Ralf Rangnick’s signing up as United’s temporary manager has piqued the interest of the football media, who have shared the seasoned German’s opinions on how the game should be played.
Here’s a sampling of such remarks, which provide light on Rangnick’s football philosophy…
At the beginning.
“You’re kind of born to be a coach. Even at the age of six, playing with 10-year-olds, I wanted to pick the teams, organise the game and show others how they could improve.”
ON HIS FIRST COACHING ROLE WITH HOMETOWN CLUB FC VIKTORIA BACKNANG
“I put tape straps on players because I knew a bit about medicine from my studies. I once threw a crate of beer out of the dressing room to make a point, banned smoking within two hours of a game and introduced warm-downs.”
ON LEADING A PLAYING SQUAD
“Modern-day leadership is about being persuasive and creating a motivational basis so every day the players will want to come in and get better. This is about trust and empathy and human relationships.”.
ON HIS OVERALL VISION – Ralf
ON GEGENPRESSING AND HIS STYLE OF FOOTBALL
“It’s a very proactive style of football. We like to press high, with a very intense counter-pressure. When we have the ball, we do not like any square or back passes. It is a fast, proactive, attacking, counter-attacking, counter-pressing, exciting and entertaining [style of] football.”
ON THE INFLUENCE OF HIS HOFFENHEIM TEAM
“What we did in Hoffenheim had a lot of influence on German football. I remember in our first year in the Bundesliga in 2008 we played Borussia Dortmund under Jurgen Klopp, who came from Mainz to Dortmund, and we dominated them 4-1. It could easily have been six or seven because we continuously pressed them for the entire game. The following week Jurgen said that this is exactly the style of football he wants to play with Dortmund in the future. During the next two years, he developed his team in such an impressive manner that they managed to win two consecutive championship titles and two cups.”
TALKING TACTICS of Ralf Rangnick
“You need to dictate the game with and without the ball, not through individuals… use transitions, switch quickly… to think and find the right solutions quickly… and shoot within 10 seconds of winning the ball back.”
