Ten Hag resonates with Ralf Ragnick’s message to Manchester United

In April 2022, then interim Manchester United manager Ralf Ragnick gave an advice to Manchester United, its players, fans, and most importantly the then-newly appointed manager saying the club needed an open heart operation and not just make-up patches.

The current Austria national team coach advised on the hindsight of a precarious period for the Red Devils, who only won 11 of his 29 matches as he led them to the sixth position at the end of that season. Ragnick revealed that no amount of minor changes will change the situation at Old Trafford but proper surgery.

Two years later, his successor, Ten Hag, accepted that Ragnick was totally right. Ten Hag saw Manchester United to one of its worst seasons in history at the end of the 2023/2024 season, but he managed an FA Cup trophy, which gave him a one-year extension.

“Rangnick was absolutely right. 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.” Ten Hag said.

Luckily for United fans, a successful 27.7% takeover in December by Sir Jim Ratcliff has brought in some changes at the top at the board level while the club has managed to bring in players midway into the off-season.

Manchester United have brought in forward Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna and defender Leny Yoro from Lille in the past week. There is also a reported interest in Bayern Munich’s Dutch centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, which Erik Ten Hag has confirmed.

Manchester United played Scottish clubside Rangers on Saturday in a friendly game which ended 2-0 in favor of United. They will play Arsenal next Sunday in another pre-season friendly.