The rumour mill has been fully operational lately as the transfer window opens and management changes become a seemingly hourly occurrence. Terry Duffelen has been interested by one in particular as a coach from the Bundesliga has been increasingly linked with a move to England to manage in the Premier League.
Down the years, there have been comparisons made between Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and the erstwhile Hoffenheim coach Ralf Rangnick. This partly stems from a TV appearance in the late nineties where he delivered a lecture on coaching and tactics in a manner which led to the media dubbing him the “Football Professor”.
The comparisons don’t necessarily end there. The studious looking ex-Stuttgart and Southwick FC player has a reputation of being, like the Arsenal coach, a club builder, thanks in large part to the last five years. During this time, he took Hoffenheim - at the beginning a village club in the German Regionalliga (roughly, third tier) - to the top of the Bundesliga and the 2008 Autumn Championship.
Inevitably he had help in the shape of billionaire software entrepreneur Dietmar Hopp who, after having made his fortune, took effective control of the tiny village club and pumped millions of Euro into the squad, the club’s infrastructure and a mighty new stadium built for the German top flight plus the odd rock concert or two.
As anyone who has ever followed a higher league football club will tell you, it is one thing to have money and it is another to spend it. The history of the beautiful game is littered with plenty of clubs who have spent themselves to the point of oblivion and returned nothing from their investment. The key to success is not only to have wedge but to have a manager, or a management set up, who knows what to do with it. Rangnick, at Hoffenheim, was such a manager.
The former Schalke coach has made a virtue of signing reliable playerss. Vedad Ibisevic and Demba Ba have both been providing goals for nigh-on four years and joined the club when they were in the second division. Sejad Salihovic, the midfield enforcer, is another relative old stager in the dressing room. But Rangnick has also done a great job spotting young players and bringing them through to the first team.
The German Under-19 international attacking midfielder Boris Vukcevic is a product of their youth set-up, along with Penial Mlapa who was brought in from 1860 Munich. Tobias Weis, Andreas Beck and Isaac Vorsah are all top Bundesliga players at Hoffenheim who owe much of their success to Rangnick. Gylfi Sigurdsson, signed from Reading this season, was recommended by Rangnick Junior (a student at the local University) and scored on his debut with his first touch of the ball.
Then, of course there is 23-year-old Luiz Gustavo, who had been with the club since 2007. It was his transfer to FC Bayern, against the coach’s wishes, that led to Rangnick’s resignation, fearing that the Brazilian’s departure would be the thin end of the wedge and more would follow. Interestingly, there are reports coming from Germany that this transfer is being investigated. As Dietmar Hopp is not the majority owner of the club, there is some concern that he has breached the rules by unilaterally deciding to sell the player.
Hoffenheim’s new coach is Marco Pezzaiuoli, an established youth team coach but a rookie at Bundesliga level. Presumably Hopp sees the 42-year-old as another in the mould of Thomas Tuchel at Mainz, but the circumstances surrounding his recruitment are not ideal halfway through what was shaping up to be a promising season.
You suspect, however, that it is in the club development area that Rangnick will be missed the most. His vast experience and understanding of the game played a crucial role in Hoffenheim’s sharp but measured rise. The fact that players like Mlapa and Vukcevic have developed and matured in-house, as opposed to been imported at great expense, is almost certainly down to Rangnick’s club management skills that are not easily replaced. Quite who will take up the more strategic elements of the club is uncertain.
Pezzaiuoli will surely be mostly concerned with first team matters, to begin with at least. At present a general manager or director of football (a very common position in the German game) has not been announced, unless Hopp himself feels he has sufficient experience to take on those responsibilities. All of which leaves Hoffenheim at something of a crossroads.
As for Rangnick, surely it will not be too long before he is back in post. However, while Steve McClaren of Wolfsurg and the Hamburg coach, Armin Veh, may be moving around in their seats a little less comfortably knowing that such a heavyweight is available, both clubs are known to be volatile places to work. Rangnick may wish for a more stable environment in order to do his best work.
Perhaps Liverpool, as is being reported in the media, would be an ideal choice. John W. Henry looks like he is looking for a man who can do for Liverpool what Wenger has done for Arsenal. Like Wenger, Rangnick knows that nothing is achieved in the long term without winning football matches in the short term. The German is used to working within a broader structure and should be comfortable working on transfers with Damien Comolli (at least in principle).
Tactically, Rangnick takes his cue from the great Valeriy Lobanovsky and his teams play an exuberant passing game with a tough centre.
In many ways, Ralf Rangnick would be a good fit for the Anfield club, assuming of course, the Kop accepts a relative unknown in England. Failing that the Ghanian FA are said to interested in talking to him about their national team.
Tags: Hoffenheim, Liverpool, Ralf Rangnick, Roy Hodgson
Nice piece except for the fact Peniel Mlapa was brought in from 1860 Munich not Bayern Munich. Easy mistake to make but with grave consequences….:))
Apologies - that’s an editor’s mistake rather than an author’s mistake. Ahem.
Impressed by this piece. Looking forward to more in 2011. Thanks for the info.
One point that should be added is that his team’s play in the Sacchi mathods much like Rafa Benetiz’s. This would mean that the squad composition should be in a good starting position for him to add to and the players hsould be familar with what is expected from them on the pitch.
There has been a few question marks raised about him since his departure and the consensus does seem to be that he needs to prove he can win a trophy before he’s ready for LFC. I think every time a candidate becomes available we hope that they’re the one that NESV have been waiting for and Roy can be sent on his way.
[...] Ralf Rangnick: Hoffenheim’s loss could be Liverpool’s gain “The rumour mill has been fully operational lately as the transfer window opens and management changes become a seemingly hourly occurrence. Terry Duffelen has been interested by one in particular as a coach from the Bundesliga has been increasingly linked with a move to England to manage in the Premier League.” two footed tackle [...]