Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag agrees with the assessment of former interim boss Ralf Rangnick about the club requiring an “open-heart” surgery, Soccernet.football reports.
Ralf Rangnick spent seven months at Old Trafford leading the team after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was dismissed in November 2021 due to a series of poor results.
The current Austria boss remarked over two years ago that the “attitude and energy” at Old Trafford needed to change and Ten Hag has reflected on his predecessor’s comments in an extensive interview with the Dutch newspaper AD Sportwereld.
“Rangnick was absolutely right,” Ten Hag told AD Sportwereld.
“We have been working very hard on this for two years, but he said it exactly right: it is a thorough, very complex operation. And I knew when I started that it was going to be a tough job.”
United have undergone significant changes both on and off the pitch. Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS has acquired a 27.7% stake in the club and taken over day-to-day football operations.
Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth, and Jason Wilcox have been appointed as CEO, sporting director, and technical director, respectively, while Christopher Vivell, formerly of Chelsea, has joined as interim director of recruitment.
This new structure has already facilitated the signings of Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna and teenage center-back Leny Yoro from Lille, with Ten Hag confirming United’s interest in Bayern Munich and the Netherlands center-back Matthijs de Ligt.
“It remains to be seen whether De Ligt will come,” said Ten Hag.
“Of course I know Matthijs well, I’m not going to deny that. I wanted to sign him two years ago, but he had already gone a long way with Bayern Munich.”