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

[edcunited1878]

Murtough has been a long admirer of Ralf and brought him to the club when in need. He's not going to bin him off. Ralf will be working behind the scenes and doesn't need to physically be in Manchester or even England.

He's seen what he's seen, experienced what he's experienced, and coupled with his own experience developing football playing systems/structures that include player identification, player assessment, etc....he'll continue to have his say.

 

[Roario]

Rangnick: "We haven't been training on the level that I would have wanted us to train. Obviously, we are very far away from that
kind of football that I would like to play and that I normally stand for as a manager. We are very far from that kind of football "
Wtf is wrong with these players?

 

[MUFC OK]

Make the hard but correct choice of removing Fletcher from this daft, undeserved job we handed out to him during the doomed "cultural reset" and give a proper role to Rangnick.

I concur. No wonder Ralf is perplexed by his role as 'technical director' when RR is established in the requirements for that role.

 

[Greck]

I see your logic but there are a couple of (fairly big) issues with the idea ralf would begin to implement a playing style like ten hags. One is that ralfs preferred style of football isn't even that similar to ten hags beyond being vaguely progressive. The other is that he abandoned trying to play the type of football he is renowned for after one game because the players couldn't or weren't willing to play like that. For the last few months we have had the sort of football a more pragmatic manager would have played but without any of the defensive solidity

We most definitely haven't been playing pragmatic football. We even attacked City and Liverpool which was a big mistake in my opinion, a huge reason for the trashings. We play games on the front foot and even all those disappointing draws have seen us play proactive. I can't think of a game we've played pragmatic. Even the tie against Athletico we tried to attack, it didn't look good but we tried. After playing deep counterattacking for 3 years this is a very worthwhile period to transition the players from park the bus football.

Also Ralf's football is very different from ETH's but all progressive managers use some overlapping foundational principles including passing and positional fluidity. RR has been forced to compromise somewhat but our progress in open play has been noticeable.

Our play might lack polish but we actually move the ball without labour now. At least ETH will not spend his first 2-3 months introducing the players to a basic give and go, the kind of basic exchange that always looked clumsy under Jose and Ole.

 

[Loon]

He's interested. I hope ten Hag and United keep him. I'm sure he and ten Hag will have a very interesting conversation, regardless, but I would like to see him perform the job he was hired for and see what transpires.

 

[MUFC OK]

Rangnick: "We haven't been training on the level that I would have wanted us to train. Obviously, we are very far away from that
kind of football that I would like to play and that I normally stand for as a manager. We are very far from that kind of football "
Wtf is wrong with these players?

Not surprising, he's had nothing like a pre-season to get across his ideas and there is definitely a state of apathy amongst the players after the turbulence of this season.

 

[Roario]

Not surprising, he's had nothing like a pre-season to get across his ideas and there is definitely a state of apathy amongst the players after the turbulence of this season.

He goes on to say that they don't do the basics right. Running should not be down to pre-season.
I doubt most of the players are even tired after 90 minutes.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Is there such a thing as positive toxicity?

It's called truth and Ralf is speaking it

 

[cnwo]

Rangnick: "We haven't been training on the level that I would have wanted us to train. Obviously, we are very far away from that
kind of football that I would like to play and that I normally stand for as a manager. We are very far from that kind of football "
Wtf is wrong with these players?

This quote has gone a bit unnoticed. Speaks volumes as to why he’s not been able to get results.
Ralf can help ETH massively next year by simply communicating these issues to the board, which ultimately require investment and fixing. Let ETH focus on the side while ralf works the board to finally act on long standing issues

 

[Jezpeza]

We most definitely haven't been playing pragmatic football. We even attacked City and Liverpool which was a big mistake in my opinion, a huge reason for the trashings. We play games on the front foot and even all those disappointing draws have seen us play proactive. I can't think of a game we've played pragmatic. Even the tie against Athletico we tried to attack, it didn't look good but we tried. After playing deep counterattacking for 3 years this is a very worthwhile period to transition the players from park the bus football.

Also Ralf's football is very different from ETH's but all progressive managers use some overlapping foundational principles including passing and positional fluidity. RR has been forced to compromise somewhat but our progress in open play has been noticeable.

