Ralf Rangnick’s past advice on a Manchester United rebuild has gone viral in the wake of the Manchester derby.
On Sunday Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored a goal on either side of half-time while Phil Foden also netted to give Pep Guardiola’s side a dominant 3-0 derby day victory over United.
It was a victory that propelled City up to third, two points behind Premier League leaders Tottenham and subjected United to a fifth league defeat in their first ten games of the campaign - the Old Trafford club's worst start since 1986-87.
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After the derby drubbing, Roy Keane called for Bruno Fernandes to be stripped of the United captaincy, Jamie Carragher directed the blame at Erik ten Hag’s management while Gary Neville reserved his criticism for United owners, the Glazer family.
Though each Sky Sports pundit may have a point, in 2022 former United interim boss Rangnick stressed that a lack of joined-up thinking in the United hierarchy was central to the club’s failings.
He added that United required “open heart surgery” rather than minor “cosmetic” changes to return to the summit of English football.
Months before Ten Hag’s appointment, interim manager Rangnick said: “It’s crystal clear. It’s not that difficult. You don’t even need glasses to analyse and to see where the problems are.
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“So now it’s about how do we solve them. And for me it’s clear - it’s not enough to make minor amendments, little issues here and there, minor cosmetic things.
“No. This is an operation of the open heart. This is also not something that one single person as a manager can do. With all due respect to Jurgen [Klopp] and Pep [Guardiola], I’m sure that they did not do everything themselves.
“There were also other people involved. If people want to work together then it makes sense and I still believe it does not need to take two or three years to change those things.
“This can happen within one year.”
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Topics: Football, Ralf Rangnick, Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Manchester City