Manchester (AP) – Ralf Rangnick sees his successor Erik ten Hag as coach of the Premier League club Manchester United facing difficult tasks.
“You don’t even need glasses to see and analyze where the problems lie,” said the 63-year-old former coach and sports director of Bundesliga soccer club RB Leipzig. It is not enough to implement small changes. “In medicine, you would say it’s open-heart surgery. If everyone recognizes that this has to happen and work together, it doesn’t have to take years.”
On the United website, Rangnick gave a positive assessment of the club’s choice of the new Dutch coach, who is currently still coaching Ajax Amsterdam. “I think it’s a very good choice, probably one of the best if not the best choice the club could have made,” he said.
According to Rangnick, the team is facing a change. He has not yet spoken to ten Hag, “but if he personally asks my opinion, I am of course ready and willing to talk to him about my experiences,” he said. “But on the other hand, he will have his own ideas. It’s clear that it’s not just three or four players, considering how many players’ contracts are expiring.”
Rangnick has been the coach of the English record champions since the beginning of December. After the end of his contract in June, he should work as a consultant for the club. Whether that happens, he also wants to make dependent on ten Hag. “Does he want to talk to someone like me, how closely does he want to work together? Those are the things we haven’t talked about,” Rangnick said.