Our play might lack polish but we actually move the ball without labour now. At least ETH will not spend his first 2-3 months introducing the players to a basic give and go, the kind of basic exchange that always looked clumsy under Jose and Ole.

A good post. I think two things - first of all, RR has been a dreadful interim in terms of getting results and playing a style to get the most of this set of players. No doubt. I have been severely critical of that.

on the flip side, he has called out the footballing side of the club off the field and he has totally revealed some of the players in this squad. We were bemoaning the fact we couldnt put 3 passes together since way back. We just dont have enough technical players. We also dont really have the physical players either. Realistically I hope this period was the watershed moment and we go on to buy athletic, technical modern players and move the club into the modern age

 

[Mibabalou]

I hope we keep him involved in a key way - Ralf didnt do the best as a manager but he tried and just realized how shit and toxic most of the squad was.

Keep Ralf upstairs - back ETH in the market; go get who he wants, Timber, Rice, Anthony, Nunez, Nukuku, Laimer, Tchouaméni, Torres, whoever.

I dont expect to win the league next year just some progression that there is a plan and a way to go forward.

 

[BarstoolProphet]

10/10 press conference that.

 

[gica_7]

Really hope he gets a concrete and permanent position of influence at the club long term. Been a breath of fresh air having him lay things out honestly without sugar-coating a damn thing for PR purposes.

You need realists like that willing to state unpopular/uncomfortable truths behind the scenes in your organization if you want to truly progress and advance.

Feels like we've had too many self centered company men operating with rose tinted glasses coasting off of the clubs history in influential positions rather than ones genuinely trying to help us evolve as a club

I read everything he said and I really believe having him as an interim manager could be the BEST thing happened to this club for years. Yes, results have been bad but Ragnick has been inside of the club but he has no agenda. He knows he does not need to hide his views to stay on the job like Ole did. He has been exposing everyone that is responsible for the mess we are in. He knows Glazers are penny pinching bunch, so he says we need more than just a couple of players to reach where we need to be. We all kind of accepted the idea that United never buys more than 4 players in a window. But, why not? At the end of every window, we always had a gap to fill. Ragnick knows this as well as all the botched windows like 2020, and exposing everyone responsible.

I hope ETH wants him to continue. I really do.

 

[MDFC Manager]

From the press conference:

How do you sustain that quality from the training field you mentioned before and translate that to the 90-minute performance?
“It has been similar, also in training, we haven’t been training at the level on the kind of level I would’ve wanted us to train and obviously we are very far away from the football I would like to play that I normally stand for as a manager. We are very far away from that kind of football.

feckers aren't even trying in training, and we're expecting them to do well in games...

 

[alexthelion]

Whatever positives can be said about Ralf, it's fair to criticise him for his basic inability to motivate a team of Manchester United players (even a cobbled together team with half of them probably leaving in a few months) to raise their game against their greatest rivals.

If anything I'd say that's by far his greatest weakness and why he was a shit choice of interim, his lack of charisma and motivational techniques.

We might have still been beaten 4-0 (maybe more) under dross like Dyche/Allardyce/take your pick but the players would have at least got themselves up for this one game.

It's also probably fair to say he's not shy of throwing the players under the bus to save his own blushes. He just does it in a more measured, calm and arguably polite manner that goes under the radar compared to the likes of Mourinho.

Don't get me wrong - I'm really happy he is involved in our club now, we need his expertise in rebuilding the club and someone to call the board out for how badly we've been running things - but he has been a fairly shit manager for us. Blaming it all on the players (who for the most part have been disgraceful) is only half the story.

The results have been fairly crap, the football poor, and yes he's dealing with a squad in disarray but to get basically no new manager bounce at all has been flatly embarrassing.

It shouldn't need a manager to motivate any player for a game against your fiercist rivals.

Shows the lack of mentality throughout the playing staff.

 

[Jezpeza]

From the press conference:



feckers aren't even trying in training, and we're expecting them to do well in games...

Its a mixture of lack of effort and quality. were you ever going to get AWB, Fred and Mctominay passing the ball accurately? Pogba was never going to lose the ball then sprint back 80 yards to get into shape. Hes much too important for that.

 

[WPMUFC]

"In training we haven't been on the level I'd like," said Rangnick. "We are very far away from football I would like to play.


"Even if I watch Burnley and they are fighting to stay in league, the way they defended and didn't allow Southampton a single chance...


