Will Rangnick wake up a struggling Manchester United? 3 changes he must make to save the season

It’s official. Ralf Rangnick is the new manager of Manchester United. He replaces Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who did a lot of great work on the Red Devils bench, but didn’t achieve any success with the club. Rangnick takes over the club in a difficult situation, the team is in a crisis in terms of play and results, dropping to 8th place, 5 points behind the top 4. What does the 63-year-old coach need to change for United to progress as soon as possible?

Put a game face on the team

The last United coach’s tenure lasted over 3 years. That’s long enough to teach the team to play a certain style of football that will be easily distinguishable from others. Solskjaer couldn’t do that. His team often played chaotically, the players had no automatisms learned, no working system. It was often about relying on the genius of Fernandes or Ronaldo. When even they didn’t have their day, a point loss was very likely as Solskjaer had no plan B in reserve.

Ralf Rangnick is known as the “father of gegenpressing”. His style of play was inspired by Thomas Tuchel, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. Only the best have learned from him. He should bring the same football to the United bench. He should bring an active attacking concept to Red Devils football with a strong emphasis on constant attacking. It will take some time to teach his charges to play in this style.

Under Solskjaer, their attacking style was absolutely ineffective. Rangnick should also make United an organised team with a functioning and balanced system of play. It will take time for his handwriting to show. However, the Red Devils have a great squad and positive changes should be seen soon enough.

Use Ronaldo’s skills to the team’s advantage

Let’s recall United’s football after Ronaldo’s arrival. Solskjaer destroys the team’s functioning game from previous seasons and puts all his trust in the abilities of Ronaldo or Fernandes. The Red Devils are playing chaotically, falling down defensively, unable to outplay their opponents. Ronaldo is very productive, he scores some important goals, he deserves to qualify for the eighth round of the Champions League. However, it has a very negative impact on the overall play of the team.

It is true that Ronaldo does not fit Rangnick’s game concept. The experienced German demands constant movement and activity from his players. The star Portuguese is not entirely comfortable with that. Ronaldo only attacks when he has to. So it will be interesting to see how Rangnick deals with this problem. Use Ronaldo’s skills in a way that the team plays in an organized and team-like manner at the same time. Ronaldo’s influence must not have a negative effect on the team’s play like it did under Solskjaer. If this is done, the Red Devils can turn into an unstoppable machine.

Wake up Jadon Sancho and others from their playing lethargy

Jadon Sancho arrived from Dortmund in the summer for £73 million. The talented winger was supposed to elevate United’s attacking power. Along with Ronaldo or Rashford, he was to form a fearsome attacking trio that would tear opposing defences apart. However, it didn’t happen, Sancho has been struggling since his arrival (scoring only 1 goal in 10 games). The demanding Premier League hasn’t suited him very well so far, Solskjaer hasn’t been able to get the best out of him.

That should change with the change of coach. Rangnick practices a very similar game concept to Dortmund, in which Sancho was extremely productive. One can expect fast attacking football from United and that should suit Sancho much better. The same goes for Donny Van De Beek. The Dutch midfielder hasn’t been given a proper chance since his arrival, Solskjaer has ignored him even though his quality is of a higher level than Fred, Matic or Mctominay.

The same is true of almost all Manchester United players. Under Solskjaer they didn’t play at their best, they put in below average performances. Rangnick is one of the coaches who can get the most out of his players and at the same time have a positive influence on their performance. If he can wake up Fernandes, Sancho, Van De Beek or Shaw from their playing lethargy, this big club can be a big fear again. This team has tremendous potential, all that’s left is to fulfill it and sell it at its best.

Source: Twitter, Livesport