This is a really good post. Looking at the short term, improvement in performance doesn't always correlate with an improvement in results. We need a bigger sample size to judge the merits of his work. But Ralf has done a lot right thus far and as you say, there has been a cohesion to our last few performances which hasn't been seen in years (finishing aside). I'm content enough for where we are in the process, because the team is actually becoming reasonably good to watch again. And hell, I even loved the fact he spent ages taking selfies with loads of young Burnley fans pre-kick off too, not to mention his cut-the-crap way of operating with the media.
Ralf Rangnick | ex-interim manager | does anyone rate him?
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This is a really good post. Looking at the short term, improvement in performance doesn't always correlate with an improvement in results. We need a bigger sample size to judge the merits of his work. But Ralf has done a lot right thus far and as you say, there has been a cohesion to our last few performances which hasn't been seen in years (finishing aside). I'm content enough for where we are in the process, because the team is actually becoming reasonably good to watch again. And hell, I even loved the fact he spent ages taking selfies with loads of young Burnley fans pre-kick off too, not to mention his cut-the-crap way of operating with the media.
Who is the best option then? The general consensus is it's ETH. Not bizarre at all, I would have backed Ole's team to get wins against Newcastle, Burnley, Boro. Usually we'd say these arent the games you can judge us on as it's a given we should be beating them. Being wasteful against dross teams that are championship level is nothing to be applauded.
Ralfie is discovering the same things Ole had to. Matic can't play more than 60 minutes. Right around now he should be figuring out Fred is absolutely essential.
If there were competent people at the club or if Ralf had done his homework he wouldn't be learning this on the job.
If there were competent people at the club or if Ralf had done his homework he wouldn't be learning this on the job.
Naive as feck. First: all our attackers are shit, and second we always have these small patches of okey/decent play before turning shit again. Best example: Pogba with a couple of decent matches before turning shit for the next 7-8 games. Dont believe anything with this squad. We have seen it all before.
The offensive and defensive transitions are much improved. But unfortunately we haven't taken our chances.
Also reading some of the posts in this thread I think to myself the permanent head coach is gonna be written off pretty quickly. It took ten Hag 6 months to get going at Ajax, amidst much scrutiny/criticism from fans, media and pundits alike.
Also reading some of the posts in this thread I think to myself the permanent head coach is gonna be written off pretty quickly. It took ten Hag 6 months to get going at Ajax, amidst much scrutiny/criticism from fans, media and pundits alike.
Fantastic post - absolutely smashed it!
To be fair Matic was brought on by Ole vs west ham to provide a winning assist for us. Bring on Matic doesn’t mean it’s to secure a score.
It's not bizarre to want ETH but it is bizarre to say "Rangnick hasn't proven to be a title winner like Klopp, lets rule him off after 2 months" and then go on to say "ETH is the long term solution".
They are both extremely contradictory, and you seem to fall under this illusion that there wouldn't be any short term pain under ETH either. Ever manager worth his salt tends to have a rocky ride at the start by way of some unconvincing performances and freak results. However as long as the trajectory of improvement is clear and the control of games gets better and better, you can trust it to normalise more often than not.
Ole generally never controlled games, it normalised and he was found out. Klopp controlled games in time when he started and results normalised as he got more points on the board. Rangnick immediately improved results vs Ole and his control & chance creation in matches shows the disappointing recent results will almost certainly normalise and we'll get more on the board.
If you would back Ole's team against bottom fodder oppositions, you really didn't follow Ole. He fecked up too many times against smaller sides, all too frequently toward the end. He hardly ever controlled matches either. Whether it was his debut season losing 3-0 to an already relegated Huddersfield or his last match losing 4-1 to 20th placed Watford.
Also being wasteful infront of goal isn't a manager issue, it's a player one. Getting Ten Hag doesn't suddenly solve that.
I don't mind being called stuff on the internet, at all, it's just in this case I really feel like you're not giving me justice.
The only topic where I'm repeatedly, consistently stood against posters slagging off Bundesliga, earning me the silly label of "BDL member" in the process, was in rating Sancho, what a fantastic player he is and how he's worth every penny while United fans called him everything from mediocre to horrible, and then as continuation claimed how Bundesliga players flop in PL because the standard is so much lower. I've stuck to that opinion against resistance and at some point, eventually, most United fans will have come to the same conclusion. Not that we'll get an apology then.
That's all. Chelsea fans actually called me an obsessed Werner hater because I made some good-natured fun of him and his limited abilities.
Because it's his actual job to do press conferences and answer press questions.