"This is what I mean by basics, and those are things we need to show in the next games."

Pretty sure i quoted from the liverpool post match that Rangnick also said that the high line the defence played was not even something proposed in the game plan, the morons just did their own things. He's not a great manager, but he pin points the problems with laser precision.

The squad are not even doing basic shit. He's essentially accusing them of not even understanding the need to no concede.

 

[Mr. Ant]

He might not have been the best choice as interim when in to comes to getting results on pitch.
Someone like Valverde would have played the same football as Ole and the results could have been better but in order to improve the club from to the top all the way to the dressing room we needed Ralf and we needed this horrible season.

How many pundits and even people on here truly thought with a couple more signings we would challenge city and liverpool? In reality we are far away from that level.

We relied on brilliant moments from our players to win matches, when it stopped working the first time we signed Bruno and he delivered what was needed.
As Ralf called it's not sustainable and we've seen that last season when we couldn't start matches well.

I just hope ETH will see what kind of input Ralf can have because it will save him enormous amounts of time.

Hopefully in the summer we start the first real rebuild since Sir Alex because up until now the club didn't realise how much work is needed and just throwing money at the problems isn't the solution. First signs are promising imo.

 

[WPMUFC]

Some of you folks that can't look past Rangnick being the centre of every single problem with MUFC and think he's "toxic" are in for a shock. Ten Hag is not going to give these chancers a minute if they don't decide to get their acts together quick smart.

 

[The United]

Some of you folks that can't look past Rangnick being the centre of every single problem with MUFC and think he's "toxic" are in for a shock. Ten Hag is not going to give these chancers a minute if they don't decide to get their acts together quick smart.

I mean people quickly forgot about Jose's time here if they want to talk about someone being very toxic. The dude won a couple of cups but ultimately failed here.

The point here is that no one will call someone toxic if they are successful at what they are doing. Ralf has not unless you call talking shit is successful though which a lot of us doing that here day in and day out.

 

[Irwin99]

I'm not saying he's a great manger and i'm not saying hes without blame but anyone criticizing him for the player's behaviour or their lack of intensity needs to look at these quotes:


“In training we haven’t been training on the kind of level that I would have wanted us to train,” he said.

“Obviously we are very far away from that kind of football that I would like to play and that I normally stand for as a manager. We are very far away from that kind of football.


“Even if I watch Burnley yesterday in the second half against Southampton, and they are fighting for relegation and staying in the league, the way that they defended in the second half didn’t allow Southampton a single chance to score in the second half.

“This is what I mean by basics. Those are the things that we need to try to get implemented again and we need to show in the next few games.”

-----


The players can't (or won't) sustain that level of football: they either can't because either they're incapable (no pre-season preparation for this kind of pressing/fitness, tactically inept, etc) or won't because they're obnoxious, entitled babies. The bit about the basics though is just frustrating because it's true.

 

[Dempsey19]

What he's saying is what we all have been saying and thinking for a long time.

It's like a breath of fresh air hearing somebody in the club tear into all the issues that are so obvious.

Hope he stays on with the club and helps ETH.

 

[glazed]

“In medicine, you would say that this is an operation of the open heart. "

This is what our independent expert has concluded about the state of the club after a top to bottom examination from the manager's chair. And yet there are top reds who were saying three months ago we just needed a couple of players to be challenging for the title. Some of our fans are just breathtakingly stupid.

We now have to accept that the club is fekked from top to bottom by Woodward's mismanagement. No excuses. No silver linings.

 

[klayton88]

He'll be more appreciated in about 12 months when we look back and realise he sparked a change. He's the only manager post SAF who I thought had an actual vision and long term intentions. Hopefully he stays on upstairs. I'm sure he'll be letting ETH know exactly who the bad apples are.

 

[WPMUFC]

He'll be more appreciated in about 12 months when we look back and realise he sparked a change. He's the only manager post SAF who I have has an actual vision. Hopefully he stays on upstairs. I'm sure he'll be letting ETH know exactly who the bad apples are.

100% agree. i don't know why so many people have to dismiss his assessment as "cover for his bad management". The dismissive nature of a core few is just bizarre. He doesn't have to be a good manager to understand the totality of the problems with the club.

