The Ralf Rangnick Rebuild: 4 Players That United Should Sign To Fit Ralf’s 4-2-2-2 Formation

The appointment of Ralf Rangnick as the interim manager of Manchester United has excited a lot of fans of the club.

While there was a sense of loyalty and support for the previous incumbent Ole Gunnar Solksjaer there was still an understanding that the style of football was not what most onlookers would associate with the Manchester United way.

There is a sense of expectation around the club, which is supported and magnified by the number of former players who are pundits around the game, that Manchester United play attacking and free-flowing football with an emphasis on fluid counter-attacks and vertical runs and passes.

If this style of football sounds familiar to those who are more used to the modern game, then that is because there are a lot of similarities between this style and what has become known as the Red Bull game model.

When the energy drink manufacturer Red Bull decided to become involved in football, they did so with an intelligent approach that linked their product with the style of football that their sides would play.

The Red Bull clubs are all expected to play with verticality in possession and aggression out of possession, which requires a great deal of energy and athleticism.

Appointing Rangnick as their new manager then made a lot of sense for the decision-makers at United as the German coach was widely credited as the man who had the greatest input in developing the Red Bull style of play, and he was responsible for leading recruitment for the network of clubs.

In other words, he is perfectly placed to understand the types of players and player profiles needed to play a quick and aggressive style in the modern game.

The problem that Rangnick has, however, is that the United squad at the moment is not well set up to play this style.

Recruitment as a whole at the club has been problematic for some time, with a sense that a coherent team style was not a factor in bringing players to the club, and other factors such as reputation were perhaps seen as more important drivers in the recruitment process.

In this article, I will look to identify four players up the spine of the team that United could target to bring their playing squad more in line with the way that Rangnick is likely to want them to play going forward.

In order to achieve this, I am using data collected from Wyscout and fed into a number of custom dashboards that are built using Tableau.

The central defender

The first position that we will look at recruiting for is a central defender.

This may be somewhat surprising given that the club already has the likes of Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane under contract.

Still, in the modern game, a club of the stature of Manchester United will need to carry at least three, if not four top, top-class players at this position to account for injury, suspension or rotation to the squad.

While they have the likes of Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof as backup options at the moment, it is fair to say that neither of these players inspire confidence.

So, the first thing that we will do is identify a central defender that will fit Ragnicks plan from the first line of the attacking phase.

He will favour defenders who show ability in possession and can play line-breaking passes that will bypass the opposition pressure and create favourable situations for his side.

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