Ralf Rangnick is set to become the new coach at FC Bayern and help shape the reorganisation in the summer. He has not yet confirmed his appointment – but his employer, the Austrian Football Association, will no longer be a factor.
How is he doing? That is the question that is currently on the minds of the whole nation when it comes to Ralf Rangnick. And even though this is the land of mountains and remote valleys, it’s not as if Ralf Rangnick is oblivious to the care of the Austrians. On Wednesday morning, for example, a pleading appeal from the Kronen Zeitung newspaper almost jumped out at him while he was polishing off his breakfast ice cream: ‘Whole country to Rangnick: “Please, stay with us!” read the headline in big letters. The text itself was followed by the marvellous note: ‘The reactions in the conversations with the Krone show that the topic moves the country – both men and women.’
Oh yes, he’s doing well. He feels loved, the Austrian national coach Ralf Rangnick, by the men and even the women. He feels as adored as the Ralf Rangnick at Schalke who won the DFB Cup 13 years ago. When he walks through Vienna at the moment, just a few weeks before the start of the European Football Championship, people recognise him and want selfies and autographs from him; and the work-life balance, which is just as important as success these days, could hardly be better.
How he is doing, this Ralf Rangnick, is something that some highly tense people in Munich are asking themselves. They want to know: Is this happy Rangnick really leaving behind his comparatively peaceful life as Austria’s national coach to embark on what is guaranteed to be the greatest adventure European top-flight football has to offer? Because the truth is that the decision as to whether he will take over from Thomas Tuchel at FC Bayern in the summer (who, annoyingly, may have just won the Champions League) is basically down to Rangnick. According to reports, there is no one at Säbener Straße who would not be in favour of this idea; there are also no oppositional one-man splinter groups (Rummenigge) on the supervisory board, as was recently the case with candidate Julian Nagelsmann.
On Tuesday evening, it was rumoured from the inner circle of the team’s dressing room that Rangnick had received an offer from FC Bayern, with only nuances and minor details still to be clarified. Since then, the players and the so-called staff have been mentally preparing for the possible arrival of a coach that many of them know well from various encounters in the Bundesliga. Ralf Rangnick just has to make a decision. And the Austrian Football Association has yet to agree to release its coach from his contract after the European Championships and the collection of a guaranteed seven-figure sum.
However, the association would be ill-advised to spoil the mood of the very national coach with whom it would like to organise another successful tournament. According to SZ information from ÖFB circles, the association will not put any stumbling blocks or other obstacles in the way of its coach. However, the prerequisite is that Rangnick explicitly communicates his desire to move to FC Bayern. He had not yet done so by late Wednesday afternoon.
The short half-life of an interview with Rangnick, which caused a temporary stir on Wednesday, shows just how purposefully and energetically the Munich delegation led by sporting director Max Eberl and sporting director Christoph Freund have driven negotiations forward in recent days following Nagelsmann’s cancellation. The portal 90minuten.at published a conversation which, according to SZ information, had taken place in Vienna just the day before. Rangnick sits there ‘in a feudal armchair, sipping his cup of tea, he seems alert, focussed, always body tension’ and announces that at the moment there is no reason for him to deal intensively and specifically with FC Bayern.
When asked when this might be the case, he replied: ‘The moment Bayern would say: We want you. And then I have to ask myself: Do I even want that?’
However, before an editor at 90minuten.at pressed the ‘Publish’ button on Wednesday, FC Bayern had officially registered their interest with Rangnick in less than 24 hours. So now Rangnick just has to say: Yes, I want!
However, another sentence from Rangnick in this interview had not yet become obsolete at the time of publication: money plays ‘no role at all’ in his considerations, said Rangnick. ‘For me, it’s about other things: Can I make a difference? Can I make a difference? Is there a chance to develop a team and be successful? That’s what drives me.’
According to reports, Eberl and Freund were able to score points with Rangnick with just such a promise: He can and should have an explicit influence on the much-vaunted reorganisation of the team at Säbener Straße. During the talks, Rangnick apparently got the impression that FC Bayern had realised that the outgoing coach Tuchel was right with his very clear opinion. Tuchel has long believed that it would be good for the team if the existing hierarchies were broken and new players were brought in. According to SZ information, however, it is not correct that Rangnick – as can be read in some places – has demanded a contractually anchored decision-making authority in all transfer matters. But he does want to move sporting matters!
Should Rangnick decide to move to FC Bayern, it will, funnily enough, have been a bit of a coincidence that made this liaison between the eternal revolutionary of German football and Munich’s big business possible in the first place. The fact that Rangnick was able to find two former confidants from the Red Bull universe as the responsible negotiating partners on the Bayern side was never planned. Christoph Freund has been employed by FC Bayern since last September because those responsible realised how important good youth development and excellent scouting are in the wake of the €100 million shock surrounding Harry Kane. And Max Eberl is there because honorary president Uli Hoeneß wanted to hire him before he briefly escaped to RB Leipzig.
