The Red Devils have little hope of re-establishing themselves in Europe’s elite until they clear the rest of the wood in the dressing room
In the wake of a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool in April 2022 that left Manchester United sixth in the Premier League, Ralf Rangnick has mapped out a clear path forward – having spent the better part of six months getting to know the players . and the internal operations of the club.
“If you analyze the situation, it’s not that difficult to analyse,” said the former United interim manager. “The team needs a rebuild. It’s clear to me that there will be six, seven, eight, maybe even 10 new players. And before you sign those players, you have to know how you want to play? What kind of football does the new manager want to play ? And then take it from there and then bring in every player that fits that profile.”
Rangnick would later add: “To me, it’s clear that it’s not enough to do a few little, little tweaks, a few little issues here and there, a few minor cosmetic things. No, in medicine you’ll see this is open-heart surgery. so there are more things that need to change than a few little things here and a few minor things there, and that’s the good thing.”
Fast-forward 20 months, and United are arguably even worse off. Erik ten Hag delivered Carabao Cup and Champions League qualification in his debut season at the helm, but all that work has been undone in the first half of the 2023-24 season.
United fell to their sixth defeat in 14 Premier League games at Newcastle on Saturday and the harsh truth is that the 1-0 scoreline flattered them. What was more concerning, however, is the fact that eight of the players in Ten Hag’s starting line-up also played regularly under Rangnick.
The Dutch manager followed his predecessor’s plan to an extent, signing 16 new players, but very few of them were successful and did little to help United create a new, clear footballing identity. It also holds a number of misfits who have long outstayed their welcome at Old Trafford.
These players are holding United back and no longer deserve to wear the famous red shirt. All have been given countless opportunities to silence their critics or justify their hefty price tags, only to continually let down the club, the fans and indeed themselves.
Such is the utter ineptitude of those pulling the strings behind the scenes at United, there’s a very good chance none of them will be offloaded in the January transfer window. For all of Ten Haag’s shortcomings, which have been revealed in recent months, it is his failure to get rid of the soldiers that will ultimately see him suffer the same fate as the rest of United’s managers in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. .