He can be an "average manager", but he pin points the problems with laser precision

 

[Bastian]

I'm extremely grateful for having had him here. The only adult at the whole club, tells it how it is. Anyone else would have been sweating papering over cracks and we'd be continuing the shit show indefinitely. The incompetence and negligence has been fully exposed, and there's nothing left to do but deal with it and there'll obviously be under the microscope now.

Fix the hideous wage structure, become ruthless about shifting players (prioritise footballing assets over business assets), completely dial down this player power (which also comes with fixing the wage structure, and becoming more purposeful about signings), and make sure all the players do the basics and if not dump rid the club of them to maintain a healthy culture.

I honestly see this whole shit show as a blessing. It's all about the long-term now, and it seems ten Hag wouldn't have taken on this challenge if he'd not been given the commensurate authority.

 

[hobbers]

I mean people quickly forgot about Jose's time here if they want to talk about someone being very toxic. The dude won a couple of cups but ultimately failed here.

The point here is that no one will call someone toxic if they are successful at what they are doing. Ralf has not unless you call talking shit is successful though which a lot of us doing that here day in and day out.

Toxic is a meaningless buzzword these days anyway. Everyone throws the word about when it's about a player or manager behaving in a way they dont like.

What Jose said in his last 12 months or so wasn't toxic. He tried to draw attention to the fecklessness of Martial and Pogba, and the stupidity of Woodward in prioritising scooping City to a passed-it Galactico like Sanchez, rather than give him the players he wanted. The problem with him giving these opinions was the attitude of the club, he burned bridges with players who the board felt were too marketable to sell. The only thing toxic about it was that the players were deemed much more important than the manager, and the board emphasised that point so strongly it led to the players behaviour deteriorating even more, to the point we've reached today.

What Ralf is saying now isn't any less pointed or critical than what Jose said. He's just saying it in a different context. He's taken over a squad where literally over half of the players are definitely leaving or planning on leaving, after a period of them producing unparalleled sporting failure. So Pogbas and Rashfords and Maguires haven't got the footing any more to make Ralf look toxic.

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

He'll be more appreciated in about 12 months when we look back and realise he sparked a change. He's the only manager post SAF who I have has an actual vision. Hopefully he stays on upstairs. I'm sure he'll be letting ETH know exactly who the bad apples are.

I sure appreciate him now, and totally agree with you.

 

[HBFSTR00]

He'll be gone in the summer

I get this feeling after watching the press conference, it really felt like nobody is listening to him at the club, he is just completely done with it and ready to leave.
I hope he stays and gets the DOF position though.

 

[captaincantona]

Whatever positives can be said about Ralf, it's fair to criticise him for his basic inability to motivate a team of Manchester United players (even a cobbled together team with half of them probably leaving in a few months) to raise their game against their greatest rivals.

If anything I'd say that's by far his greatest weakness and why he was a shit choice of interim, his lack of charisma and motivational techniques.

We might have still been beaten 4-0 (maybe more) under dross like Dyche/Allardyce/take your pick but the players would have at least got themselves up for this one game.

It's also probably fair to say he's not shy of throwing the players under the bus to save his own blushes. He just does it in a more measured, calm and arguably polite manner that goes under the radar compared to the likes of Mourinho.

Don't get me wrong - I'm really happy he is involved in our club now, we need his expertise in rebuilding the club and someone to call the board out for how badly we've been running things - but he has been a fairly shit manager for us. Blaming it all on the players (who for the most part have been disgraceful) is only half the story.

The results have been fairly crap, the football poor, and yes he's dealing with a squad in disarray but to get basically no new manager bounce at all has been flatly embarrassing.

This is complete rubbish. What do you know about his motivational techniques or otherwise? All we know is that he was given a thankless and impossible task. Tell the truth to Overpaid prima donnas, rooting out the issues in the squad...all while trying to implement a basic style of play and securing 4th place with no backing in January and no long term power guarantee to ensure the players took him seriously.

anyone who looks at RR, listens to his really in incisive thinking on the game and still says the players aren’t the problem is on crack.

He could have gotten better results massaging egos. But we would be much further away from the purge we need in order to get back on track.

Ralf is the best thing to happen to the club full stop in a long time. His pain on the side line says it all. These guys are jokers - it’s the emperors new clothes in that fuking dressing room and Ralf is just calling it like it is.

