Ralf Rangnick reign was ‘worst decision’ in Premier League history’ but ‘Pep Guardiola would have struggled at Manchester United’ – can Cristiano Ronaldo salvage European qualification?
After a poor start to the season, most Manchester United fans will have thought that it couldn’t get much worse than the results and performances under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Then came Ralf Rangnick.
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He arrived at Old Trafford as a revolutionary tactician, ‘the godfather of gegenpressing’, and the man Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp once described as the best German coach around.
But he will leave the club at the end of the season (before returning in a consultancy role for the next two years) as one of the worst managers in the club’s history.
After ten wins, ten draws and six defeats in all competitions, he currently has a win percentage of 38 per cent – something which is unheard of for a Man United manager.
Before Solskjaer left, United were seventh, having lost five of their opening 12 games of the season – including a 5-0 thrashing by Liverpool at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils now sit sixth, but could drop down to eighth if West Ham and Wolves win their games in hand, and were eliminated from every cup competition by March.
Whilst things haven’t necessarily got worse, they certainly haven’t got better since the former RB Leipzig boss took charge on an interim basis until the end of the season.
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And appointing him was ‘one of the worst decisions the Premier League has ever seen’, according to Jason Cundy, after another disappointing display against Chelsea on Thursday night.
And that’s what has frustrated the supporters more than the bad results – the performances on the pitch.
As mentioned previously, Rangnick supposedly came to the club as one of the best tacticians in world football.
But there’s been no evidence of any plan or direction on the pitch, with players struggling to defend and attack, whilst aimlessly running around – and even that has been hard to come by.
Without Cristiano Ronaldo – who has scored eight of the club’s last nine goals and has almost single-handedly stopped them from dropping into the bottom half – they would be looking at a campaign without European football next season.
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But has the club’s failures since Rangnick took over at Old Trafford been entirely his fault? European football expert Andy Brassell doesn’t think so.
Brassell told talkSPORT: “He has not been given the tools to succeed at Manchester United.
“They have paid lip service to the idea of change under him, he was never given a real position of authority, he was an interim coach, and not even sporting director but a consultant.
“I realise they have a sporting director elsewhere but there was no real promise of there being meaningful long term change at Manchester United under Rangnick.
“I know the players have copped a lot of criticism, but has he ever really been given the authority to show that he has the power to change things? I don’t think he has.
“I think it’s easy to look at him, for the players, and say, ‘You know what, if we don’t particularly like this, we’ll see him off, he’ll be done in six months’.”
Rangnick's defeats as Man United boss
Wolves 1-0 (H) | Premier League
Middlesbrough 1-1 (Boro won 8-7 on pens) (H) | FA Cup
Manchester City 4-1 (A) | Premier League
Atletico Madrid 1-0 (H) | Champions League
Everton 1-0 (A) | Premier League
Liverpool 4-0 (A) | Premier League
Arsenal 3-1 (A) | Premier League
Simon Jordan has also defended Rangnick, claiming that even Pep Guardiola, manager of rivals City, would have ‘struggled’ with the way the Red Devils are being run at the moment.
“I felt Rangnick would go into Manchester United and he would be a sea of change, and have the courage of his convictions to be able to put his foot down,” Jordan told talkSPORT.
“I think it is much more difficult than that, the entire culture at Manchester United is wrong. The fabric of the playing squad is wrong, they have bought the wrong players, and they are going to have to change it.
“I think if you put Pep Guardiola in for six months, he would have struggled with the current crop of players.
“The attitude and outlook of disposition of that football club from the owners, to the fans, the whole outlook is wrong.”
So, whilst Rangnick has failed to deliver what was undoubtedly asked of him when he arrived at the club – a top-four finish – how much is he to blame?
If you asked David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, and Solskjaer, I’m sure they’d all agree – not very much.
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April 30, 2022 at 03:14AM Premier League Football Fixtures and Results - talkSPORT https://ift.tt/Cah2utl
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