His failure to earn a top four finish meant only one thing for his Manchester United future, but in other regards the jury is still out on Ralf Rangnick.
It was clear the German had no Plan B, which ultimately led to humiliations at the hands of Liverpool, Manchester City and Brighton. However, there are still a number of questions that can only be answered by Erik ten Hag.
United fans have been left feeling bemused and short-changed after Rangnick’s recent results as head coach of the Austria national team. After comfortably beating 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia 3-0 last week, they managed to earn a 1-1 draw with champions France on Friday in the Nations League.
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Even in the late 2-1 loss to Denmark, his team showed how effective they can be in the counter-press. It led to some United supporters asking why Rangnick couldn’t have implemented the tactic while he was at the club.
But back in February, Rangnick agreed with the suggestion that the squad was not a team that could counter-press. He said: “We are not a naturally-born pressing team with a lot of players in their DNA to press all the time.
“This is normal, they haven’t been doing that in the last couple of years and to change that into a pressing team all the time is difficult during the season.”
Ten Hag’s Ajax teams were known for their extremely effective counter-pressing which ultimately led to three successive Eredivisie titles. The Dutchman said in his first United press conference last month that he wishes to instil a similar type of playing style at Old Trafford.
Therefore, we will see if Rangnick’s February assessment was right. If Ten Hag can implement the counter-press well in his debut season, then his predecessor will look a bit foolish.
In fairness, Ten Hag has the luxury of pre-season whereas Rangnick took over mid-season - albeit he arguably had enough time (six months) to implement his Plan A. It would infer that it was Rangnick’s attitude towards the team that contributed to last season’s horror show.
But if Ten Hag cannot get United to mould to his style, then Rangnick was on the money and United have a real problem on their hands. That said, Ten Hag does possess more versatility in his tactical armoury than Rangnick.
But it would mean that his summer plans will have been quashed, which may lead to another underwhelming season - as Rangnick said, it’s harder to change things mid-campaign.
Ten Hag has already evidenced that he is more than capable of implementing a successful tactical blueprint, which means if his plans don’t work, then he may not be the issue.
He will want to bring in a number of new signings this summer, but he will not be able to undergo a complete squad overhaul.
It’s why he needs to be given time. But his debut season will show whether Rangnick was right or whether he was inept.
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