How has Ralf Rangnick influenced gegenpressing in football?
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Manchester United have roped in the services of veteran German coach Ralf Rangnick as their new interim head coach after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, following his poor string of results in the Premier League. The German coach will be in charge of the first team for the next six months till the end of the season and will also work in an advisory role for the next two years.
Ralf Rangnick is a German coach who has revolutionised football with his new style of coaching, inspiring a number of successful new generation coaches in Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel to follow his ideology. The idea which Rangnick has brought into the game is known as gegenpressing.
Ralf Rangnick has inspired many coaches with his style of football
For many football fans, this German term might not be as familiar as something which is simply “pressing”. Gegenpressing is an intense modern style of football that makes football teams press their opponents higher up the field use counter-pressing to win the ball back as soon as possible after losing it.
The main idea of “Gegenpressing” is to get the ball as soon as you lose it and have a shot on goal, to increase your chances of having control on the football pitch, thereby having a greater shot on winning the match on the whole.
Ralf Rangnick picked up the idea of gegenpressing in a friendly match against legendary coach Valeriy Lobanovskiy’s Dynamo Kiev in 1983 and has used it ever since, wherever he manager making his style of football, one of the most attractive to watch in terms of football spectacle.
What can we expect from Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United?
The German uses a traditional 4-2-2-2 system, with two strikers and two wide players, all of whom are ingrained to press high up the pitch whenever his side loses the ball to limit the opposition playing out from the back comfortably. His focus on training is immense, and he maintains a very high fitness level within the squad, which is required to constantly press aggressively throughout the entirety of a football match.
Although this system, might not be visible at Manchester United straightaway, the German manager has promised the fans that he would take make sure the players are well grilled in training to play at a higher tempo, and eventually continue to play this style of football in the future.
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