The story of the German coach in the Premier League is not only about success, but also about failure. There are success figures like Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel, yet there are also those who fail, such as Felix Magath and Daniel Farke.
Ralf Rangnick became the latest German coach to take part in the top competition of the English League, the Premier League. The 63-year-old tactician accepted Manchester United’s offer to become interim manager until the end of this season.
Rangnick, who had coached Schalke 04 and RB Leipzig, became the sixth German coach in the Premier League. Ralf Rangnick’s five predecessors are Felix Magath (Fulham, 2014), Juergen Klopp (Liverpool, 2015-present), Daniel Farke (Norwich City, 2017-2021), Jan Siewert (Huddersfield Town, 2019) and Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea, 2021 -now).
Success in Big Club, Fail in Small Club
If you look at the achievements of German coaches before Ralf Rangnick, there is one interesting conclusion. They can be successful at big clubs, but fail at small clubs.
Felix Magath is actually not just a ordinary coach. The Aschaffenburg-born manager had brought Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg to win the Bundesliga. However, after receiving an offer to coach Fulham in February 2014, Magath’s career in the Premier League ended in sacking in September 2014.
The same fate also happened to two of Felix Magath’s compatriots, namely Daniel Farke and Jan Siewert. Farke and Siewert’s careers both being sacked following their failure to uplift the team’s performance.
Unlike the three coaches above, Juergen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel were able to carve out success in the Premier League. Klopp is someone who can restore Liverpool’s glory. Together with Klopp, the Reds won the Champions League, Premier League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup.
The story of success is also experienced by Thomas Tuchel. Coming to train Chelsea in the middle of the 2020-2021 season, Tuchel successfully led the Blues to win the Champions League.
Now, the challenge is in front of Ralf Rangnick, who incidentally is Klopp’s and Tuchel’s role model. Supported by quality players, Rangnick actually has good capital to make good achievements. Rangnick also realized that Manchester United fans had high hopes for him.
“I think everyone expects to play with style and be successful, especially the supporters, players and coaching staff,” Rangnick said after being inaugurated as Man United coach, quoted from the club’s official website. “To put those two things together, I think this is the main target in the next few days, weeks and months. To make sure the fans can see what we want to play and that we do it, invest everything we have to get better. For me, this is the main target in the next few weeks,” said Rangnick asserted.
Ralf Rangnick made his debut when Manchester United hosted Crystal Palace on Sunday (5/12/2021). The result, the Red Devils won 1-0 through Fred’s single goal in the 77th minute. Rangnick has passed his first test as interim manager of Man United with good results.
So, can Rangnick follow in the footsteps of the successes of Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel? Manchester United’s achievements at the end of the season will be the answer.