No it didn't. But comparing Rangnick to Klopp or Pep is a fool's errand, not just because he's not as irresistible as a coach as those two and the change in style is not as obvious and thorough, but also because he's only an interim. He doesn't actually need to start a 'project'. He just needs to lay out some order and get some decent results. And he will do that.
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Of course I know RR is not going to ask him to dribble all the way. But it shows that Rashford is not listening to his coach then.
Ten Hag has pedigree as one of the best up and coming managers in the world. I'd judge him in a similar way to Klopp, that's the point.
Ralf has it all to prove still and whilst controlling games (I saw none of that 2nd half btw) is nice, we need the results now. Controlling games against Burnley and Boro? Really?
Besides, it's almost certain that Ralf isn't staying beyond this season so the steady progress whilst dropping points argument is a bit flawed. Ralf has to sort this quickly and the players need to be more clinical, or we're heading for 6/7th.
I look forward to seeing how you defend him when he starts Maguire again at the weekend.
There is progress under RR and I think it’s pretty obvious to see only 10 games in despite the results.
Under Ole we used to make teams like Burnley look like a prime Barcelona even if we did win from some counter or lucky goal in the end, in most of our post match game threads the majority of the posts read : “we were awful the football was shite but ill take the 3 points”.
We used to start the games awfully and then maybe get better in the second half, we played passively waiting to counter usually with a back 6 and never looked like the team that was in charge on the pitch.
Under RR, we do look like the better team even if the result isn’t always what we want, we create many chances, we start of the games attacking and pressing and have an obvious game plan, and don’t make smaller teams look like prime Barcelona anymore.
I think he is doing a good job with the squad, the football resembles something Manchester United should be playing, we used to play like small team trying to nick a win before. The results will follow I’m sure.
Under Ole we used to make teams like Burnley look like a prime Barcelona even if we did win from some counter or lucky goal in the end, in most of our post match game threads the majority of the posts read : “we were awful the football was shite but ill take the 3 points”.
We used to start the games awfully and then maybe get better in the second half, we played passively waiting to counter usually with a back 6 and never looked like the team that was in charge on the pitch.
Under RR, we do look like the better team even if the result isn’t always what we want, we create many chances, we start of the games attacking and pressing and have an obvious game plan, and don’t make smaller teams look like prime Barcelona anymore.
I think he is doing a good job with the squad, the football resembles something Manchester United should be playing, we used to play like small team trying to nick a win before. The results will follow I’m sure.
Easy to say in hindsight, but I clearly remember the majority having a go at Ole for bringing on defensive minded players where we were chasing a win.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Nice to see someone talking sense.
I don't blame the manager at all, God knows what he's thinking what an absolute mess hes walked into.
What is this based on? He's as unproven as Rangnick is. He's operating in a league where Ajax comfortably generate more money than all of the teams below them. Rangnick's experience involves a harder league and progression with Hoffenheim, Shalke and RB Leipzig.
ETH and Rangnick may well both be top managers. They may be frauds. There is no way anyone can point to one being a sure hit over the other.
Second half we threw away control for a 20 minute period, it's rare for a team to dominate the full 90.
And yes we need results but as stated already, all top managers will experience the initial volatility in results. You can't say "I demand results now now now" and point to alternative managers just because you don't like the fact that proper change will take time.
It's not flawed. Ralph has a philosophy and an approach which doesn't change for any club. He's performing a full reset by way of coaching at the club. It doesn't matter if he's here for 6 months or 6 years, this was always going to take time to see the benefits of.
People should look back to newspaper articles about ETH first year at Ajax. Or listen to Ajax fans. I watched them almost every weekend. He was not far from being booted out. If you expect him to be some kind of saviour that will revamp Utd in 2 months, you are up for a surprise.
Ok let me explain it more, Matic has better passing ability than McTominay, which is why bring on another defensive midfielder like Matic for defensive midfielder like McTominay to chase a win can also make sense.
This is it - but some posters - @mufc just want results yesterday and think ETH would deliver that.
The knee jerk moaning in this thread surpasses even the usual Caf amount. 
Ralf is doing fine with what he has to work with. We improved quite a bit in general play from Ole and are creating tons of chances, as long as that continues, finishing will click at some point, couldn't care less about results this season anymore.
Ralf is doing fine with what he has to work with. We improved quite a bit in general play from Ole and are creating tons of chances, as long as that continues, finishing will click at some point, couldn't care less about results this season anymore.
