Rangnick has key to victory - set-pieces!
RALF Rangnick will be eager to get straight down to work at United when he joins the club as their new interim manager, and the first task on his list might well be revolutionising the training regimes currently in place.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking last weekend was partly down to a disappointing start to the season, but his exit was as much about the manner in which he had the side playing as it was about the results.
United have only looked convincing in a handful of matches this season, with many wins under the Norwegian coming late on as moments of individual brilliance intervened to spare the blushes after poor overall team performances.
Rangnick certainly talks the talk when it comes to a solution and during his time working for the Red
Bull clubs he helped establish an ethos of ‘Rock N’ Roll’ football, with an emphasis on intense pressing and an urgency to attack with fast pace.
The German coach has a hatred of needless backwards and sideways passes, encouraging players to try and move the ball forward whenever they get possession, no matter where they are on the pitch.
He boils his coaching philosophy down to five key points – a clear way of playing in possession, knowing how to win the ball back quickly, what happens in the moment a team wins the ball, what happens in the moment a team loses the ball and the importance of set-pieces.
“Also highly important,” he told The Coaches’ Voice of set-pieces. “More than 30 percent of all the goals are being scored after setpieces.
“If we are honest as football coaches, what does that mean if 30 percent of all the goals are being scored after setpieces, how much percentage of our training time should we invest in set-pieces? Thirty per cent. “Let’s be honest with ourselves, do we invest 30 per cent of our training time into set-pieces? “Offensive, defensive, corner kicks, free-kicks, even throwins – we are not.” United looked to become more potent from set-pieces this summer when they appointed Eric Ramsay from Chelsea with the responsibility of taking charge of set-plays. Ramsay is highly regarded by club figures, but it is safe to say his start to life at Old Trafford is yet to truly take off with the Reds still vulnera
How much percentage of our training time should we invest in set-pieces? Thirty per cent
Ralf Rangnick
ble when defending dead ball situations and still experiencing teething issues when trying to implement their own set-piece strategies, despite having experts Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes in their ranks.
The arrival of Rangnick, coupled with the untapped potential of Ramsay, will surely impact United training sessions in the weeks ahead with a greater focus on unlocking goalscoring threats from those situations expected.
“I’m convinced in the future that if you want to win titles, if you want to win the Champions League, if you want to win the World Cup you have to make sure that in all those five areas you are state of the art,” United’s new interim coach added.
The building blocks are certainly in place for set plays to become one of those specialist traits.
Rangnick’s rebuilding job is a lot more complex than a simple fivepoint plan, but his focus on setpiece opportunities could well bring with it some immediate results.