Ralf Rangnick already has Man Utd Gegenpressing with record post-Fergie possession stat revealed after Palace win
RALF RANGNICK is already having an influence on Manchester United after just days in the job as they recorded a post-Sir Alex Ferguson possession record yesterday.
A brilliant strike from Brazilian Fred sealed a 1-0 win for the Red Devils over Crystal Palace as the German celebrated his first game in charge with three points.
While the scoreline may not have highlighted their dominance, the stats certainly provided evidence of United’s newfound intensity.
Rangnick is renowned as the pioneer of the Gegenpress and his new side is already implementing his style.
And his tactical plan led to them regaining possession 12 times in the final third – the most they have achieved since Fergie left in 2013.
United also had 61 per cent of the possession during the Premier League clash, a huge increase from recent times.
Under Michael Carrick, who left the club following Thursday’s 3-2 win over Arsenal, they had 45 per cent against Villarreal, 34 per cent at Chelsea and 45 per cent versus the Gunners.
Despite having to wait until the 77th minute for the breakthrough, United’s persistence to get the ball back and not let Palace catch their breath thanks to Fred.
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And even Rangnick expressed his shock at how fast his players took on-board his tactical demands.
He said: “I must admit I was surprised. I was a bit surprised, because not only did we play Thursday, a late kick-off, we had two days less to recover compared to Crystal Palace.
“And we had not even a full training session yesterday because it was 45 minutes, it was pouring.
“It was not just Manchester weather, it was disgusting, it was heavy, raining, windy, so it was almost impossible to train in a concentrated and focused manner.
“But they still did it. In those 45 minutes on the pitch we explained how we want to play, which manner we want to play and the rest was video footage, a lot of personal conversations with players, individual, in groups, explaining to them how we want to play.
“I didn’t expect them to play at that level after such a short time.”
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