Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick’s revolution has been delayed but could ignite against Newcastle

More intensity, more physicality and more willingness to win one-on-one battles.

Ralf Rangnick’s wishlist after Manchester United’s laboured win over Norwich in their last Premier League fixture read more like a personal manifesto than a primal scream at the Red Devils reverting to type in a fortunate win.

Few have been left in any doubt at Carrington in recent weeks at the changes Rangnick wants to make to a squad. From warm up intensity to the presence of the German’s new team of hybrid coaches – who combine roles in analysis, sports psychology and conditioning with grass-on-the-boots coaching – there is a “new era” feel to work being done on the training ground.

But as the attritional Carrow Road display proved, the appliance of science can sometimes go awry. It is why all eyes will be on Monday night’s intriguing clash at St James’ Park for signs that Ralf’s revolution is rolling.

More from Football

Saint-Maximin's future at Newcastle depends on Howe finding a system that suits him best27 December, 2021Tuchel attacks Premier League after depleted Chelsea beat Aston Villa - ratings and analysis27 December, 2021'No clubs are interested' in Martial despite Newcastle and Sevilla rumours, insists Rangnick26 December, 2021

Because 2022’s big question will be how quickly the interim manager – only around until May – can translate his crystal clear principles into Premier League points. Those who know him best think the short-term nature of his rescue mission won’t be a problem.

“The most effective communicator I’ve met in football – ever,” Demba Ba, one of his proteges, told i recently. Asked to expand, he explained that Rangnick’s short, sharp explanations were a masterpiece in brevity that convinced almost every player he worked with that he was better off signing up than rocking the boat.

And that’s where the problem might lie ahead of a trip to Newcastle United that offers opportunity for Rangnick and his Red Devils.

So far, work on the training ground has been interrupted by a punishing fixture schedule and a Covid outbreak that left Manchester United unable to train properly for the best part of a fortnight. Hence the need for Rangnick to surround himself with people he knows and trusts to get the message across effectively. In this five-month rescue mission, there can be no half measures.

Rangnick is pressing the club’s hierarchy to bring in at least one more of his trusted lieutenants to compliment the growing backroom staff and the fast-track lesson in Ralf-ball will need to be heeded if Manchester United are going to challenge a top four that looks three quarters accounted for already this season.

With players back from Covid and a clean bill of health, Manchester United will look to Monday night with optimism.

“Physically they look good, they had a very intense training session on Wednesday,” Rangnick said on Thursday.

“The energy level was high, all the players were fully engaged and everybody was on board. It was a very intense training session, so I’m not worried about physical state the team is in, they seem to be extremely fit.”

Their trip to Tyneside will tell us much about where Rangnick sees this team evolving. Donny van de Beek had earned his chance for a run of games but at Norwich he was dropped as the Fred-Scott McTominay axis returned. With Newcastle’s struggles to dominate possession, Monday feels like a perfect time to press a relegation-threatened side into submission. Those midfield engine room choices will be fascinating.

The penultimate game of a year that can’t end too soon at Old Trafford brings with it some signs of hope. 2022 is a pivotal year as succession planning begins on and off-the-field.

Richard Arnold is expected to be anointed Ed Woodward’s successor and the emergence on Friday of fans’ forum minutes which confirmed a long overdue modernisation of Old Trafford give the impression of a club finally letting go of its past and looking to the future.

It was a charge often levelled at the club in the Ole Gunnar Solksjaer era, when clinging desperately to “United DNA” was a smokescreen for failing to act decisively as rivals so comprehensively out-thought them.

With Rangnick they will not be short on ideas. Putting them into practice is the litmus test – and that process re-starts on Tyneside.

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3mBmJU7