When in conversation with Ralf Rangnick, you quickly become very aware he is obsessively wedded to his beliefs.
Certain people in sport are just wired differently. In the football coaching world, Pep Guardiola has been known to pick up the phone and call an unfortunate member of his staff in the middle of the night to explain another madcap concept he has come up with.
Triathlete Alistair Brownlee was able to dominate such a gruelling pastime as he made the most gruesome parts of training the norm, so much so he felt more out of kilter when not getting up at 5am every day to head to the pool.
Rangnick’s style of play is seen as his obsession, where the transition from defence into attack must happen in the blink of an eye, or else. But embedded into his philosophy is something just as important to the man tasked with transforming a sleeping and stuttering Manchester United craving direction – another Rangnick-ism that helped persuade United to put all their eggs in this radical German’s overloaded basket.
“We are only really interested in signing players who are between 17 and 21 or 22,” Rangnick told i during an interview last year to discuss his incredible work at RB Leipzig.
“We can coach them. I am aware of players from a very young age. Once I know they can fit into how I want to play, we then monitor their progress from being very young.”
They will be cutting the stencils at Carrington as we speak to get such a prophecy on the walls for all to see.
As all was going pear-shaped in various guises in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era at Old Trafford, one constant glimmer of optimism remained – an unrivalled sense of pride in youth players donning the red shirt and excelling.
Rangnick’s ‘Three Cs’
The three principles key to the Ralf Rangnick’s footballing philosophy:
- Concept – All about implementing a specific DNA into a club, particularly on how a team plays. The style will transcend coaches and remain in place for the long term. Style is instantly recognisable.
- Competence – Getting the right people, in the right positions. This could be a type of player for the system, or a coach who believes in this style of play, not just one willing to adopt that approach
- Capital – Cash to carry out an overhaul, but also about trust from the club.
Despite results remaining a constant source of heartache, the fact that there was an academy graduate in each matchday squad since October 1937 gave fans at least one reason to smile. Giving young players a chance is a must at United and is much more the “United Way” than any attempts to play attacking football are.
Some managers since Ferguson tried to stick to his fundamental requirement. Marcus Rashford is where he is due to Louis van Gaal taking a huge risk on him, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer planned to have Mason Greenwood front and centre of his red revolution.
What the club has craved, among many things, is someone who knows how to nurture all this talent and turn embryonic starlets into fully-formed world beaters. United think, as interim coach this season and in a consultancy role the following two years, they have found their man.
“When you have players of a similar age they get a togetherness that’s very important,” Rangnick continued. “Some clubs see it as a risk to sign so many young players, but we do our research and put faith in the right ones.
“It is very important to put faith in players like this. Just because they are young does not mean they do not deserve their chance.”
The many eulogies from current Premier League managers who have been heavily influenced by the “Godfather of Gegenpressing” tells you all you need to know about Rangnick’s success when it comes to instilling his system on teams, but what has been overlooked in all the Gegen-guffawing is his track record of recognising some of the best players in the world, before everyone else.
Rangnick promoted Manuel Neuer to the senior team at Schalke, paid £500,000 to bring Joshua Kimmich to Leipzig, plucked 20-year-old Sadio Mane from Metz in France, brought Roberto Firmino to Europe, while also unearthing a boisterous young upstart from Norway by the name of Erling Haaland.
Working with young proteges, who will adhere to his footballing principles, is where Rangnick is most comfortable. Sources close to the 63-year-old told i that he operates in a somewhat “cold and detached” manner, taking all sentiment and feeling out of decisions, for the betterment of the team.
Promoting youth is important to United and Rangnick in different ways. While it is all about the traditions and history for the club, Rangnick sees it as the best way to bring about lasting success at whatever team he is working with at the time. Then he will go off to his next project and instil the same beliefs again.
There are so many players at United who stand to benefit from this. The excitement around Greenwood has been palpable around United for any years. Solskjaer had big plans for him, but the Norwegian wasn’t sure where best to deploy the teenager. Rangnick will make it his goal to work that out very quickly. He may even already know.
Jadon Sancho is a player Rangnick has been an admirer of for years, so expect the improving former Borussia Dortmund forward to be a more integral part of Rangnick’s United machine. See also Rashford, Amad Diallo, Anthony Elanga and several other academy talents.
“It does not matter who the coach is, it is all about the club’s DNA and willingness to help young players,” Rangnick added. “We always had the youngest first team, not just squad in the league (at Leipzig).
“The long-term benefits can be huge.”
It is this outlook that won over United and director of football John Murtough upon meeting Rangnick two years ago, and why a consultancy role after this season was so important.
United were desperate for a gentle cultural reset under Solskjaer. Now, having swallowed their pride, they are willing to really shake things up.
But the club and Rangnick aren’t so different in all aspects. Expect the revolution in Manchester to have an even more youthful face.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/32Yrb8D
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