Former coach Ralf Rangnick highlights lack of leadership at Man United | OneFootball

Former Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has reiterated his stance that the club need to stick to an overarching football philosophy if they are to be successful again.

The German coach was interim head coach at United from December 2021 until May 2022.

The Red Devils struggled during his tenure and failed to win a trophy whilst finishing outside the Champions League places.

Rangnick left the club with the arrival of Erik ten Hag as manager in 2022 and he has since gone on to be Austria’s national team manager.

Speaking to Catalan paper Sport, he outlined what he considers to be United’s biggest problem and why they have still not found success after he left the club.

When asked to address United’s current issues he claimed, “I think we have to go back to 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson left the club. And at the time he was still there, he was the brains behind it all. He probably also brought a lot of important people to the club.”

His departure alongside others in quick succession from the executive and player departments resulted in a “leadership problem” which has still yet to be filled in Rangnick’s view.

He reflected on his experience at the club and he queried, “who were the decision-makers? Who? Who could I talk to? If we wanted to sign new players, it was difficult. There were people, but in the end, it was difficult.”

Rangnick famously claimed in one of his last interviews at the club that the team needed “open-heart surgery” to address all their issues.

Nonetheless, despite United spending significant sums of money since his departure, they have certainly not improved.

He added, “since I left, they’ve spent £700, £800 million, and the team finished 15th. They’ve changed managers many times. Now they’re sticking with Amorim, who’s a very good coach, and if it doesn’t work out in the end, a new coach will come in with his new system or philosophy, bringing in a few more players.”

Rangnick finally diagnosed the problem as, “this brings us back to what we talked about at the beginning about Johan Cruyff. There has to be someone who decides on the planning; which coach will fit into the same system?”

Ineos will hope that their new football structure based around Jason Wilcox, Omar Berrada and Christopher Vivell will eventually provide this but only time will tell.

Featured image Christian Bruna via Getty Images

Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social