All Is Not What It Seems To Be: Ralf Rangnick's Forgotten Influence On Football
Author: Vitória Correa
Website: Medium
All Is Not What It Seems To Be: Ralf Rangnick's Forgotten Influence On Football
Known for executive positions in Red Bull teams, the German had much more to do with the revolution of German football than famous coaches
Axel Torres in his book "11 Cities" noted well, at the beginning of everything, what Ralf Ragnick was. You probably don't know him. He doesn't have Pep Guardiola's media, nor José Mourinho's controversies or Jurgen Klopp's animation. There will probably never be a biography telling his story. After all, what is Ralf Rangnick?
The beginning
It must be awkward to read "what" rather than "who." However, I can already say that the character of today's story goes beyond the figure of a person. At least for me, he's not just one person. Silently, despite having already "propagated" the word of the Lord, he is one of my greatest admirations.
Ralf Rangnick
Born in Backnang on June 29, 1958, Ralf Rangnick is a coach, manager and former football player. For me, just Ralf, the influencer. The influencer because German football needed him to make the biggest turn in a style of play. Back in the early days of gegenpressing, Rangnick was behind it, with his crazy ideas playing for FC Viktoria Backnang in 1984, and coaching the small modest SSV Ulm (won the German Third Division in 1998).
With more than 30 years of coaching experience, Ralf has made a real tour of Germany by coaching clubs such as Hoffeinheim, Schalke 04 (won the German League Cup in 2005, German Cup in 2011 and German Super Cup in 2011), Stuttgart (won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2000), Hannover (won the German Second Division in 2002) and RB Leipzig (consolidated itself as one of the 'big' four in Germany). The latter, by the way, is the main pillar of his second current vocation: that of manager. That's because it was in the German team (and RB Salzburg) that he established himself with a different project and that started a very serious subject in the world of football: the club-company model.
"When I started studying physical education in college in 1978, it was clear to me that I didn't want to play that 3-5-2 with a sweeper and defined markings, with two midfielders who had to work hard to push the ball and make sure the number 10 had a good day."
With this idea and, perhaps rebelliously, Ralf wanted to play differently. Thus, he took Ulm and led the team from the third division in 1997 to the first in consecutive promotions. Who would have thought, right? A club that he defended as a defensive midfielder, by the way, playing with lines of four per zone and gegenpressing. But, you may be thinking "what different did he do to yield a text like this?". Well, let's say that there were rare styles of play in Germany that didn't have a sweeper like Franz Beckenbauer linking defense and attack with such perfection. Soon, playing with "loose" lines filled many eyes, while causing a buzz in both Germanys (Eastern/West).
The style (4–4–2)
High line, pressure, organization to cause offside to the opponent, pressure with and without the ball. "If you want to score a goal, you need speed, feints that speed up the action and verticality." This is how the teams influenced by Ralf Rangnick play. In addition, the set piece is better worked with him. I would even say that she is more respected. And, that's because he knows that "more than 30% of goals in football are scored from set pieces". Germany was inspired by this from 2002 to 2014, even without winning anything, to get back on its feet in football.
"You need to be "on fire". Klopp and I know it's cheaper to play like that. If you do this well, you complete a greater number of runs, but reduce the number of long runs. If you don't do it right, you'll have negative runs. If you allow the opposing team to break through the pressure and play behind your back, you'll need more energy."
3–5–2
But Ralf does not rule out the line of three. As he says, unlike what they think, the three-back style is not intended to defend. On the contrary. It is an offensive style not only by the wingers, but also by the defenders themselves. A good example is Gianpiero Gasperini's Atalanta, a team that presses and stays on fire at the same intensity as it defends and attacks. And, let's go back to talking about intensity, which concerns organization and not the rush without a threshing floor or border.
"Nagelsmann's goal (at RB Leipzig) is not to defend better, but to have more elements to build the game without being pressured by rivals. When you start at the back with three central defenders and two defensive midfielders well forward, for opposing teams it becomes riskier to cover all the exits. You take a man out of midfield, but you force the opponent to make an extra effort to press."
Club-company
Although it was only widespread in 2015, when it took over RB Leipzig, the project began in mid-2000 with Volkswagen. This project was based on some considerations that Ralf believed/believes to be essential for good development. First, he talks about style. Then, he talks about base and market, that is, developing, designing and selling players, serving as a reference. From this, he talks about corporate identity and corporate behavior, which is nothing more than making the right choices within the development of young people.
"Just to put things in perspective, Leipzig was founded in 2009 and won three promotions in five years. Since 2012, it has secured its place in the top-tier Bundesliga and has continuously participated in the Champions League, even making a semi-final in 2020. It is something truly rare and extraordinary"
The business model is not traditional, but it should not be rejected. "In this context, I like to talk about the three C's of football: capital or money, concept and competence", that is, the path to success for Red Bull teams. This legal-business model is not about just one company investing money, but there is a whole process. In the case of Red Bull, for example, the company is linked to several sports and has a very peculiar target audience: young people.
Beyond
In 2019, after his success as director of Leipzig and Salzburg, Ralf Rangnick accepted the position of director of international relations for the New York Red Bulls, in New York, and Bragantino, here in Brazil. It is worth remembering that Braga reached the final of the Sudamericana (in 2021) about three years after merging with RB Brasil, from Campinas, and becoming Red Bull Bragantino.
In 2020, the Bundesliga had coaches who had worked with Rangnick at seven out of 18 clubs. Speaking of this, Jurgen Klopp, one of the world's top coaches, works with four of the many players who have been mentored by Rangnick: Firmino, Mané, Keita and Minamino. Good examples that everything goes through Ralf or he who goes through everything?
2021
Now, Ralf Rangnick will be at the helm of Manchester United in (perhaps) his biggest step in his career. Initially hired for the position of caretaker manager, Ralf, a Premier League fan, can revolutionize what is already revolutionary.
Follow me on Twitter: @tlsvick
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