Leipzig’s Rangnick prepares the path for Nagelsmann
Located on polar opposite sides of the technical area experience spectrum, two Bundesliga coaches will be subject to particular scrutiny this season.
In the blue corner, Hoffenheim’s Julian Nagelsmann, the eternally boyish 31year-old prodigy who only has a season left at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena before beginning a new mission at RB Leipzig in the summer of 2019. In the red corner, 60-year-old Ralf Rangnick, RB’s locum coach, a man whose job is not only to run the first-team but also to keep all the balls in the air as director of sport.
The news that a Nagelsmann move was in the works would not have startled anyone. In just two-and-a-half years at the Hoffenheim helm he has proved the archetypal producer of miracles, pulling the club away from the relegation cliff edge in 2016 and twice masterminding top-four Bundesliga placings.
One of the brightest young tacticians in the European game and constantly linked with leading sides in both Germany and England, his departure
was only a matter of time. And all the more so with a clause in his contract stating that he could leave in 2019 for a knock-down € 5million.
Mischievously, some pundits contend that Nagelsmann’s decision to give Hoffenheim 12 months’ notice has turned him into a non-authoritative lame duck. But do they really think this most driven of characters will take his foot off the gas this term?
“Nobody here needs an alibi,” declared Hoffenheim’s financial backer, Dietmar Hopp. “We’re talking about professional football at the highest level.
“Anyone who believes that Julian will take his eye off the ball for even a second, doesn’t know him well at all.”
As meticulous as ever as he prepares his squad for the substantial double challenge of his club’s inaugural Champions League campaign and domestic fare, Nagelsmann has no intention of resting on past laurels.
He talks of the need for a “30-40 per cent improvement in certain areas” and is prioritising a push for greater efficiency in the attacking-third, for more incisiveness when opponents put nine or 10 men behind the ball. The word from inside the camp is that much of pre-season was devoted to attacking set-pieces, the blueprint apparently provided by England’s successful dead-ball strategies at Russia 2018.
Requiring someone to bridge the gap between the arrival of Nagelsmann and previous incumbent Ralph Hasenhuttl – who stepped aside at the end of last season – Rangnick was the obvious choice as interim.
He has an extensive track record as a Bundesliga boss with Stuttgart, Schalke, Hannover and Hoffenheim; recruited every player in the current RB squad; and enjoyed success in a previous stint in the Roten Bullen hot seat, being in charge when they won promotion to the Bundesliga back in 2016.
Rangnick undoubtedly has a lot work on his plate. After achieving a sensational second place in their first Bundesliga season, RB’s young guns went into reverse for much of last term and were inconsistent, uninspired and only finished sixth. In Red Bull land, neither status quo or decline is acceptable. Nagelsmann or no Nagelsmann, Rangnick has to come up with immediate answers.
Never one to equivocate, Rangnick believes RB strayed too far from their DNA last season, that they neglected their erstwhile strengths: the aggressive press, instantaneous transitions, high tempo and directness. For the next nine months he will be preaching back to basics, though may also have a innovation or two up his sleeve, such as a new-look defensive three.
Rangnick’s number two will be the American Jesse Marsch, who until recently was coach of New York Red Bulls. The grand plan is for Marsch to continue in the same role when Julian Nagelsmann takes over.
For the next nine months, Rangnick will be preaching back to basics