Rangnick Highlighted Solskjaer Issues After Replacing Him at Man Utd

According to the most recent reporting, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is now the favourite to to take over at Manchester United following the sacking of Ruben Amorim. The former club striker would return in a caretaker role until the end of the season, with some suggesting a deal could be sorted by Friday.

This would represent the Norwegian’s second stint at manager with the Red Devils, having overseen them between 2019 and 2021. While many Man Utd fans remember that time fondly for the sense of optimism Solskjaer returned to the club, things did end pretty pooly. Indeed, the manager was sacked in November 2021 after a 4-1 defeat at Watford, having won just one of their past seven Premier League matches. He left the club seventh in the table, and Ralf Rangnick had quite the job on his hands when taking over the following months.

Things certainly didn’t go well for the German, who helped the team finish sixth, but then left that summer despite having planned to stay on in a consultancy role. He famously pointed out a number of issues with Man Utd, noting that that ‘open heart surgery’ was needed to fix club.

Having inherited his side from Solskjaer, here’s what Rangnick really felt about the Norwegian’s spell in charge at Old Trafford.

Rangnick Frustrated With Solskjaer’s Poor Form in Final Season at Man Utd

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It seems Rangnick wasn’t particularly impressed with the side Solskjaer had left him. 13 Premier League matches after arriving, having lost just one of those games, the German inferred that he had done a much better job at steadying the ship and getting the team heading in the right direction.

Rangnick believed that his side were almost immediately better than when Solskjaer called the shots at Old Trafford, noting: “When City won 2-0 at Old Trafford they did it in style and it could have been a higher margin.

“Now, for us, it is about confirming the development of the team in the last three months. We have been unbeaten in the last 11 games and we haven’t lost a single away game since I arrived.”

However, as his team struggled to gain enough points to reach the Champions League spots, Rangnick laid the blame squarely on his predecessor. Speaking after 1-1 draw at home to Southampton, which saw Man Utd waste their chance to get into the top four, he lamented the impact of Solskjaer’s struggles:

Rangnick Unimpressed With Solskjaer’s Soft Man Management

He also took issue with the treatment Solskjaer showed some of his ‘favourites’, who would be allowed to miss games with little niggling injuries. The German reportedly ‘b*******d’ the players upon walking into the ‘mess’ at the club, especially the ones who were taking advantage of Solskjaer’s soft approach.

He then claimed that he’d helped fix the atmosphere in the dressing room: “I can only tell you from my personal experience in the last 12 weeks, yes, there were players unhappy until the closure of the window because, as I always said, the squad was too big, we had too many players who just realised they wouldn’t get game-time and this has improved, for sure.

“As you quite rightly said, for us it’s about performing well, showing togetherness on the pitch, getting the best out of our performance and winning games, that’s our job. Those are the things we can influence, all the other things we can’t.”