 

[Jam]

Whatever positives can be said about Ralf, it's fair to criticise him for his basic inability to motivate a team of Manchester United players (even a cobbled together team with half of them probably leaving in a few months) to raise their game against their greatest rivals.

If anything I'd say that's by far his greatest weakness and why he was a shit choice of interim, his lack of charisma and motivational techniques.

We might have still been beaten 4-0 (maybe more) under dross like Dyche/Allardyce/take your pick but the players would have at least got themselves up for this one game.

It's also probably fair to say he's not shy of throwing the players under the bus to save his own blushes. He just does it in a more measured, calm and arguably polite manner that goes under the radar compared to the likes of Mourinho.

Don't get me wrong - I'm really happy he is involved in our club now, we need his expertise in rebuilding the club and someone to call the board out for how badly we've been running things - but he has been a fairly shit manager for us. Blaming it all on the players (who for the most part have been disgraceful) is only half the story.

The results have been fairly crap, the football poor, and yes he's dealing with a squad in disarray but to get basically no new manager bounce at all has been flatly embarrassing.

I would partly agree.

Rangnick was an awful short-term appointment; but that was the point - the club finally identified we shouldn’t rely on short term fixes and should just get under way with systematic changes and that is why Ralf was chosen, and will consult post-management.

It explains why he has shyed away from football management, I don’t think it is his cup of tea. But I also feel this short spell would have been incredibly beneficial in his assessment of the club. He now has a lived in experience from the very centre of the club and and feedback he has is from hands on experience - not through a window.

He isn’t a man manager, he isn’t a motivator. He’s a big picture man, a director.

Even if this season is quite depressing I’m still glad it was him that came, had vocally decimated the players and club, and will push us in the right overall direction. I believe that if it isn’t for Rangnick we would have got some other short term appointment and then announced Poch this week.

I also feel it was a good introduction for the players who will remain. They’ve had six months working with a tactician and have a view into what is expected of them, and a further footballing education, and it is now over to ETH to push them.

I’m glad Ralf was appointed, appreciate his honesty publicly and am genuinely excited for next season now.

 

[tenpoless]

I would partly agree.

Rangnick was an awful short-term appointment; but that was the point - the club finally identified we shouldn’t rely on short term fixes and should just get under way with systematic changes and that is why Ralf was chosen, and will consult post-management.

It explains why he has shyed away from football management, I don’t think it is his cup of tea. But I also feel this short spell would have been incredibly beneficial in his assessment of the club. He now has a lived in experience from the very centre of the club and and feedback he has is from hands on experience - not through a window.

He isn’t a man manager, he isn’t a motivator. He’s a big picture man, a director.

Even if this season is quite depressing I’m still glad it was him that came, had vocally decimated the players and club, and will push us in the right overall direction. I believe that if it isn’t for Rangnick we would have got some other short term appointment and then announced Poch this week.

I also feel it was a good introduction for the players who will remain. They’ve had six months working with a tactician and have a view into what is expected of them, and a further footballing education, and it is now over to ETH to push them.

I’m glad Ralf was appointed, appreciate his honesty publicly and am genuinely excited for next season now.

Indeed we all know that what we needed was someone willing to get ugly and pickup fights to sort out the mess in the long term. Not someone who walks in, get top 4 or win CL while befriending everybody. People are just blind to the fact that Ole left a broken squad and the club was also broken.

 

[Beans]

I think his inability to make more of a mark tells us a lot more about our squad than it does his skill.

Here’s to hoping he’s the one deciding our transfers, his record of finding gems that just need some polish is remarkable.

 

[Matt851]

I would partly agree.

Rangnick was an awful short-term appointment; but that was the point - the club finally identified we shouldn’t rely on short term fixes and should just get under way with systematic changes and that is why Ralf was chosen, and will consult post-management.

It explains why he has shyed away from football management, I don’t think it is his cup of tea. But I also feel this short spell would have been incredibly beneficial in his assessment of the club. He now has a lived in experience from the very centre of the club and and feedback he has is from hands on experience - not through a window.

He isn’t a man manager, he isn’t a motivator. He’s a big picture man, a director.

