RALF’S PRESS GANG Reds targeting £33m Haidara
Rangnick: My football’s more quickstep than a slow waltz
RALF RANGNICK has vowed to turn his Manchester United stars into ‘pressing monsters’ – but has warned there is no quick fix.
And the 63-year-old Old Trafford interim boss (right) has acknowledged there are similarities between his high-energy tactical approach to that of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Asked if he can match Klopp’s ‘heavy metal football’, he replied: “Well my football is definitely not a slow waltz!
“I am not that far apart from Jurgen in terms of our ideas about a style of football. That’s no secret.
“But you have to be aware of what kind of players you have and where they stand.
“I cannot ask things of them that they can’t deliver right now.
“I have to take them and accept where they currently are. They are experienced and smart enough to know that.
“I cannot turn the players we have into the pressing monsters I want them to be within two, three or four weeks.
“The same happened to Jurgen when he came in the middle of the season and they finished eighth or ninth.
“Liverpool had a lot of injuries in that time – muscle injuries – because they were not used to that kind of training. So we have to be smart.” The German’s reign begins with the visit of Crystal Palace this afternoon and Rangnick is keen to ensure nobody gets carried away.
“I am more than optimistic, but I also have to be realistic,” he said.
“Five weeks ago, our team lost 5-0 against Liverpool – and it could have been a lot more if we are honest.
“Against City it was 2-0 – but it could also have been more. It was important to win the point at Chelsea but the performance? I don’t know. They had 24 shots on goal and we had three.
“So right now, to say I will challenge the top Premier League managers in the next few weeks or months, is not realistic.
I cannot turn the players we have into the pressing monsters I want them to be within two, three or four weeks
Focus
“Right now my focus is on Crystal Palace and then on Young Boys, then Norwich, then Brighton and then Brentford. The games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City will be in March and April – that’s when I will answer the question about challenging them.”
The last German manager to join a Premier League side mid-season, Thomas Tuchel, ended that campaign by securing the Champions League trophy for Chelsea.
But Rangnick was careful not to promise that he can emulate that achievement.
“To do what Thomas did in four months at Chelsea was incredible,” he added. “I am not sure I can say that things will develop in the same way for me at United.”
MANCHESTER UNITED boss Ralf Rangnick is showing what he
could bring to Old Trafford as a director of football by brokering a £33million swoop for RB Leipzig midfielder Amadou Haidara.
Rangnick has already been in talks with the agency that represents the 23-year-old Mali international (right) and sources in Germany claim a deal will be done in January.
Haidara has a buy-out clause that can be triggered in the summer – but United are ready to pay the fee now to get the move in motion, after Rangnick identified him as a player who will add some power and presence to his midfield.
Haidara will be going to the Africa Cup of Nations early in the New Year, but that will not deter the Reds from trying to get him signed and sealed next month.
He grew up supporting United and scored his first Champions League goal against them in a 3-2 Leipzig win in December 2020.
Rangnick signed Haidara for Red Bull Salzburg from the JMG Academy
Bamako in the summer of 2016, when he was sporting director of the
Austrian club.
He then took the midfielder to
Leipzig in December 2018 in a deal which saw Salzburg agree to pay a 15 percent cut of any future transfer to their sister club.
Haidara is advised by the same Sports360 Gmbh agency that represents former Rangnick proteges Timo Werner and Dayot Upamecano as part of their extensive stable of clients.
He would bank a hefty rise on the £60,000-a-week contract he signed in the spring if a deal with United is done.
Rangnick has not given up on bringing close friend Lars Kornetka with him to Manchester as one of his assistants.
The 43-year-old took over Rangnick’s position as head of sports and development at Lokomotiv Moscow following the German’s departure to Old Trafford.
But Rangnick is hopeful that an agreement can be reached with the Russian club that will enable him to team up with the video analyst he worked with at Hoffenheim, Schalke and Leipzig.