THE ORIGINAL HIPSTER

United have turned to the ’Godfather of Gegenpress’ ... the man whose all-action style influenced Pep, Klopp and Tuchel as the Red Devils finally decide to follow their arch-rivals’ blueprint to success

MANCHESTER UNITED are in so much trouble they have turned to a footballing Godfather for help.

Ralf Rangnick has been on United’s radar since 2019, when Old Trafford bigwigs – including current football director John Murtough – travelled to RB Leipzig to see how he operated.

Murtough returned to Manchester with a glowing report on Rangnick, who has been held in high regard there ever since.

Now United have finally decided to bring him to the Premier League, with Rangnick poised to succeed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on an interim basis until the end of the season. His vast experience will be called upon to help stabilise a team that was floundering under Solskjaer.

The 63-yearold’s task will

be to lead

United into the top four and challenge for a trophy, including the Champions League. His six-month deal will include attractive bonuses for doing just that.

But despite his pedigree, Rangnick (in his Leipzig days, above and below) is still not viewed as the longterm managerial solution.

United remain focused on hiring Mauricio Pochettino as their next permanent manager, with Rangnick moving upstairs as the club’s first sporting director. One senior United source said last night: “We have huge respect for Ralf Rangnick. We want him for much longer than just a stint as manager.”

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, and Chelsea chief Thomas Tuchel deploy strategies first championed by Rangnick himself, and all three have achieved huge success.

United have in the meantime lurched through a succession of managers without hinting that they can bring back the glory days they enjoyed under Sir Alex Ferguson.

David Moyes lasted just 14 months while the controversial Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and Solskjaer all flattered to deceive.

United have not won the Premier League since 2013, but maybe the appointment of German veteran Rangnick signifies that those who run the club have finally had a lightbulb moment.

Rangnick, who has worked closely with the late former Liverpool boss

Gerard Houllier, became known as the Godfather of German football after his modern coaching revolutionised the game in his homeland. Klopp might have popularised the famous ‘gegenpress’ but Rangnick was its architect.

He has managed Hannover, Schalke, Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig and more recently took up roles as director of football at Red Bull Salzburg and Leipzig before moving to Russia, where he has been working for Lokomotiv Moscow.

This will be a challenge on a different scale altogether for Rangnick, however. But the same can be said of Pochettino, who has just one trophy to his name as a boss (French Cup).

Will the duo provide the answers to United’s problems? Who knows. But it will be an intensely fascinating ride.