Manchester United are set for a fresh start under new management at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils have reached an agreement with Ralf Rangnick to become their interim manager following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The German will sign a six-month contract and it’s been claimed he could give a new lease of life to certain members of the United squad
Bundesliga expert Kevin Hatchard, who watched plenty of Rangnick’s sides during his time in Germany, is definitely of this belief.
He told talkSPORT Drive about Rangnick: “This was a guy who was very much a pioneer when he was bringing his vision of pressing and counter-pressing, that very quick vertical style.
“There’s a lot of coaches who have taken a leaf out of his book – Thomas Tuchel is one of those.
“Their paths crossed very early on in Tuchel’s coaching career and, had it not been for his time with Rangnick, he may not have taken up coaching in the way that he did.
“Jurgen Klopp I think has amended some of the ideas for his heavy metal football.
“This is a guy who basically built the Red Bull football operation from scratch in Leipzig.
“Yes, he’s had a lot of money to play with, but you still have to do it and that is a very slick operation.”
Regarding the formation Rangnick usually applies, Hatchard added: “Generally [he plays] a back-four, but not always.
“He has played a back-three at times, but generally a back-four.
“He likes the 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2, because what he wants to do is he wants to hit you as quickly as possible.
“So you do see a lot of play go through the middle, but he is flexible.
“He will tweak things and change things here and there, but what he doesn’t change is that willingness to hit at breakneck speeds and that swarming pressing – that’s not gonna be negotiable either.
“Jadon Sancho I think will be a real beneficiary of this if it all goes through.
“Because he’s a guy who, you’ve gotta bear in mind, has been in German football.
“And he’s used to learning about pressing triggers, he’s used to learning about when to go and press the opponent, when not to.
“I think part of the struggle at Manchester United is that maybe those instructions haven’t been as detailed or haven’t been the same – I think he’s struggled in that regard.
“I would think he’d be perfect for the way that Rangnick would want to play.
“Because he’s the kind of guy that makes decisions quickly and generally makes the right decisions.
“He thrives in that kind of broken transitional play that Rangnick wants to create.”