After the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer early in the season, Manchester United named Ralf Rangnick as temporary manager until the summer. However, things haven't gone as planned as it has been a disappointing overall performance by the Red Devils yet again.
The club's most recent victory, the 3-0 triumph against Brentford in the 2021-22 Premier League Matchday 35, sparked expectations that they could be able to sneak into Europe's elite club tournament next season, but it proved to be a short-lived mirage.
However, as a result of the tough and unexpected 4-0 defeat to Brighton, the Old Trafford outfit will now end the season with the poorest points total in the English Premier League history. To make matters worse, Rangnick's side have lost three of their previous five league games, allowing 12 goals in the process.
What Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paolo Maldini said about Rangnick in 2020
The German interim manager's hiring has been questioned by many pundits and experts recently, including Graeme Souness, who claims the 63-year-old has lost the dressing room as the players refuse to listen to his instructions. Interestingly, not too much ago, Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as well as Paolo Maldini, the Rossoneri's legend and current technical director, had both stated their concerns over Ralf Rangnick's expertise and experience.
Rangnick was expected to become Milan's next head coach and technical director at the conclusion of the 2020-21 season after leading Leipzig on two different occasions. This in turn sparked internal conflict within the Serie A giants, which led to Zvonimir Boban's dismissal from the Chief Football Officer position.
“Speaking of a role with full managerial powers in both the sporting and technical areas, he invades areas where professionals with regular work contracts. I have some advice for him, before learning Italian, he should review the general concepts of respect," said Maldini in May 2020, who later confirmed that he would have been set to leave his job had the German manager joined.
On the other hand, there is Zlatan, who with his blunt demeanor and penchant for speaking his opinion, asked in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport in July 2020: "Who is Rangnick? I don’t even know who he is." With the Swedish veteran having been in the sport for four decades, his remarks certainly carry a lot of weight.
