In his press conference prior to Manchester United's Premier League clash with Arsenal, Ralf Rangnick seemed to draw parallels between Arsenal's rebuild and the one that his current club must undertake. Arsenal backed Mikel Arteta last summer and also supported him through his transition, and now they are in a race for the top four.
Rangnick was highly complimentary of Arsenal, saying: "I think they drew the right conclusions from what they experienced earlier on in the season. They brought in some young players, [Martin] Odegaard for example, they got rid of some players who didn't fit that style of football."
This reflected Rangnick's feelings about United, feelings he made quite clear earlier this week. "I mean, it's obvious there are quite a few players with their contracts expiring," he said. "There might be a few others who - although they have contracts - they are already on loan and still want to be on loan or leave the club.
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"It will be a significant change and rebuild necessary, that's clear, but how many players and which positions, as I've said, I've not spoken to Erik [ten Hag] in person yet. If he asks me my opinion in person, I'm willing to speak to him about my experience, but on the other hand, he'll also have his own ideas."
Rangnick claimed that United could need to sign up to 10 players in the summer and this would signify a major shift from United's usual policy of three or four first-team signings per window. This may be due to Ten Hag needing specific profiles to successfully implement his philosophy.
This would be similar to what Arsenal did last summer where they overhauled their squad with a number of young, hungry players. United fans, however, must take note of the Gunners' rocky ride.
Arsenal have lost 11 games this season - two more than United - and have had plenty of spells where the fans were questioning the leadership of Arteta. But, like United must do with Ten Hag, Arsenal gave the Spanish manager time to build the team he wanted and he was also able to remove the players who didn't fit into his plans or didn't show the desired attitude - like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Overall, given the old rivalry between the two sides, United fans will not want to compare themselves to Arsenal, but in many ways, their situations are very similar. The phrase 'sleeping giants' gets thrown around a lot and Ten Hag will have the job of waking said giant from its slumber. But he must be allowed to do it his way and he must be provided with the tools to succeed.
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