Ralf Dietrich Rangnick (; born 29 June 1958) is a German professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach, executive, and former player who is currently the manager of the Austria national team. Rangnick began his coaching career in 1983, succeeding his career as a player, at age 25. In 1997, he was hired by former club Ulm 1846, with whom he won the Regionalliga Süd in his debut season. Rangnick was then appointed by

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

, winning the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

in 2000, but was dismissed in 2001. He subsequently joined

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

, winning the 2. Bundesliga, but was dismissed in 2004. After a brief period with Schalke 04, Rangnick joined TSG Hoffenheim in 2006, and achieved successive promotions to the Bundesliga. He departed the club in 2011 and returned to Schalke 04, where he won the 2011 DFB-Pokal and reached the semi-finals of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. He later served as head coach at

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

across two periods between 2015 and 2019. Rangnick joined

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

in 2012, helping oversee their expansion into European football, emphasising the recruitment of unproven players and developing

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

s with a worldwide scouting base and an attacking on-pitch philosophy across their clubs. As a result, Red Bull clubs rose in market value from €120 million to €1.2 billion during his tenure. Their clubs have also seen sustained domestic success and generated sizable profits with player transfers, which led to Rangnick's promotion to head of sport and development in 2019. He resigned from Red Bull in 2020 and joined Russian club

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

as manager of sports and development in 2021. Later that year, Rangnick was appointed as interim manager of

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

until the end of the 2021–22 season, following which he took charge of the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

national team. Rangnick is credited with developing the '' Gegenpressing'' tactic, whereby the team, after losing possession, immediately attempts to win back possession, rather than falling back to regroup. His sides have been noted for their pressing and high attacking output, as well as for popularising zonal marking. He is credited for influencing Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann,

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

and Oliver Glasner, among others.

Early life and playing career

Ralf Dietrich Rangnick was born and raised in Backnang. His parents, Dietrich and Erika Rangnick, met in 1945 in Lichtenstein, Saxony, in the

Ore Mountains The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...

. His mother is from Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) and his father is from

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

(now

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

, Russia). Rangnick began his playing career at

, but was noted for his strategic talents and was added as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. His playing career was short-lived and was primarily concentrated in Germany, but included a stint at English club Southwick while studying at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

Coaching career

Rangnick was one of the first coaches to publicise football tactics, notably during a ZDF SportsStudio TV broadcast in December 1998. As a result, Rangnick became known as the "professor"; a title initially used to jeer him, which then grew to be used to show respect.

Early career

Rangnick began his coaching career in the 1980s, first as

at his hometown club Viktoria Backnang, then continuing on to play and coach at VfB Stuttgart II and TSV Lippoldsweiler. In 1988, he became the head coach at SC Korb, remaining for two seasons before returning to

for four seasons to manage the Under 19 team. In 1991, he won the U-19 Bundesliga (German: A-Junioren Bundesliga), the highest honor in German U-19 football. Rangnick then returned to first team management in 1995 with two seasons as head coach at Reutlingen 05. He took the club to a fourth-place finish in his first season. They began the following campaign strong, with the club in the midst of the promotion push by Christmas. However, Rangnick would not see the season to its finish as he was sought after by his former club Ulm in January 1997. Reutlingen were in fifth position when Rangnick left the club. His first match in charge of Ulm finished in a 2–0 loss to Greuther Fürth. Ulm were also positioned in the Regionalliga Süd, and although Rangnick could only manage a sixth-place position from the remainder of the 1996–97 season, they started the following season with a 3–1 win against Karlsruhe II. They won the Regionalliga Süd Championship in 1998. Rangnick adapted well to life in the 2. Bundesliga, and Ulm mounted a strong promotion push that led them to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history in 2000. During the winter break of his second season, he signed a deal to move to top flight VfB Stuttgart for the next season. This was supposed to remain secret until the end of the season, but in February it was leaked out into public knowledge. This caused an outcry, especially as the team began to lose ground in the table, and by the end of March, Rangnick resigned from the post prematurely and, on 3 May 1999, took control of Stuttgart for the club's final five matches. His final match was a 2–0 loss to Unterhaching.

