WHO IS RALF RAGNICK?
Ralf Ragnick! Straight out the back and if I'm keeping it 100... I'd never really heard the name. A quick search on google and Youtube however gave me all I needed to know about Former Bundesliga player - now Coach Ragnick; an avid believer in winning the ball back after losing possession, rather than falling back to regroup together with evolving player's spatial coverage by increasing memory space and processing pace, cutting off supply right at the jugular AKA GENGENPRESS... or at least that's what most of the buzz around United fan circles is focused on.
This playing style is not new to the Premier League (cue Klopp's Liverpool and Guardiola's City; two gaffers that utilize Gegenpressing and maximize it to the max. See: Liverpool v United match).
STATE OF THE SQUAD
Following the addition of notably superstar-status names to the United Lineup (Ronaldo, Sancho and Varane); and other world-class previous acquisitions... not a lot of Football fans expected United to be scrapping for points against a team like the Swiss Young Boys on a cold UCL night.
This string of bad results, many questionable selection decisions, and having almost zero playstyle other than relying on that stroke of Ronaldo luck, got our club legend Gaffer and always smiling Ole the sack. Likened to the Mou situation, he deserved it. We still love him but we need a play style and a coach that'll not keep altering his mojo (particularly referring to his lineup that won him the Spurs match, only to turn up for the next fixture with an altered squad and get battered). And I bet we all agree that Maguire should be doing the #VDBBenchchallenge yh... he's been dropping consistent stinkers for so long. 100% not captain material.
UNITED'S PRESSING PROBLEM AND WHERE GEGENPRESS COMES IN
Klopp in his presser admitted how influential Ralf was to his playstyle... and admits he's not exactly looking forward to him resuming at united. That speaks a lot to the quality of Management coming our way Reds. Tuchel in his presser was also full of praise and admiration for the gaffer.
We can all agree United has a pressing problem... that stems from a bad midfield-defense connection/communication. I know I know the McFred thing is cute 'cause they'd provide the needed pressing in the middle of the pack as much as needed... but with Maguire and Lindelof being very conservative that'll just amount to gapping holes to exploit. Gegenpress requires coordinated and concise supply cut-off followed by fast precise counterattacking.
We have the counterattacking on lock with the likes of Fernandes, Ronaldo, Rashford, Sancho, and Young Mace going forward; each of which have a diverse set of resources in their individual arsenal to hurt any defense... my problem however lies with the urgency/response the team has to win back a lost ball and possession retention, both of which I personally think Gegenpressing would solve.
This squad has been one of our better and strongest squads in the last decade... same with the PSG problem; a coaching team that knows what they're doing would really really help our chances of at least finishing in a European comp spot, this is what Ralf Rangnick offers us; play style. I hope Rangnick gets to appoint his own backroom staff and get things going real fast... excited to see how his stint turns out.
THE CHELSEA GAME
I hope we'd come clutch for the Chelsea game at the bridge tomorrow and win some important matches ffs.
Chelsea are hot atm... blah blah bla time to extinguish those flames.
Let's go Reds. Viva Ronaldo!