Even if this season is quite depressing I’m still glad it was him that came, had vocally decimated the players and club, and will push us in the right overall direction. I believe that if it isn’t for Rangnick we would have got some other short term appointment and then announced Poch this week.

I also feel it was a good introduction for the players who will remain. They’ve had six months working with a tactician and have a view into what is expected of them, and a further footballing education, and it is now over to ETH to push them.

I’m glad Ralf was appointed, appreciate his honesty publicly and am genuinely excited for next season now.

This is somewhat true but the fact remains he was hired as an interim manager not a director of football therefore he isn't doing very well at the job he was hired for. I don't really hold out much hope his consultancy role will turn out to be substantial (likely just offering advice to kurtough and Fletcher on specific matters) so I am not confident his strategic abilities will be put to use.

You talk about it being useful for players to have worked with a tactician but his tactics have often seemed a bit odd. The focus on trying to implement a 4222 system initially was a poor choice and probably resulted in some of the current lack of buy in from the players. Undoubtedly there are massive issues with the playing squad but given almost everyone has been terrible under ralf have we really learned anything other than we might need a whole new squad (which isn't possible)

 

[ti vu]

This is somewhat true but the fact remains he was hired as an interim manager not a director of football therefore he isn't doing very well at the job he was hired for. I don't really hold out much hope his consultancy role will turn out to be substantial (likely just offering advice to kurtough and Fletcher on specific matters) so I am not confident his strategic abilities will be put to use.

You talk about it being useful for players to have worked with a tactician but his tactics have often seemed a bit odd. The focus on trying to implement a 4222 system initially was a poor choice and probably resulted in some of the current lack of buy in from the players. Undoubtedly there are massive issues with the playing squad but given almost everyone has been terrible under ralf have we really learned anything other than we might need a whole new squad (which isn't possible)

His contract has 2 year part. It's not 6 month alone.

Clearly it's not the usual interim until the end of the season contract. So too much word, while missing the key point of that intent of the contract.

 

[Matt851]

His contract has 2 year part. It's not 6 month alone.

Clearly it's not the usual interim until the end of the season contract. So too much word, while missing the key point of that intent of the contract.

Well thanks for this statement of a fact everyone is aware of. However, the two years beyond his interim stint is a vague, ill defined consultancy role. As a mentioned in my previous post it is more to involve offering advice on specific matters than having decision making powers or setting strategy.

Ultimately if we were serious about transforming the club we would have just hired him (or another experienced candidate) as director of football rather than messing about hiring him as a manager and then consultant to try and teach the people we hired how to do their jobs properly

 

[ti vu]

Well thanks for this statement of a fact everyone is aware of. However, the two years beyond his interim stint is a vague, ill defined consultancy role. As a mentioned in my previous post it is more to involve offering advice on specific matters than having decision making powers or setting strategy.

Ultimately if we were serious about transforming the club we would have just hired him (or another experienced candidate) as director of football rather than messing about hiring him as a manager and then consultant to try and teach the people we hired how to do their jobs properly

That's another issue in itself. People in high places don't fire themselves. They're not good enough to see the issue to begin with.

It took some fortunate backlash (WoodWard with ESL debacle) to force some change. Then domino effect kicks in for some more change.

However you interpreted the consultant role, the fact that RR gets to see inside the club, and then be in a position where he is not obligated to play along to keep his job is entirely different than your regular interim manager appointment, whether people would listen to the 2 year consultant advice.

 

[Adam_S]

It's not surprising that half of the current wasters at the club have downed tools for him TBH. He's made it clear what he thinks is wrong with the club, and that he's not going to sugar coat or pander to them and they've thrown their toys out of the pram. If that's their attitude then then can f*** right off.

 

[Submarine Chief]

Anyone who thinks that RR is at fault for failing to get these guys to start winning is similar to saying that a ETH should be able to make them winners without any personnel changes.

If Ralph is a bad manager and ETH is a good one, then we just keep the same squad and let a good manager take over and fix the problems RR couldn’t.

Or just admit that your reasoning doesn’t hold up.

 

[copen1945]

I hope the knowledge and the information Ralf has gathered are made available to Erik. Also, I hope next season doesn't start with a clean slate. It should begin based on the players' performances during Ralf's time. The players who were unable or unwilling to perform up to a standard should not stay beyond the end of the current season. The club must use its significant resources to clean house.