VfB Stuttgart

On 3 May 1999, Rangnick took control of VfB Stuttgart, for the final five games and saw the club finish 1998–99 season in eleventh place. He won two out of the club's five final matches. His first match was a 2–0 loss to Bayern Munich. Rangnick was now first team coach at the club he had served as a player and coached at amateur and under 19 level previously. His first full season in the 1999–2000 Bundesliga saw the club finish in a respectable eighth position. The following season was much tougher, however the team succeeded in making the round of 16 in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup after winning the

, and the semi-finals of the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

. Nonetheless, Stuttgart's

form left them hovering in the relegation zone by the halfway point. After their European exit in February 2001, Stuttgart dismissed Rangnick. His final match was 2–1 loss to Celta Vigo in the UEFA Cup on 22 February 2001. Stuttgart were in 17th place at the time of his sacking. Rangnick finished with a record of 36 wins, 16 draws and 34 losses.

Hannover 96

The next season brought a new post, as Rangnick took over 2. Bundesliga side

on 23 May 2001. His first match was a 1–1 draw against Union Berlin on 30 July 2001. His first season was a complete success as they romped home as champions and were promoted to the Bundesliga after a 13-year absence. Their first season back at the top level saw them consolidate with an 11th-place finish, but, as their form nosedived in the second half of the 2003–04 season, Rangnick was dismissed following a 0–1 defeat at

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

in March 2004. Hannover were in 15th place at the time of his sacking. Rangnick finished with a record of 44 wins, 22 draws and 32 losses.

Schalke 04

After missing out on the role as assistant manager for the Germany national team to Joachim Löw, Rangnick was hired by Schalke 04 on 28 September 2004, after Jupp Heynckes left just weeks into the 2004–05 season. Rangnick again tasted European action as the club had earned a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

spot via the

. His first match was in the UEFA Cup. Schalke won 4–0 against Metalurgs Liepājas. He led them through the group phase, but they exited in the knockout rounds to Shakhtar Donetsk. However, the

was to prove more successful, as Rangnick took the club to the final, where they fell 2–1 to Bayern Munich. Bayern would also pip Rangnick's side in the league, as Schalke ended as runners-up. The next season started well, with Rangnick defeating former club VfB Stuttgart 1–0 and securing the 2005 DFL-Ligapokal. Their second-place league finish of the previous year had also qualified them for the

2005–06 UEFA Champions League The 2005–06 UEFA Champions League was the 51st season of UEFA's premier European club Association football, football tournament, the UEFA Champions League and the 14th since it was rebranded from the European Cup in 1992. 74 teams from 50 footb ...

, Rangnick's first entry into the prestigious competition. However, the team would fail to progress beyond the group stage, and sat ten points off the pace in the

, as well as having crashed 0–6 in the

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. Shortly before the winter break, these results prompted the club to dismiss Rangnick on 12 December 2005. He left with a record of 36 wins, 15 draws and 14 losses.

TSG Hoffenheim

Rangnick's next appointment as head coach was at TSG Hoffenheim of the Regionalliga Süd for the 2006–07 season. His first match was a 2–2 draw against 1860 Munich II on 5 August 2006. The team instantly won promotion and played the 2007–08 season in the 2. Bundesliga for their first time in their history. The stay in the 2. Bundesliga was short, as a second-place finish for Hoffenheim in 2007–08 earned the club, and Rangnick, promotion to the Bundesliga for the 2008–09 season. They also reached the quarter-finals of the

. During the 2008–09 season, Hoffenheim reached the second round of the

. In the first half of the season, Hoffenheim won 35 out of 51 available points, however in the second half, the club won only 20 out of 51 points to drop down to seventh place. During the 2009–10 season, Hoffenheim reached the quarter-finals of the

. Hoffenheim finished in eleventh place in the

. On 2 January 2011, Rangnick resigned as head coach of Hoffenheim, citing the sale of midfielder

Luiz Gustavo Luiz Gustavo Dias (born 23 July 1987) is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club São Paulo FC, São Paulo. He began his career as a left-back, but has played mostly as a defen ...

to Bayern Munich, of which he had not been informed, as his reason for resigning from the club. Rangnick's final match was a 2–0 win against

on 21 December 2010 in the DFB-Pokal. Hoffenheim were in eighth place when Rangnick left the club. Rangnick finished with a record of 79 wins, 43 draws and 44 losses.

