Rio Ferdinand was one of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s biggest supporters during his time as Manchester United boss. At the end, even he gave up on defending the Norwegian.
Now the club are planning ahead for Ralf Rangnick’s arrival as interim boss.
Speaking on his Vibe With Five podcast, Ferdinand said he is excited to see what Rangnick can do.
Ferdinand said: “The main thing I’m happy for is he will create, and be building, an identity. once you get that, and the players buy into that, and that’s a big task, the players can become a collective and feed off of it.
“It felt to me like the players were like ‘we don’t know what we are doing’. De Gea’s interview told you that, there wasn’t a clear identity or understanding of what they were doing to perform.
“I’d like to think this man will put those bits in place for the individuals to perform, and what he will do, trust me, is put big heavy demands on his players and they have got to react now.”
Rangnick revolution may take time
It is unclear still when Rangnick’s first match will be. Michael Carrick will be in charge against Arsenal, and there are no guarantees Rangnick’s visa will be approved by the Crystal Palace fixture on Sunday.
Even when Rangnick does arrive, expecting him to be able to implement his identity and style on this team, is going to take a while.
One of the common complaints about Solskjaer’s United was a lack of a philosophy, with the matches offering no discernible game plan.
The home defeat to City illustrated this, with United managing just 32 per cent possession and having just one shot on target.
If Solskjaer did have a game plan at times last season, his team lost their way, and it was clearly well overdue for the club to bring in a fresh face.
Rangnick is world renowned, on the pitch and behind the scenes, and providing United supporters are willing to be patient, the incoming interim boss will leave the club in a better place than he found it.
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