wicked.football

Ralf Rangnick has found the Manchester United job harder than expected, claims Gary Neville – but should still have a say in who succeeds him on a permanent basis.

Man Utd appointed Rangnick as their interim manager after sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer earlier this season. Rangnick’s task is to see out the season as strongly as possible before becoming a consultant.

There has been a feeling in the background that the German may end up taking the job full-time himself. However, results have not necessarily shown enough sign of improvement to warrant that.

Man Utd beat Leeds on Sunday to follow up a win against Brighton from midweek. But it is only the second time they have won back-to-back matches with Rangnick on the touchline.

Former United defender Neville has noticed some things Rangnick has changed in contrast to Solskjaer. However, he thinks the interim manager will miss out on the permanent job in favour of someone who can compete with Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel, Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp.

The Sky Sports pundit said on his podcast: “It definitely is different [to Solskjaer’s regime], there’s no doubt.

“I think Rangnick has found it more difficult than he imagined at the beginning. The run of results have been good during his time in charge so far and the fixtures have been good as well, but he has done what he had to do in the fixtures.

“I don’t think he gets the job at the end of the season, come what may, now. I think maybe there was a feeling at the beginning that it could happen; that isn’t going to happen. Manchester United will have a new manager next season.

“I think he will have a say in who gets the job because what he has got is a real good view of the characters, personalities, performance levels and training levels of the current group of players so he is in a strong position to advise. He is probably in the strongest position to advise because he is having day-to-day contact with them.

“He is seeing how they cope with disappointment, how they cope with atmospheres, how they cope with big games, how they cope with training; can they meet the demands of the club? Have they got the quality?”

Bukayo Saka, Conor Gallagher, Phil Foden and six other Young Player of the Year contenders

Man Utd must replace Rangnick with big name

Neville added of Rangnick: “People say he is a sporting director and a coach. But the reality is that his position as a coach is short-term; his position as assisting the club, constructing their new methodology and structure moving forward is a longer term position for two years. I’d rather him get that bit right; I’d rather suffer in the short-term for the longer-term perspective being right.

“He has got good experience around building structures in football clubs and Manchester United do need that.

“In the summer, they have got big appointments to make, namely the manager. The manager has got to be right next season to be able to take on Tuchel, Guardiola and Klopp because if you don’t take on those three with a manager who can face them like-for-like, you will get beat up.

“It has been proven over the last few years that great managers in this league will bring you great things; Manchester United need a great manager to compete with the ones that are at that level in this league at this moment in time.”

Reports have revealed that Mauricio Pochettino and Erik Ten Hag are in contention for the job. There have also been rumours about the likes of Luis Enrique.

READ MORE: Neville spots Man Utd ‘warning sign’ after revealing why points will be dropped in ‘big month’

The post Man Utd task tougher than Rangnick thought, Neville claims amid major appointment advice appeared first on TEAMtalk.