MY ACCOUNT
Manchester United must move away from having one manager run the club and instead appoint the “best possible head coach” with a skilled team around him.
That is according to Ralf Rangnick, who will take up a consultancy role at Old Trafford after his interim manager role at United concludes at the end of the season.
Ajax coach Erik ten Hag is widely expected as the next permanent appointment, but Rangnick believes wholesale change is needed behind the scenes to set up the club for future success.
The German oversaw transformative innovation during his time at Hoffenheim and the two Red-Bull owned clubs: RB Leipzig and Salzburg. However, he remains uneasy with the managerial approach in England.
There is a preference to have a managerial figure lead clubs, like Alex Ferguson at United, but Rangnick insists success comes from the teams around these bosses, such as the set-up behind Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
“In Germany we have a head coach and then there is usually a minimum of two skilled people continuously in the club on a longer-term basis responsible for recruitment, scouting and any daily operation,” Rangnick told Sky Sports News.
“They also bring in the right and best possible head coach for the team. This still hasn’t got a big tradition here and so the job of a sporting director or director of football, only a few clubs have that.
“I know that for the future, and I think even more so for a big club like Manchester United, you can’t put all those jobs and tasks and the whole responsibility only on the shoulder of one person – on the manager. I’m not sure if this can be dealt with by one person, no matter how good he is.
“I know Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea also have smart people who take care of recruitment, scouting, the medical department.
“I think this is also an issue for our club, where they have to pay attention to.”
Former Leipzig coach Rangnick will move into the background when Ten Hag, or any other manager, is appointed at United for next season.
Asked if he had offered the club any guidance, he said: “I’ve done that already after the first couple of weeks and regularly since then.
“I told the board members about what I have experienced so far and what I think are the important things we have to pay attention to and where we have to make sure that we maybe get better at.
“But right now my full focus is on the remaining six games that we have to play and that we hopefully play as successful as we can be. All the rest has to wait until the end of the season.”