Return to Schalke 04

In March 2011, Rangnick was named as the replacement for Felix Magath as coach of Schalke 04. His first match was a 2–0 forfeit win against St. Pauli on 1 April 2011. The game was stopped in the 89th minute, after a beer mug was thrown at the assistant, overshadowing Rangnick's successful debut at Millerntor. At the time of the cancellation, Schalke was leading 2–0. Just weeks after being named the new Schalke coach, Rangnick led his old club to their first

semi-finals by defeating holders

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

7–3 on aggregate. However, Schalke were eliminated by

in the semi-finals. Schalke began the 2011–12 season by defeating

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

in a shootout in the 2011 DFL-Supercup. On 22 September 2011, Rangnick stepped down as Schalke's coach due to

chronic fatigue syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling Chronic condition, chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory ...

, stating he did not have "the necessary energy to be successful and to develop the team and the club". He finished with a record of ten wins, three draws and ten losses.

RB Leipzig

In February 2015, Rangnick announced he would be taking over as coach at

for the 2015–16 season. Achim Beierlorzer took over until the end of the season following the immediate resignation of Alexander Zorniger. In addition, Rangnick resigned as

of Red Bull Salzburg. His first match was a 1–0 win against

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

on 25 July, and Rangnick secured promotion to the Bundesliga with the win against

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...

on 8 May 2016. On 16 May, Leipzig announced Ralph Hasenhüttl would take over from Rangnick. Rangnick finished with a record of 21 wins, seven draws and eight losses. On 9 July 2018, Rangnick took over, once again, as coach of RB Leipzig. He won his first match on his return 4–0 against Swedish club Häcken in the second qualifying round of the Europa League. Leipzig eventually won the tie 5–1 on aggregate. They then eliminated Universitatea Craiova in the third qualifying round. The first domestic match (and victory) came against Viktoria Köln in the German Cup, as Leipzig won the match 3–1. Leipzig's first

match took place on 26 August 2018. Leipzig lost to

4–1. Leipzig qualified for the Europa League group stage after knocking out Zorya Luhansk with a 3–2 aggregate score in the play-off round. In the group stage, they were drawn against Red Bull Salzburg,

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and Rosenborg, finishing in third in the group stage. Notwithstanding, the club ended the season third in

, qualified to the

for the 2019–20 season, and reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, losing to Bayern Munich. Rangnick finished his second term as coach with a record of 29 wins, 13 draws and ten losses.

Manchester United

Following the dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjær after a poor run of results in the first few months of the 2021–22 season, Rangnick was shortlisted as a potential short term manager by

. Although the board had initially decided to give caretaker manager

Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional Association football, football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough. He is considered as one of the best midfield ...

a longer run of games while scouting replacements, Rangnick quickly emerged as the outstanding candidate during interviews, and was appointed as interim manager until the end of the season on 29 November 2021. Following this period, it was stated he would continue in a consultancy role for a further two years. He officially took charge a few days later on 2 December, following the approval of his

work permit A work permit or work visa is the permission to take a job within a foreign country. The foreign country where someone seeks to obtain a work permit for is also known as the "country of work", as opposed to the "country of origin" where someone ho ...

. His first match saw the club victorious against Crystal Palace 1–0 with a goal from

Fred Fred or FRED may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Fred ...

. Rangnick quite often talked about intensity, physicality, energy as all the technical qualities being necessary to be successful. Results under Rangnick were good until a Champions League game against Atlético Madrid in February, but the first signs were visible that the temporary nature of the spell and having no long-term plan caused uncertainty. After overseeing United lose 4–0 to rivals Liverpool in April 2022, Rangnick suggested that Liverpool were "six years ahead" of United, and outlined the club's need to invest in the upcoming transfer window. The German expressed his frustration with his spell at Manchester United as it came to a close at the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, stating: "In the end, I'm not happy with the results". United finished the season in sixth place with 58 points, which was until the 2024–25 season the worst points-total record in their Premier League history. The club and Rangnick decided that he would not continue with his planned consultancy role with the club, due to the demands of his new role at the Austria national team.

Austria national team

On 29 April 2022, Rangnick was appointed manager of the Austria national team on a two-year deal, starting in June. Austria had just failed to qualify for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, finishing fourth behind Denmark, Scotland, and Israel, and then losing the play off against Wales. One of his goals is to bring back the fans by entertaining football, and showing team spirit. On 3 June, Rangnick's first game in charge finished in a 3–0 win over

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in the UEFA Nations League A. However, that remained Austria's only victory of the season and, following a 3–1 defeat to Croatia on 25 September, they got relegated to League B. On 16 October 2023, the team qualified for UEFA Euro 2024. As a result, his contract with Austria national team was automatically extended through to the

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's Association football, soccer championship contested by the List of men's n ...

