After a bright start to the season, things started to go downhill quickly for Manchester United and it marked the departure of their then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The club appointed a veteran persona as their interim manager in the form of Ralf Rangnick. After the first few results went their way, the form again crumbled and the internal chaos alongside the injuries made it difficult for the coaching staff to find the solutions.
In came the January transfer window and the fans became hopeful of seeing a few signings happening and the results again going in their way. But sadly, much didn’t change. Rangnick wanted to sign an attacker in that window. The controversies over Mason Greenwood and the constant injuries of Edinson Cavani left United with limited options for the frontline. The loan move of Anthony Martial to Sevilla and Jesse Lingard falling down the pecking order meant that Rangnick only had a few players to pick from to construct his attack. That’s why he was desperate to sign a forward but the board eventually did not budge.
Should Ralf Rangnick Have Been Backed?
A recent interview with Ralf Rangnick reveals more details on this matter as he said, “I still believe that we should have tried in those 48 hours”. Ralf mentioned that initially both the board and the scouting department agreed to the idea and they were looking at the big names such as River Plate’s Julián Álvarez, Porto’s Luis Díaz and Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic. All three of these deals were complicated but Rangnick felt that the club didn’t try hard enough.
A few days later, Vlahovic, Alvarez, and Diaz signed for Juventus, Manchester City, and Liverpool.
United back then was still in three competitions, the English Premier League, FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League and that’s why Rangnick was pushing hard but the board’s policy of signing only one player in the winter transfer window meant that they didn’t even look at the profile of these players who could’ve become assets for Manchester United going forward.
Maybe the board just didn’t want to listen to an interim manager or perhaps they just didn’t care – either way, it cost United big time as soon they were out of the cup competitions and are now set to miss out on the Champions League football next season – another move from the owners that infuriates the supporters!
