Erik ten Hag must perform “open-heart surgery” on Manchester United to bring the ailing club back to life.
Interim boss Ralf Rangnick reckons ten Hag will need the precision and patience of a surgeon to perform the operation required to save the Red Devils.
Ajax boss Ten Hag takes over at United at the end of this season, with outgoing boss Rangnick warning his successor of the critical situation he faces at Old Trafford.
“In medicine, you would say that this is an operation of the open heart,” said Rangnick. “There are more things to be changed than some little things here and some minor things there, but this is the good thing.
“The good thing is that it’s crystal clear, it’s not that difficult, you don’t even need glasses to see and analyse where the problems are. Now it’s only about 'how do we solve them?'. For me it’s not enough to do some minor amendments, some little issues here and there and little cosmetic things.
“Everyone has realised that this has to happen and I still believe it doesn’t take two or three years to change those things. This can happen within one year. Other clubs not too far away from here have shown that it doesn’t take two, three or four years, it’s possible within one, two or maybe three transfer windows.”
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Rangnick also criticised defender Eric Bailly for agreeing with an Instagram post calling for him to play against Arsenal on Saturday, instead of captain Harry Maguire.
“I’m not on Instagram and I'm not talking about my players, not knowing what has happened,” said Rangnick. “But if it’s true what you told me, that should not happen in a football club, no matter in which league.”
