After Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired, Ralph Rangnick took over as manager of Manchester United for the rest of the 2021–22 campaign.
Although United only won 11 of the 29 games he managed, the Austrian was commended for seeing the club’s issues.
During his brief time at Old Trafford, Rangnick was correct about these six points.
Many people have negative memories of Ralf Rangnick’s tenure as Manchester United’s manager, despite the fact that he won over supporters by publicly pointing out the team’s issues.
Rangnick became United’s temporary manager for the rest of the 2021–22 season after succeeding Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in December 2021. However, he oversaw a challenging few months at Old Trafford, and intentions to retain him in an advising capacity were abandoned that summer. Rangnick’s assessment of the club’s current status has gained more importance in light of United’s issues under Erik ten Hag and their failure to usher in a new era under Ruben Amorim this season.
Known as the “Godfather of the Gegenpress,” the 66-year-old unexpectedly turned down the chance to succeed Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich in order to continue coaching the Austrian national team. However, he brightened his reputation over the summer by leading the European country to the Euro 2024 knockout stages, where they finished first in a group that included tournament favourites France, the Netherlands, and Poland before losing to Turkey in the round of 16.
Did he receive unjust treatment while he was at Manchester United? Here are a few things he was correct about throughout his disastrous time at Old Trafford.
1‘Open-Heart Surgery’ Comment
Rangnick knew quick fixes wouldn’t be enough
Education…that no one wanted to hear or accept #mufc pic.twitter.com/rdcfgut5Mx
— TheSecretScout (@TheSecretScout_) December 26, 2024
Rangnick’s comparison of the club’s issues to a person with a bad illness is likely the most famous soundbite from his brief tenure at United. He stated:
“You can observe and analyse the issues without even using glasses. The question now is, how can we resolve them?
Making a few little, cosmetic changes is insufficient. According to medical terminology, this is a surgery of the open heart.
The fans’ anticipation that Rangnick’s intended improvements will be implemented by the new structure under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS has faded as United’s open-heart surgery gets begun. United paid millions to extend Erik ten Hag’s contract in the first ten months of their attempt to fix the problems left by the Glazers’ rule, but they fired him three months into the campaign.
They have taken similar actions with sports director Dan Ashworth, raised ticket prices, enraged fans with mass layoffs and split from club ambassador Sir Alex Ferguson, yet they are still in the lower half of the mid-table with little real progress on the pitch.
2Tipping Garnacho For the Top
Youngster made bench for first time under Rangnick
During Ten Hag’s tenure at United, Alejandro Garnacho’s rise was a major plus. With 50 appearances in all competitions, the Argentine made his debut and was a staple last season; only custodian Andre Onana made more appearances with 51.
In an explanation of his choice, Rangnick mentioned Garnacho as one of United’s substitutes for a Premier League game against Norwich in April 2022 and predicted he would have a good future.
“I know that [Garnacho] is one of the most promising players because he has been training with us [the first team] for the past two weeks,” Rangnick said to MUTV. “[He is] still only 17, but a player that hopefully if he keeps his feet on the ground, if he keeps trying to get better every day, then he will not only be sitting on the bench but there is every chance he will be playing for this club.”
The young Argentine winger hasn’t been as impressive under Amorim thus far, but there’s no denying that he is currently one of the best young football players in the world, and it’s widely believed that his star power will return soon.
3. Endorsing Elanga
This season, Swede has fared better than United’s strikers.
Anthony Elanga left United in the summer of 2023 to join Nottingham Forest, but he has since demonstrated why Rangnick thought so highly of him by scoring 11 goals and dishing out 17 assists for his new team in the Premier League as of this writing.
Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, and Antony’s stats pale in comparison to his direct goal contributions since the beginning of the previous season. When Rangnick arrived in December 2021, Elanga had wanted to leave United on loan because he wasn’t getting enough playing time, but he quickly won over his new manager.
He was the player who performed the best at the first training session, so Rangnick recounted in 2022, “I asked my colleagues and my staff about him and found out that he had almost already decided to leave the club on loan.” The following week, I told him, “Listen, I want you to stay so I can watch how you perform in practice and in games until the transfer window closes.”
4Players He Suggested to United
Haaland, Gvardiol, Enzo all recommended
During his tenure at United, Rangnick recommended a wide range of players for the team to sign, including Julian Alvarez, Josko Gvardiol, Erling Haaland, and Enzo Fernandez. The owners of United did not want to fund a rebuild under an interim manager, thus they did not support the Austrian’s desire to bolster the team during the January 2021 transfer window.
Rangnick told Bild, “Everyone could see that there was a need in many areas.” “For this reason, we were already talking about RB Leipzig stars like Josko Gvardiol and Christopher Nkunku. Indeed, those were realistic names. We also discussed Luis Diaz, Dusan Vlahovic, Erling Haaland, and Alvaro Morata when they were still available. However, the club made the decision to rebuild the team under the new coach at that time.
5Calling Out the Glazers
‘After two weeks it was clear where the problems were’
Rangnick’scared them to death’, according to Gary Neville, which is why United fired him. In addition to his remark about open heart surgery, Rangnick seemed to wonder if the Glazers had ever had the motivation to make the necessary adjustments in order to succeed. Rangnick stated that he was not given the opportunity to make changes, despite his obvious belief that United’s football structure needed to be updated.
“After just two weeks it was clear to me where the problems were and what would have to be done to fix them – but the question is whether you have the option of changing these things,” he said in a statement following his appointment as manager of Austria in 2022.
6Agreeing to Stay on in a Consultancy Role
Ten Hag prompted United to scrap plans after arriving
It was also agreed that Rangnick would remain with United in a consulting capacity until the summer of 2024 as part of the deal to bring him to the team. After playing crucial roles as a director of football for both Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig, Rangnick came to United with a stellar reputation. United’s plan to retain him on board so he could collaborate with the club’s next permanent manager seemed like a great idea, and it was so logical that it shocked supporters who had grown so used to watching their team make poor choices.
But since the Dutchman didn’t want to cooperate with Rangnick, United went back to typing and abandoned that concept on Ten Hag’s request. Given that neither player is currently at United, it is more obvious than ever that the team would have benefited from his staying.
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