Our record against the poorer teams in the league has been abysmal for years. Why now, of all seasons, do people expect us to start winning against them consistently? This "well Boro are a championship side" rubbish is also ridiculous considering a newly formed and terrible Turkish side knocked us out of the CL last year. Lets not forget we lost to a 2nd rate Spanish team in the 2nd tier European cup. What a great record we have against the traditionally weaker teams...
I’m more impressed that we can field a Mildfield that isn’t McFred and still control the game.
Having both Bruno and Pogba in the field will definitely lead to better performance soon.
We finished the game with a Mildfield of Bruno, Lingard and Pogba, and we didn’t look chaotic in defence. That is very impressive and just goes to show that we have some form of tactical improvement and control of the game.
Give this man time, the victories will come.
Having both Bruno and Pogba in the field will definitely lead to better performance soon.
We finished the game with a Mildfield of Bruno, Lingard and Pogba, and we didn’t look chaotic in defence. That is very impressive and just goes to show that we have some form of tactical improvement and control of the game.
Give this man time, the victories will come.
I have no doubt those of you slagging Ralf now will be saying exactly the same things 2 months into Pochettino/Ten Hag/whoever-the-feck-else next season. One day you'll realise what the real issue is
Basically anyone who can’t see the progress or thinks somehow Rangnick is an issue right now is completely clueless about football.
Rangnick is not the issue, he's also not the solution. If he was, we'd see better results, better performances, and less drama coming out of the dressing room. We're still as inconsistent as we were under Ole. The players, manager, and coaching staff are ALL to blame for that.
I think it's fair to question the staff he has brought on and his substitutions are questionable at times. We can't see games out due to individual lapses in player judgement. And as Ray Hudson would put it, our forwards couldn't hit a barn door with a hand full of rice.
I don't think there is anyone else available we could have appointed at the time that would have been a better choice. Rangnick until the end of the season makes sense, but if he's given the job permanently, we are fecked before the next season even begins.
I will say this - the impatient fans like in this thread is probably the first ones to be booted . They will be the reason why we will never see anything better from our team. Like our owners, who thinks money can fix anything and are expecting instant results. They should just stick to fifa. The real game doesn't work like that.
There were posters who were unhappy with the game against Norwich. Feck me, that was his 6th day of his United tenure.
Seriously guys - get your heads checked. We are a shit overpaid overrated imbalanced team with a shit owner. It will take years to get this back on track.if you are looking for a shiny new toy every 6 months, we will never reach anywhere.
Imagine the scenes if ETH can't get going from game week 1 .
There were posters who were unhappy with the game against Norwich. Feck me, that was his 6th day of his United tenure.
Seriously guys - get your heads checked. We are a shit overpaid overrated imbalanced team with a shit owner. It will take years to get this back on track.if you are looking for a shiny new toy every 6 months, we will never reach anywhere.
Imagine the scenes if ETH can't get going from game week 1 .
People who keep on talking about knee jerk, impatient fans and issues not being solved over the night, do realize these kind of posts were written about pretty much every single manager we have had post Fergie ?
Like, do you guys ever learn ?
Ralf isn't going to be our permanent manager and under no circumstances he should be. He's not as good as you guys want to believe, full stop. Hasn't shown anything to show otherwise either.
He's just an interim and he doesn't deserve to stay past this season because even as an interim, he has been shit at his job so far.
Like, do you guys ever learn ?
Ralf isn't going to be our permanent manager and under no circumstances he should be. He's not as good as you guys want to believe, full stop. Hasn't shown anything to show otherwise either.
He's just an interim and he doesn't deserve to stay past this season because even as an interim, he has been shit at his job so far.
Fair enough, and who should be the manager for next season then?
It's definitely a better run of results but to be honest I'm worried that we haven't really improved that much or at least as much as I'd hoped we would have with an experienced manager taking over and a new manager bounce. We look slightly better and more solid but the results have still been underwhelming considering the run of opposition we've had since Ralf took over vs the teams we faced in the previous 12 fixtures.
12 games under Rangnick 6 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses. - Palace, Young Boys, Norwich, Newcastle, Burnley x2, Wolves, Villa x2, Brentford, West Ham, Middlesbrough.
Previous 12 results 5 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses. - Villareal x2, Everton, Leicester, Atlanta x2, Liverpool, Spurs, Man City, Watford, Chelsea, Arsenal.
It's also been written about virtually every other manager who starts out at a club, permanent or interim, for a reason. So i'm not sure what your point is?
Our club is a shambles from top to bottom, has been for many years, but you seemingly expect Ralf to come in and within 3 months completely change and revolutionise the club to where we are winning every match with aplomb with incredible football?