. In April 2024, Rangnick was approached by Bayern Munich, but despite holding talks with the club he turned down their interest and reaffirmed his commitment to Austria. Rangnick's first game at Euro 2024 ended in a 1–0 loss to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. However, Austria won their next two group games with a 3–1 win against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and a 3–2 win against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to finish top of the group. Austria were subsequently eliminated in the round of 16, losing 2–1 to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Executive career

Red Bull

In June 2012, Rangnick became the

for both Red Bull Salzburg and

. Under Rangnick's leadership, by 2018, RB Leipzig saw promotion from regional league (tier IV) to the

(tier I), and reached the

; their highest domestic finish was runners-up in the 2016–17 season, while their highest European finish was reaching the semi-finals in the 2019–20 season. Despite consistent on-field success, RB Leipzig only won one trophy, the Saxony Cup, with Rangnick. Meanwhile, Red Bull Salzburg won

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

and Austrian Cup multiple times, and reached the Champions League and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. In 2019, Rangnick was promoted to head of sport and development for

, thus overseeing global football initiatives, including the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

and their takeover of Red Bull Bragantino. Under Rangnick's tenure, the New York Red Bulls won the Supporters Shield in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, while Red Bull Bragantino gained promotion to Série A in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. He resigned from Red Bull in 2020, with a reported move to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

failing during negotiations. While at Red Bull, their clubs rose in market value from €120 million to €1.2 billion during his tenure, with its largest club, RB Leipzig, peaking in value to €270 million in 2019. Red Bull also generated sizable profits with player transfers.

Lokomotiv Moscow

On 6 July 2021, he signed a three-year contract as manager of sports and development for

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

. He left the post on 29 November 2021 to become interim manager of Manchester United.

Style of management

Rangnick is regarded as the "godfather" of modern German football. He is credited with developing '' Gegenpressing'', whereby the team, after losing possession, immediately attempts to win back possession, rather than falling back to regroup together with evolving player's spatial coverage by increasing memory space and processing pace. He developed this after playing a friendly against

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

in 1984, being inspired by the pressing philosophy of Valeriy Lobanovskyi. His sides have been noted for their pressing and high attacking output, as well as for popularising zonal marking. Rangnick has cited his main coaching influences as Ernst Happel, Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Arrigo Sacchi and Zdeněk Zeman, and is credited for influencing Thomas Tuchel,

, Julian Nagelsmann, Ralph Hasenhüttl, Marco Rose, Roger Schmidt, Adi Hütter, Oliver Glasner and Matthias Jaissle. Rangnick has said that a parental seminar about "raising kids with love and consequence" influenced his relationship with the people he works with.

Philanthropy

In 2018, Rangnick established the Ralf Rangnick Foundation which aims to support children in their development and enable their personalities to flourish.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Ulm 1846 * Regionalliga Süd: 1997–98 VfB Stuttgart *

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* Under 19 Bundesliga: 1990–91 Hannover 96 * 2. Bundesliga: 2001–02 Schalke 04 *

: 2010–11; runner-up: 2004–05 *

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

* DFL-Ligapokal:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

runner-up: 2004–05 RB Leipzig *

runner-up: 2018–19

References

External links

* *
ralfrangnickstiftung.de

"My Epiphony"
''The Coaches' Voice'' feature on Rangnick, 12 May 2019
"The 7 best sporting directors in world football right now"
"Four Four Two" feature on Rangnick, 12 January 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rangnick, Ralf 1958 births Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex People from Backnang Footballers from Stuttgart (region) German football coaches West German men's footballers West German football managers German men's footballers Men's association football midfielders VfB Stuttgart II players Southwick F.C. players SSV Ulm 1846 players German football managers VfB Stuttgart II managers VfB Stuttgart managers Hannover 96 managers FC Schalke 04 managers TSG 1899 Hoffenheim managers RB Leipzig managers Manchester United F.C. managers Austria national football team managers Bundesliga managers 2. Bundesliga managers Premier League managers German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England German expatriate football managers German expatriate sportspeople in Austria German expatriate sportspeople in Brazil German expatriate sportspeople in the United States German expatriate sportspeople in Russia German expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate football managers in Austria Expatriate football managers in Brazil Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Expatriate football managers in Russia Expatriate football managers in England UEFA Euro 2024 managers People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome