone put in dm instead of a very static Matic.
 
UnitedSofa said:
I swear most of you all think a manager includes a magic wand…..have some patience at least you can see what he’s trying to do, which for the last manager you couldn’t even see that.

Give the guy some time. But of course, this is the CAF, we don’t give time.
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Ralf’s on to a loser really and he’s starting to cut a frustrated figure on the touch line.

The squads a mess, we’ve got players who’ve thrown their toys out of the pram because he’s told them some home truths, we’ve got players who apparently won’t even turn up to games now.

What authority does he actually have? He’s under the impression he’s going to be around for a few years but the club are acting like he’s not going to be here past the summer.

Give him a fecking midfielder and get rid of VDB, Lingard and Martial this window. How hard is that? Or are they hoping that the new manager comes in during the summer and these players become world class overnight?
 
Wing Attack Plan R said:
Rangnick is not responsible for Fred not knowing how to pass a ball, being as easy to brush off as a fallen leaf, and having the first touch of an 8 year-old. RR picked him to play, but what are the other options?

RR failed today with his subs. We could have managed the game better with early subs and getting Fred and Matic and Cavani off the pitch. Leaving them on hurt us. Beyond that, at least RR has a plan, which Ole did not.
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He’s responsible for starting him and that’s the point. We keep playing starting Fred every single game even though he’s prone to so many errors. He may have got the assist for Bruno’s goal but let’s Villa back into the game. He’s a clumsy player which is an awful trait for a CM. We lack midfielders but to not give Donny even a chance to prove he’s better than McFred sickens me at this point.
 
UnitedSofa said:
Well for a start he wasn’t managing Lokomotiv Moscow
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My mistake, so he wasn't even managing? My point is that he was unheard of for a lot of people before United interest. No doubt a lot knew of him too but I bet they had a read up on him after United got on board.
 
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Baneofthegame said:
He wasn’t managing Moscow, he didn’t turn down the Chelsea job this season.
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I thought he said himself that he was offered the Chelsea position as interim. Maybe I'm wrong. Good job we have people like you that know everything and are so certain.
 
UncleBob said:
Not really, Ole taking over from Mourinho under very similar circumstances is easily an example of the exact opposite. Plenty of interim managers come in and do an excellent job turning things around, it's hardly a problem in itself and everyone is well aware that Ralf is continuing at Manchester United afterwards and it's not like he won't have a major say in players in and players out.

I'm genuinely surprised at how poor Ralf has been at addressing issues during matches, he talks the talk about being proactive but completely fails to notice when things are about to go to shits and what he needs to change. Cavani was running on fumes around the 60th min, he'd been useless, sub him the feck off at 2-0 and stick Greenwood up top with an extra midfielder to compensate for Matic looking slower and slower out there. Elanga looked like he'd taken a knock, seemed in pain on the bench with his foot being checked, so that substitution for an attacker is fair enough.

If we had to play the same Liverpool and City sides over the next two weeks as we did before Ole was sacked, does anyone really think the results wouldn't be embarrassing for us, again. Yes, we're certainly playing with a more obvious pattern on the pitch but we're still shit.
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Difference being the squad was unhappy with the manager under Jose, when he left half the problem was solved. In our current situation the players are unhappy due to lack of gametime or their contracts are running down.

I agree with your match management though I have been expecting more from Ralf, it was obvious yesterday we was getting overrun in midfield Donny should have been on much sooner.
 
Josep Dowling said:
He’s responsible for starting him and that’s the point. We keep playing starting Fred every single game even though he’s prone to so many errors. He may have got the assist for Bruno’s goal but let’s Villa back into the game. He’s a clumsy player which is an awful trait for a CM. We lack midfielders but to not give Donny even a chance to prove he’s better than McFred sickens me at this point.
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He's also responsible for his positioning very high, it was mad how high Fred went with his press. Of course it worked for the 2nd goal but after that there was no need to persist with this. It left Matic way too isolated
 
yipthatman said:
I thought he said himself that he was offered the Chelsea position as interim. Maybe I'm wrong. Good job we have people like you that know everything and are so certain.
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No need to be snide, he was just pointing out that what you claimed wasn’t even true, and rightly so. If you’re going to talk down the manager at this early stage at least do it with facts, not some nonsense that fits your agenda.
 
He’s definitely being hamstrung by our midfield. We were very good for 30 minutes yesterday but then we just seemed to run out of steam.

I don’t know why the club are not backing him in this window and making moves. You can say he’s only an interim but his long term job after that is to build the club back up behind the scenes, which is effectively a director of football role. Surely then he will still be the one putting forward signings? Just let him get the players he wants and put the style in, so the permanent person in the summer can carry on his work.
 
Toblerone92 said:
No need to be snide, he was just pointing out that what you claimed wasn’t even true, and rightly so. If you’re going to talk down the manager at this early stage at least do it with facts, not some nonsense that fits your agenda.
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I have no agenda. I just think we couldn't get anyone due to waiting to long because of loyalty to Ole and poor planning. Then we settled for someone way down the pecking order who is probably not all that good.
 
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I still trust him, especially as a DOF type figure. It just seems that his hands are tied and, week by week, it appears as though his spirit and authority is waning. The biggest problem is that so many of our squad are overpaid. It's not a simple situation because we need to get these guys shifted for morale and financial reasons but 1) to realistically get rid of them we need to accept terrible deals (and maybe that is what ends up happening), such as paying big percentages of their wages which, of course, sets a bad precedent and 2) we lose bodies in a time when, say, 17 players can be ruled out at once with COVID.

Rangnick is playing it subtly in the media - alluding to big problems while being professional yet not especially positive. I'm not hearing any "I'll sort this mess out" type rhetoric which kinda implies to me that Ralf isn't sure he can because there's too much opposition/apathy/foolishness from upper management. I suspect he's been told to express desire to keep Donny, Henderson and co because the club wants to keep negotiating leverage; not because he actually wants them. He may also be being pragmatic there. Let's say he sells Donny but Ten Hag comes in - chances are, VDB is a big part of the latter's plans.

I don't doubt that some of the reported 'injuries' are actually Ralf dropping the players for disciplinary reasons.

Unfortunately, years of mismanagement, especially when it comes to wages and poor scouting, are hamstringing the club dramatically. I think this one is beyond Ralf. He won't be allowed to do the job that he could actually do really well. He'll not do a great job as an interim manager due to all the problems and this will undermine his already weak and token consultancy position. I bet he walks in the summer. Hate to be so pessimistic but the club seems so badly run and I'm not seeing anywhere near enough signs of hope.
 
I am not claiming to be a bloody manager, but with 20 minutes to go I would have changed to a 3-5-1-1 and defended that 2 goal lead. Really think the changes were late and wrong.
PS. We need a couple of midfielders. One we can get for 6 million. Why are the board not backing him. ??
 
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Jezpeza said:
well whatever. Last two games have still been poor. My impression so far is the tumescent 442 and the lack of basics still in us. Cant exactly argue that. 4231, 433. Doesnt matter, hes playing tumescent crap
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As I said when I bumped the thread, I thought yesterday was the first time we didn't play tumescent crap. If it weren't for some terrible subs we'd have had a good away win.
 
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