In his first conversation since taking over as interim manager of Manchester United, German football mastermind Ralf Rangnick revealed that he had a 90-minute long discussion with ousted manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The tactician has agreed to take up the role of interim manager at United before moving to a consultancy role, also including a position on the Manchester United board, similar to his earlier roles at RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was removed from the managerial position on November 29, following a string of poor performances from the Red Devils under him, getting thrashed 5-0 at home by arch-rivals Liverpool, 2-0 to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, and most recently a 4-2 defeat to Claudio Ranieri’s Watford in the matter of a few weeks.
United were reported to have contacted Zinedine Zidane, who apparently declined the offer from the English giants, before choosing the 62-year old Rangnick, who had just about a year ago turned down a similar position at Chelsea.
The German was preceded by interim manager Michael Carrick, who also did quite well, going undefeated in his brief spell. United are still very much in the dark, 13 points off Chelsea at the top, and 10 points behind third-placed Liverpool.
Rangnick claimed that he had not spoken to John Murtough, the club’s director of football, or their executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who has extended his tenure to sort out United’s troubles. Apart from that, he had a lengthy conversation with co-Chairman Joel Glazer, and also had a chat with Solskjaer despite the fact that he had a miserable last few weeks at the club.
“I also had a long phone call with Joel Glazer for more than half an hour. I also spoke with Ole last Sunday before the Chelsea game for almost two hours.
He was very generous to spend one-and-a-half hours on the phone with me, telling me his insight and details about the team.”
he told Manchester United media.
Rangnick’s current position at the club is interim manager, following which he will move to a consultancy role on the board as and when United find a suitable coach to take his place.
“But, as I said, with all those people we haven’t spoken about what will happen in the next two years from next summer until summer 2024. We only spoke about the current situation and how we can find a way to work together”
the German was quoted as saying.
