Ralf Rangnick's Reactions To His Eye-Opening Victory against Crystal Palace

Yusuf Abdulbasit Hozaifah writes,

Ralf Rangnick is a German professional football manager, executive and former player who is currently the interim manager of Premier League club Manchester United. After an uneventful career as a player, Rangnick began his coaching career in 1983, at age 25. He is the sixth German to manage a club in the Premier League and only one of them to win his first game in the competition history. 

Rangnick arrived at Old Trafford with a reputation of being the pioneer of the "gegenpressing" tactic, and the German certainly lived up to that during his first match in charge. Speaking ahead of managing his first game in England's top flight, he said he wants his team to eventually become 'pressing monsters' in revealing insight into his managerial style. 

“I said this in my first press conference. There are things we need to improve on; to get clean sheets, to get control of the game. What they (my players) showed was more than I expected, to be honest. I was positively surprised by the physical state and intensity. The first half was amazing. I felt it was extremely high-tempo, high intensity, always on the front foot.” Rangnick, who had only had one training session opportunity to interact with the team before his first match, admitted surprise.

Ralf Rangnick believes Scott McTominay and Fred are 'perfect' for the 4-2-2 formation which Manchester United adopted in their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. McTominay and Fred were regulars under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in a partnership that was often derided by a section of the fanbase before Michael Carrick finessed their roles during his three-game tenure as the caretaker manager. The Red Devils dominated the possession in the first half but failed to open the score sheet. After the match against Crystal Palace, Rangnick described Fred as a ‘sunshine’ everyone should love. The German disclosed this following Manchester United’s Premier League victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday.

The result against Palace moved Man United to the sixth position on the Premier League table with 24 points from 15 matches.