It may not seem a spectacular success, but Ralf Rangnick’s time as a consultant to Manchester United could rank only behind Michael Carrick’s reign as caretaker manager during their season. After all, United went unbeaten in the six days between Erik ten Hag’s unveiling, signalling he had taken the reigns, and the confirmation of Rangnick’s departure from his second job. If, that is, he ever really started it.
He goes by mutual consent and that feels one of the few things Rangnick and United do agree on. So ends one of the strangest interludes in the club’s history but amid a sense of what might have been. As long as Rangnick remained involved at Old Trafford, there was the chance United might tap into his expertise, that a club with an awful record in the transfer market – as he was rarely slow to point out – might make the kind of far-sighted deals for emerging talents that aided Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig. There may be sighs of relief from Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel that United are less likely to rival them for their targets. United could at least be spared the image of someone on their wage bill appearing to be paid by them to manage Austria.
But the finality of it means United part company with Rangnick without utilising his greatest strengths; one or two players in recent years may know how that feels. They hired a sporting director to be manager and, rather than tapping into his knowledge of how to run a club, told him they wanted him to concentrate on coaching. The evidence of the last six months is that, if Rangnick ever was a world-class manager, he is not now. He was only ever an effective manager with players who suited his style of play. United had few of those.
He has a track record of choosing managers, so United sidelined him when recruiting Ten Hag. Rangnick contrived not to meet or to speak with his successor at a stage when many another had, their interactions limited to a few WhatsApp messages. Rather than briefing Ten Hag, Rangnick felt separated from him. A lack of joined-up thinking has been a recurring theme at Old Trafford; they could not even connect two managers during what should have been a smooth transition.
The Rangnick interregnum was supposed to be a chance to provide an audit. He gave the board his recommendations for what to do with the squad; now he is going, will they ever be heeded or will the Rangnick dossier be discovered down the side of a filing cabinet sometime in the future, untouched by those it was intended for? Certainly some of United’s underachievers may prefer it if a blunt talker’s advice remains unseen. Because, as critical as he was in public, Rangnick’s private views on United were more strident.
If Rangnick’s own credibility was damaged by his failure as manager and his wretched results, he might have also made the mistake of speaking truth to power. Or simply of being better qualified for their jobs than two of the internal appointments. Certainly Rangnick’s CV trumps those of director of football John Murtough and technical director Darren Fletcher; there are those close to the German who are scathing about both. They may prefer to consign Rangnick to United’s past.
It is harder to say if Ten Hag does likewise. But his excellence at Ajax came at a club with a structure, with figures of stature in Edwin van der Sar and Marc Overmars (the off-the-field reasons for his departure notwithstanding) offering ballast in the background. Recruitment was neither reliant on the manager alone, nor veering between contrasting preferences of very different head coaches, while influenced by the club’s fondness for the famous. It was there, in coherent thinking, in long-term planning, in identifying talent and buying to an idea, that Rangnick could have made an impact.
It had been apparent for a while that United wouldn’t miss Rangnick the manager but, in years to come, they may realise they are missing his strategic sense. Instead, he departs as the consultant they didn’t want to consult.
