Tuesday, November 30th, 2021
Rangnicks tough United mission
“Danger of disaster” threatens thanks to Ronaldo
Ralf Rangnick is welcomed in England as the “hipster hero”. But there is a threat of a dispute with Cristiano Ronaldo, which does not fit into the system of counter-pressing. The Portuguese has to start from the bank on Sunday – he wants to rewrite the “history books of world football”.
Cristiano Ronaldo was angry. But really. “Lies” and “absolute disrespect”, complained the world star. Has CR7 heard the unflattering, five-year-old quote from his new coach Ralf Rangnick that he is “too old”? No, the top striker from Manchester United was angry about an indiscretion from Pascal Ferre, the organizer of the Ballon d’Or. So far there has been no word from him about Rangnick. The whole of football England is asking itself: Rangnick and Ronaldo – is that going well?
“How will Rangnick deal with Ronaldo? Can you work together?” Asked the BBC anxiously. The Manchester Evening News pleaded: “Rangnick just has to do it with Ronaldo.” The Guardian wrote: “What Rangnick likes: team play, theory, dead geniuses from the Soviet era. What he doesn’t like: egos, stars, inefficiency.” It is “easy to recognize the risk of disaster”.
Mainly because of Ronaldo. Even at the age of 36, he is still one of the world’s best goal scorers, but not made for Rangnick’s pressing style. When the great Portuguese sat on the bench in the top game at Chelsea on Sunday (1-1), club icon Gary Neville already attributed this to the influence of Rangnick, who only started his job this week. Interim coach Michael Carrick rejected this, but the topic continues to occupy the media and experts alike.
In the live broadcast of Sky, the ex-professionals Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher fought a battle of words online that was clicked a million times. “He’s not pressing,” said Ronaldo critic and Liverpool legend Carragher pointedly. Former United captain Keane replied angrily that Ronaldo’s worth was not measured by his mileage. “He hasn’t pressed for four, five, six years!” But he hits. And “did not come back to sit on the bench”.
But is it even suitable for the “Ralfball” (“Evening News”) of the “hipster hero” Rangnick (“Sun”)? The German, believes the Guardian, is “primarily an ideologist”. In other words: Rangnick puts the system above the individual, even if they are a world star. United, opposed the “Evening News”, “would not have brought Rangnick if he wanted to take Ronaldo out of circulation”.
The expert and ex-professional Mark Lawrenson said that Ronaldo could even benefit from the new boss – and meet even more often. At first the striker was driven by the Ballon d’Or. The fact that he was sixth and missed the top 3 for the first time since 2010 – a gift. Rather, an allegation by the editor-in-chief of “France Football” pissed him off. Ronaldo himself told him that his only goal was to win more gold balls than his eternal rival Lionel Messi, Ferre told the New York Times. “I was lying,” cried Ronaldo in an angry Instagram post.
“My biggest goal is to put my name in gold letters in the history books of world football,” he said. Therefore his whole focus is on “the next game”. Rangnick could like to hear that. According to the Guardian, he is currently not obsessed with “cups or trophies”. Instead, the coach is concerned with “forms, spaces and systems”. The question remains whether Ronaldo fits into Rangnick’s system.
But problems threatened on another front as well, according to the newspaper. “What’s the worst thing you can do with Rangnick?” Asks the Guardian. “How about throwing him into a rescue job at a hysterically hungry club obsessed with its own marketing department in the middle of the season?” Can Rangnick – the developer, the tactician – do anything in Manchester in six months?
Ronaldo and Co. could also say that there will be a new coach with a new style of play on the sidelines for the next season anyway. The sixth in eight and a half years. “Welcome, Mr. Process, to a place where there is no trial,” the Guardian greets Ralf Rangnick ironically. “And now to work.”