Ralf Rangnick doubts whether he will take over as Man Utd consultant after Erik ten Hag’s arrival | Football news

Ralf Rangnick has cast doubt on whether he will take up his consulting role with Manchester United, saying a contract is not as important as “what will actually happen”.

In an extremely honest press conference with the media following his open press conference at Carrington on Friday, the interim manager also said the club could not change the aesthetic but demanded ‘ open heart surgery’ to cure their problems.

While Rangnick feels Erik ten Hag is the best coach possible at United, he stresses that the Dutchman can only succeed if he takes a realistic risk on the current situation and is ready to go big. practice correctly in the future.

Here is the transcript of a bright exchange:

Is it fair to portray Paul Pogba as an enigma?

It doesn’t make sense to talk about it, he’s injured right now. But I mean, he’s the player who won the World Cup with France. We all know what potential he has and if he can become a good player. But like a number of other players, he is just struggling to get his best performances sustainably on the pitch for United games. This is not just the case this season, or the past few weeks. As far as I remember, this was also the case in previous years.

Why?

Well, that’s hard to say. If myself or other coaches knew that, it would probably be easier to change that. But now it makes no sense to think about it. Because like I said, he won’t be in tomorrow’s game and most likely won’t be in the other four upcoming games. And it looks like right now, he won’t be renewing his contract. Most likely he won’t be here again next season.

Coaches more famous and decorated than Erik ten Hag have failed at this club. What makes you and the board believe that he can succeed where they have failed?

I think he’s a good character to start with. From everything I’ve heard from people who’ve worked with him, he’s very communicative, very confident, and does a lot of things on his own. Obviously he needs the support of the whole club, of everyone inside the club. I think he will get it.

He hopes to have the opportunity to form a new team together with the scouting department and with the board, which is necessary. And for me, the most important part is that the club manages to get the right players and the best they can, change the attitude and also the energy – I think we need positive energy for the team. new. And this is also important for the new manager. And if he gets that, we’re talking about other clubs that are in a similar position to Manchester United five to six years ago…

So if the right lessons are to be learned from what happened this season, it could be one of the few good things about a season like the one we’re having. At least we know what screws we need to screw, what things we need to change. And if that happens, I mean, why can’t United be as successful as those clubs are now? So it’s not just the quality of the manager. It’s about changing all the other things that have put the club where we are now.

Is patience the key?

That’s more level of expectation and this also involves patience. At a club like Manchester United, it’s hard to say people have to be patient. It will take some time. But we have to face the current situation. I mean, we lost 9-0 on aggregate to Liverpool. We lost to Manchester City 6-1 on aggregate. The team even lost to Watford with a score of 4-1. We lost against a team that was not as confident as Everton, 1-0. This is just the sad reality we have to face and just admit it, it will help Manchester United going forward.

You mentioned that you haven’t talked about your own situation to the board, but after what you’ve been through and what you’ve seen over the last few months, do you still want to be involved with Manchester United in the off-season? come?

We do have an agreement on that consulting role, but in the end it’s not about what’s written on the paper or what’s agreed to, it’s about what’s actually going to happen in life. everyday and in everyday business. How Erik ten Hag sees that is also important. Does he enjoy talking to someone like me? How much does he want to work together? And that’s what we haven’t talked about yet.

So for me, I’m not worried about that at all. It’s not about agreeing to a contract or anything for the next two years – I turned 64 very early, so for me it was about what would actually happen and Ten Hag and the guild. Manchester United’s board really want to know how much my opinion and my experience.

Do you want to continue participating?

Well, I’m interested and I’m very fond of this club after these five and a half months, I still see what options we have, what kind of space for improvement and where we can develop. .

Once again, having seen Liverpool play against us, seeing what has happened at other clubs and we also talk about Arsenal’s progress, why couldn’t this be possible? happen here? This is one of the biggest clubs in the world, we have perfect training conditions, great stadium… We have great fan support, probably great support. The best I’ve ever experienced outside of Schalke in Germany. This is great. And of course I want to be a part of that process. I don’t know if this is possible and how much appreciated and desired this is indeed.

If the next 12 months are fraught with difficulties for Ten Hag, do you believe United will stick with him and give him time?

I can only tell you from what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard and experienced so far, Erik is a good choice – a very good choice. He’s shown it in the past. I pretty much believe he’s the best possible coach you get right now. Like I said earlier, one of the very few good things is that it’s crystal clear – you don’t even need glasses to analyze and see where the problem is.

So now it’s just about how do we deal with them? And for me, it’s clearly not enough to make minor modifications and minor issues here and there some minor aesthetic. No, in medicine you would consider this an open heart surgery. So there’s more to change than just a few small things here and a few small things there. If this happens and if people realize that this has to happen, and if people want to work together, then that makes perfect sense.

And then I still believe that it doesn’t take two or three years to change those things. This can happen within a year and other clubs, not too far from here, have shown that it doesn’t take two, three, four years. That could happen in one, two, maybe three transition windows.

However, does it require strong leadership, on and off the pitch?

Certainly and this is not something that only one person as a manager can do. I mean, with all due respect to Klopp and Pep, I’m sure they didn’t do everything themselves. There are also other people joining those two clubs, top people in certain positions, regardless of region, to rebuild. To build the way we want to be here, you have to have top people and they have to work together very closely and in a very believable way.

Latest Essential Football Podcast

Erik Ten Hag’s announcement as Manchester United’s new manager means we’ve ripped the script for the Essential Football Podcast, with the Dutchman forewarning – a new era at Old Trafford .

Host Ron Walker features Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher as well as senior football writer Peter Smith and features writer Adam Bate to talk about the new man, what United can expect from him and challenges he faces at Old Trafford.

The podcast also points to the weekend meeting at the Emirates, when a resurgent Arsenal host United following Wednesday night’s 4-2 win over Chelsea.