Ralf Rangnick happy Man Utd have ‘recognised signs of the times’

Former Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has praised the Red Devils for implementing lots of the advice he gave during his short spell at Old Trafford.

Rangnick was brought in at United in November 2021 to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a deal which ran until the end of the campaign, and after a positive start, results soon took a turn and United ended up sealing their lowest Premier League points tally ever.

As things began to fall apart late on, Rangnick publicly called out United’s decision-makers, including the Glazer family, for failing to sign the right players and putting too much faith in underperforming names who needed to be sold.

While he did not stick around to see the results of his work, ultimately favouring the Austria manager job over a pre-agreed consultancy role at United, Rangnick admitted United had finally started to follow his advice.

“Of course, it wasn’t an easy time,” Rangnick told Sport1. “The timing, to get there at that time, it could have been better.

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“Obviously, the club has recognised the signs of the times. Many of the things that we discussed internally back then have now been implemented. They brought in a lot of new players. Others players who, for various reasons, were not able to perform at their best back then are now in top form again when they are fit. I think of Marcus Rashford. Luke Shaw is fit again and doesn’t have any major injury problems anymore.

“They are now a team again, but of course, there were certain problems for certain reasons. You now have the opportunity to develop as a team again. They have a really good coach in Erik ten Hag, and that’s why it’s not so surprising that they end up in the top four again this year. I think you can say that now.

“And now, in the FA Cup final against Man City, they even have a chance to win a second title.”

Rangnick, who also insisted his decision to prioritise the Austria job over a consultancy role with United was the right one, regularly argued that the Red Devils did not have the intensity and the technical ability needed to compete at the highest level.

Among the players questioned by Rangnick was Cristiano Ronaldo, who was soon dropped by Ten Hag and eventually agreed to terminate his contract at Old Trafford to join Saudi side Al Nassr earlier this season.

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