10 facts you might not know about prospective Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick

Ralf Rangnick is reportedly set to be appointed as Manchester United's interim manager. The German coach is expected to usher in a new era at Old Trafford by building on the structure that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has created at the club.

Ralf Rangnick has been working as the Head of Sports and Development at Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow. He is known for being one of the best tacticians the game has ever seen and could prove to be an inspired appointment at Manchester United.

After serving as interim manager, Rangnick is set to work as a consultant at the club for two years. This means that he is likely to have a say over who the next permanent manager at Manchester United is going to be.

Without a doubt, this is a step in a positive direction for Manchester United. Without further ado, take a look at 10 facts you might not know about Ralf Rangnick.

#10 Prospective Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick is credited with inventing gegenpressing

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Gegenpressing is an extreme form of forward pressing whereby teams attempt to regain possession immediately after losing the ball. Thirequirestem needs each attacker to press the opposition when their team loses possession. This is the system that Jurgen Klopp has used to great effect at Liverpool.

Rangnick is also known for popularizing zonal marking. His teams are known for playing high-octane attacking football as well and he will fit right in at Manchester United.

#9 Rangnick went into management at the age of 25

Manchester United are getting a very experienced coach

Ralf Rangnick had a rather short playing career. He largely played in the lower divisions in Germany and had a small stint at English club Southwick while he was studying at the University of Sussex.

His tactical intelligence and strategic talents were noted early and he became a player coach at FC Viktoria Backnang in 1983.

#8 AC Milan's Arrigo Sacchi is Ralf Rangnick's role model

Former Italy national team and AC Milan manager Arrigo Sacchi

Ralf Rangnick used to get videos of Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan sent to him from Italy. Rangnick was reportedly co-writing coaching manuals at the time. He studied AC Milan's positioning and pressing in great detail. It is claimed that Rangnick obsessively rewinding and playing these tapes caused his VCR to break down.

Sachi managed AC Milan in two stints between 1987-1991 and 1996-1997. He won a Serie A title in the 1987-88 season and also won back-to-back European Cups. He was also the coach of the Italian national team that finished as runners-up in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

#7 Ralf Rangnick rejected interim role at Chelsea

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Chelsea had approached Ralf Rangnick when they were looking for an interim coach following the sacking of Frank Lampard. However, Rangnick reportedly rejected the chance to be interim coach for four months as he believed he'd just be seen as a 'lame duck' who just comes and goes.

#6 He won took third-division side Ulm to the Bundesliga

Rangnick was a former player of Ulm 1846. He returned to the club as manager in 1997. Rangnick first earned promotion to Bundesliga 2 before taking them to the German top flight for the first time in their history in 2000.

#5 Rangnick won promotion to the Bundesliga with Hannover 96

Ralf Rangnick during his time as the coach of Hannover

Ralf Rangnick was appointed as manager of Hannover 96 in May 2001. Hannover 96 were a Bundesliga 2 side at the time and Rangnick transformed the side immediately. They won the second-division league title that season and earned promotion to the Bundesliga.

He led them to a 11th placed finish in their first season back in the Bundesliga. However, they couldn't built on it in the subsequent season and their form nosedived. This led to Rangnick being sacked from the club in March 2004.

#4 He resigned from Hoffenheim because the club sold Luiz Gustavo behind his back

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Rangnick took over as coach at Hoffenheim in the 2006-07 season. He earned back-to-back promotions with Hoffenheim to take them from the third division to the Bundesliga. They finished seventh in the Bundesliga table in the 2008-09 season.

However, Rangnick resigned after the club sold midfielder Luiz Gustavo to Bayern Munich behind his back. Hoffenheim were eighth in the Bundesliga when Rangnick signed off as manager following a 2-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach in the 2010-11 season.

#3 Rangnick achieved promotion to the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig

RB Salzburg v RB Leipzig - UEFA Europa League - Group

Ralf Rangnick fashioned RB Leipzig's rise to the top of the Bundesliga. After Alexander Zorniger resigned as the head coach, Rangnick announced that he will take over as head coach of the club in the 2015-16 season. He secured promotion to the Bundesliga before letting Ralph Hassenhuttl take over in 2016.

Rangnick became manager of RB Leipzig once again in July 2018. He led the team to a third-placed finish in the Bundesliga and also took them to the final of DFB Pokal which they lost to Bayern Munich.

#2 Ralf Rangnick has coached Thomas Tuchel

Ralf Rangnick coached Thomas Tuchel as a player at Ulm. In February, Rangnick said this about Tuchel:

“Thomas [Tuchel] became a coach through me. He was my player at Ulm & had to finish his career because of knee problems. I gave him a job as our under-15 coach. He didn’t even intend being a coach, he was working at a bar in Stuttgart.”

#1 Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp consider Rangnick their mentor

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Ralf Rangick was the coach of FC Schalke when current Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp won his first Bundesliga title with Borussia Dortmund. Klopp has spoken highly of Rangnick in the past and even said he might be the best German coach.