We were getting dicked by everyone before he came in, including bottom of the league fodder. He's sturdied up the defense and, if you actually watch how we play recently, we seem to actually be playing better as a team, any match day thread will tell you that, we just don't seem to be able to keep it up consistently yet and the results aren't quite there, but I have faith they will come. If they don't, well we have a new manager in the summer regardless. Has everything he's done been perfect? No. Is he absolved of any criticism? No. But people who are absolutely slagging him and saying we should get rid are absolutely bizarre
Do you really want Ralf fecking Rangnick to stay as our permanent ahead of someone like Ten Hag ?
I'll even take Poch ahead of him considering their very recent career.
Ralf might be a pioneer in his style and all this shit but the reality is he hadn't coached any team before us since 2019 and after that he became mostly a director of football.
He was appointed just as an interim for 6 months. People need to stop convincing us he'll be anything more than that. Pretty sure the club doesn't even think of him more than a 6 months manager.
Exactly this. If you bring Matic, moaners will still moan for bringing a 49 year old pensioner when we needed a goal.
The point is, he did the same against West Ham and it paid off. He was hailed as a genius then. He did the same yesterday and it didn't work. Now he is clueless.
Welcome to Cafe.
Playing 10 minutes with Pogba as lone midfielder and expecting the ball to reach the attackers on its own from defense to attack is stupid.
That's the kind of thinking you'll see when you play FM or Fifa, not real football.
Crowding your front third with attacking players doesn't give you the edge when you have no one to get the ball to them.
Which what happened anyway. We lost any control in the last 10 minutes and barely managed to threaten them. Burnley had an easy 10 minutes to close off the game. Why shouldn't they ? They have only Pogba in midfield whom we all know is a liability in keeping the ball or in deep position. Easiest defensive situation for any team ever.
That's the kind of thinking you'll see when you play FM or Fifa, not real football.
Crowding your front third with attacking players doesn't give you the edge when you have no one to get the ball to them.
Which what happened anyway. We lost any control in the last 10 minutes and barely managed to threaten them. Burnley had an easy 10 minutes to close off the game. Why shouldn't they ? They have only Pogba in midfield whom we all know is a liability in keeping the ball or in deep position. Easiest defensive situation for any team ever.
I didn’t say he should stay on as a permanent manager, I asked you who you think will be best to take us forward.
Ten Hang struggled when he was first appointed as Ajax manager. Same thing happened to Poch when he joined PSG and these two seem like your top 2 candidates.
They both needed time to steady the ship, give Ralf time to steady the ship before you calling him shit.
It’s no guarantee that the next permanent will hit the ground running, what happens if Poch or Ten Hang start off slow?
Just be patient and give the manager time to work with the team.
Noone is saying he is the savior but if this is the support we - as a fans - give a temporary manager who ran into a shower of shit with no investments in Jan and devoid of confidence , imagine how much pressure we would give to someone like ETH who would have spent a good amount of money in summer ?
He will be crucified from minute 1 of game week 1. As I said earlier, the fans are also part of the issue we are facing. We just can't always blame it on owners and players.
He's leaving in 3 months. What time should he get exactly ? I have never seen a debate for giving a 6 months interim manager "more time to work with the team". If anything, the interim is hired to get the best possible results out of the team in a short period before leaving.
Will be cool if this kind of argument is used on our permanent manager who has a 2-3 years contract. Ralf has only 6 months to work here and half of them are already over.
So what time should he get exactly ?
All the complaints should be in the Glazers Out thread.
People cannot see the forest for the trees.
Do people think a new manager will make everything better by waving a magic wand?
People cannot see the forest for the trees.
Do people think a new manager will make everything better by waving a magic wand?
Why so much anger about something that hasn’t even happened yet? He’s simply the interim and there’s next to no sign he’s getting the job full time.
It’s slightly different to any other interim manager. Rangnick is part of the Utd set up for the next few seasons. He was brought in to make the next managers job slightly easier and then they can work together going forward.
I don't think he wants the job on permanent basis anyways. Will get consultancy role from June/July as planned while Pochettino (most probably) takes over as a manager.
Ralf isn’t like any other interim is he?
He has 2 year consulting role after his interim role is done.
He is implementing a style that will be carried forward next season or at the very least help the next manager to have something to work with.
The club took a step forward by hiring Ralf and the work he is doing. Instead of hiring an interim who performs for the reminder of the season and we have to start from scratch next season. We actually have a plan that stands to benefit us in the long run.
Lets also not forget that the targets you mentioned were not available when we hired Ralf, so this is the next best thing the club could have done.
So lets give Ralf time to work with the team so that we can carry the positives over to next season.
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