Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Wagner names top reason why Ralf Rangnick is outstanding Man Utd choice

Ralf Rangnick, new Man Utd interim manager, salutes crowd at Red Bull Arena, RB Leipzig

David Wagner has explained why he thinks Ralf Rangnick can bring about a successful future at Manchester United – and believes his countryman is an excellent choice for the Red Devils.

United have turned to the wise and experienced German sage to steer their ship until the season’s end. Known as the Godfather of the Gengenpress, Rangnick will bring about a big change to the style of play seen under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Indeed, Rangnick appears to have made an instant impact. He was in the stands for a 3-2 win over Arsenal last Thursday, while his first official game in charge saw Crystal Palace beaten 1-0.

Wagner though will look to bring his winning start to an abrupt halt. The Young Boys coach has already got the better of United this season, beating them 2-1 in their Group F opener.

The former Huddersfield boss, though, knows it’s an altogether different United side now. And in assessing their decision to appoint Rangnick, he reckons United have made a ‘smart choice’.

“I think he has shown in the past that he is a top manager,” Wagner said.

Picking out his ability to mould United into a high-intensity pressing side, Wagner believes his countryman will give United ‘direction’.

‘World-class’ Man Utd

“He can develop football clubs, he can give football clubs a direction and I think Manchester United has done a good choice!

“Obviously they will for sure like to take the revenge after the first game which we played.

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John McGinn back on Manchester United's radar?

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“We’ve seen after the change of the manager that they changed a little bit the style, a little bit more intensity, they were a little bit more on the front foot and we have to find our solutions against them.

“We hear that they maybe make some changes but, listen, it’s Man United. They have world-class players all over the park – not only the starting 11, they have 20, 22 world-class players which we will face.”

Wagner gunning for win at Old Trafford

Young Boys need to win and hope Villarreal beat Atalanta to finish third on Wednesday.

However, winning a match at Old Trafford is never an easy feat. Nonetheless, Wagner will head there aiming for a win.

“I think the role is clear. There is a favourite and we are the underdog. But we absolutely accept our role and we are looking forward to it,” he said.

“Not every game the best players in the world can win. We will work on our performance that we hopefully can give them the biggest problems tomorrow. Then let’s see what we get out of it.”

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