Ralf Rangnick admits he failed at Man Utd and sends Erik ten Hag message to the Glazers
MANCHESTER UNITED will replace Ralf Rangnick with Erik ten Hag this summer.
Posted Sunday, May 22, 2022 by Express.co.uk
Ralf Rangnick has admitted he 'should have done better' during his time as interim manager of Manchester United. The German is gearing up for his final match in charge against Crystal Palace on Sunday. And he feels the Glazers must back Erik ten Hag in order for the club to be successful again.
Manchester United turned to Rangnick in December, shortly after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following a chastening 4-1 defeat away at Watford.
But the 63-year-old has been unable to improve the situation at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils' season going from bad to worse.
United have exited the FA Cup and Champions League under Rangnick and are now primed to qualify for the Europa League, having slumped to sixth in the table.
And the German, speaking ahead of Sunday's clash with Palace, has now admitted he's failed during his time in charge.
"I'm more than self-critical. I should have done better" said the former RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim boss.
"I expected that me and my coaching staff could have developed this team in a more sustainable kind of way.
"We couldn't and it's not only the players who should be blamed, it should be ourselves.
"We all could and should have done better but there are obvious reasons why it didn't happen."
Rangnick does feel that United can bounce back from one of their worst-ever Premier League seasons, however.
But he's lobbied on the club's owners, the Glazers, to ensure the Red Devils are able to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool.
"Yes, I strongly believe that and I know that from my own experience," he said when asked if United can bounce back quickly.
"I developed teams from level four to Champions League and level three to Champions League.
"This is obviously different here because United are already in the Premier League and we are a club with high expectations with a big tradition of being successful.
"But you can only find what you need if you know what you are looking for and you need to know that in advance" says Rangnick.
"This also depends on how Erik wants to play? If you saw Ajax or his U-23 team at Bayern Munich play then it's pretty obvious how that will be.
"And for me it's also clear what kind of players he needs to help him to be successful.
"There will be changes, players will be leaving because their contracts have expired so there will be space for new players.
"We also spoke about the last transfer window in January where we and the board decided not to sign any players but this is different now.
"In this summer window there will be some new players and Erik will also have some influence on which kind of player he wants.
"That will happen in this window and hopefully the next two windows and I think it's obvious to everybody for the owners, the board and every supporter we need to increase and raise the level of quality within the squad.
"And as I said if you know what you are looking for and how you want to play then it's a lot easier."
On Friday, Rangnick was asked about his biggest disappointment at United.
And he said that a failure to establish 'team spirit' was his main regret.
"We spoke about that quite at length in last press conferences," he stated.
"I think that until we dropped out at Atletico, we have lost confidence, energy in the team.
"Until then we had stabilised the team. Until then were much more stable defensively.
"Since Atletico we just didn't find our shape, form again. It has got to do with confidence, team spirit and togetherness.
"This is my biggest disappointment that we didn't establish that team spirit."
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