Ralf Rangnick had been appointed as the new head coach of the Austrian national team and this news had come up as a surprise for many. But the latest news regarding his resignation from the consultant role seems to put more fire on the fuel.
Erik Ten Hag has been appointed as the new manager of Manchester United and he has already been busy executing his ideas. He wanted to have full control of the transfer activity and so the club is ready to accept his demands.
He has already started having conversations with the board regarding signing new players. But what was the reason behind Ralf Rangnick’s sudden exit after it was initially claimed that he would help Ten Hag and the club in solving all their major issues?
Manchester United is already planning to rebuild and will be expected to have a busy summer transfer window. And the first outgoing is not even a player but Ralf Rangnick himself.
Must Read: Ralf Rangnick held a two-hour call with Erik Ten Hag over club issues
It was expected that Rangnick will stay as he had a two-year agreement with the board for the consultancy role. Everything was ready but then it suddenly collapsed.
Manchester United was pretty clear as they mentioned in their recent statement that they have parted ways with the interim manager. They had some internal conversations but the conversation was completely different from the expectations.
Rangnick wanted to help the board and on Erik Ten Hag’s side, he wanted to decide with his own ideas. So to have two powerful figures in the club like Erik Ten Hag and Ralf Rangnick was deemed as a major risk.
Both have been respectful with each other and in fact, Rangnick was pushing since November to get Erik Ten Hag on board. But it was all about the ideas that actually made the board think about having two big figures with different ideas to make club decisions.
We all know how powerful Rangnick’s ideas are in terms of new signings, player management, and club movements. And Ten Hag also wanted to reside with his different approach in terms of signing players and managing the squad.
So it was certainly complicated to have two ideas on the same side.
It had been rumoured lately that some of the players were not happy with Ralf Rangnick’s backroom staff. They didn’t feel completely engaged with the team that he had brought with him. Even the board knew that this issue still persists and maybe Rangnick may still keep some of his staff members in the club.
This was one reason behind Manchester United and Rangnick’s lack of cooperation. Also, in the recent press conference, the former interim manager clearly said that he wanted to sign a striker in January but the club rejected his appeal.
Rangnick mentioned a few names like Luis Diaz, Vlahovic, and Julian Alvarez. Most importantly, he wanted to sign Julian Alvarez and he had even held conversations with him when he was at Locomotive Moscow. He was again pushing to have him at Manchester United. But eventually, he joined Manchester City.
Also, Rangnick wanted to sign a few free agents like Boubacar Kamara, whom his staff admired a lot. Even Denis Zakaria was on his radar but the club wanted to save money for the summer transfer window and therefore, rejected his appeal to sign any new player in January.
Also Read: Dwight Yorke warns Erik Ten Hag of the ‘Major surgery’ required at Manchester United
This again showed that there was a difference in opinion between Manchester United and Ralf Rangnick. The vision was different and the club didn’t want to have these internal issues once Erik Ten Hag arrives.
Ten Hag wanted full power over the transfer decisions which could only be possible if Rangnick is prevented from giving his own opinions. Also, the German coach wanted to focus on his new role.
But in football, it’s always complicated when you have two powerful figures like Rangnick and Ten Hag by your side. Just look at Antonio Conte and how he went berserk as the club didn’t initially listen to his appeal.
Manchester United didn’t want the same issues and so they decided to part ways with Ralf Rangnick.
The interesting point is that the club has no regrets about its decision on signing Rangnick as the interim manager. They knew that he had tough work to do and he did a pretty normal job as an interim manager, according to the board.