According to reports, a decision could be made this week as to whether the creator of counter-attacking football is serious about moving to the club that has had a certain penchant for possessing, caressing and spinning the ball at least since the coaching days of Louis van Gaal and Pep Guardiola. However, Rangnick is said to have long since realised that a transitional game based purely on Rangnick’s doctrine cannot be implemented with the FC Bayern squad anyway. Onur Cinel, who Rangnick brought into the Austrian national team as an assistant, is even regarded as an explicit lover of ball possession.
From FC Bayern’s point of view, the question of whether to play against the ball or with the ball is of secondary importance anyway. The important thing for those in charge – the older ones may remember the glory days – is that FC Bayern finally become German champions again.
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Ralf Rangnick is set to become the new coach at FC Bayern and help shape the reorganisation in the summer. He has not yet confirmed his appointment – but his employer, the Austrian Football Association, will no longer be a factor.
How is he doing? That is the question that is currently on the minds of the whole nation when it comes to Ralf Rangnick. And even though this is the land of mountains and remote valleys, it’s not as if Ralf Rangnick is oblivious to the care of the Austrians. On Wednesday morning, for example, a pleading appeal from the Kronen Zeitung newspaper almost jumped out at him while he was polishing off his breakfast ice cream: ‘Whole country to Rangnick: “Please, stay with us!” read the headline in big letters. The text itself was followed by the marvellous note: ‘The reactions in the conversations with the Krone show that the topic moves the country – both men and women.’
Oh yes, he’s doing well. He feels loved, the Austrian national coach Ralf Rangnick, by the men and even the women. He feels as adored as the Ralf Rangnick at Schalke who won the DFB Cup 13 years ago. When he walks through Vienna at the moment, just a few weeks before the start of the European Football Championship, people recognise him and want selfies and autographs from him; and the work-life balance, which is just as important as success these days, could hardly be better.
How he is doing, this Ralf Rangnick, is something that some highly tense people in Munich are asking themselves. They want to know: Is this happy Rangnick really leaving behind his comparatively peaceful life as Austria’s national coach to embark on what is guaranteed to be the greatest adventure European top-flight football has to offer? Because the truth is that the decision as to whether he will take over from Thomas Tuchel at FC Bayern in the summer (who, annoyingly, may have just won the Champions League) is basically down to Rangnick. According to reports, there is no one at Säbener Straße who would not be in favour of this idea; there are also no oppositional one-man splinter groups (Rummenigge) on the supervisory board, as was recently the case with candidate Julian Nagelsmann.
On Tuesday evening, it was rumoured from the inner circle of the team’s dressing room that Rangnick had received an offer from FC Bayern, with only nuances and minor details still to be clarified. Since then, the players and the so-called staff have been mentally preparing for the possible arrival of a coach that many of them know well from various encounters in the Bundesliga. Ralf Rangnick just has to make a decision. And the Austrian Football Association has yet to agree to release its coach from his contract after the European Championships and the collection of a guaranteed seven-figure sum.
However, the association would be ill-advised to spoil the mood of the very national coach with whom it would like to organise another successful tournament. According to SZ information from ÖFB circles, the association will not put any stumbling blocks or other obstacles in the way of its coach. However, the prerequisite is that Rangnick explicitly communicates his desire to move to FC Bayern. He had not yet done so by late Wednesday afternoon.
The short half-life of an interview with Rangnick, which caused a temporary stir on Wednesday, shows just how purposefully and energetically the Munich delegation led by sporting director Max Eberl and sporting director Christoph Freund have driven negotiations forward in recent days following Nagelsmann’s cancellation. The portal 90minuten.at published a conversation which, according to SZ information, had taken place in Vienna just the day before. Rangnick sits there ‘in a feudal armchair, sipping his cup of tea, he seems alert, focussed, always body tension’ and announces that at the moment there is no reason for him to deal intensively and specifically with FC Bayern.
When asked when this might be the case, he replied: ‘The moment Bayern would say: We want you. And then I have to ask myself: Do I even want that?’
However, before an editor at 90minuten.at pressed the ‘Publish’ button on Wednesday, FC Bayern had officially registered their interest with Rangnick in less than 24 hours. So now Rangnick just has to say: Yes, I want!
However, another sentence from Rangnick in this interview had not yet become obsolete at the time of publication: money plays ‘no role at all’ in his considerations, said Rangnick. ‘For me, it’s about other things: Can I make a difference? Can I make a difference? Is there a chance to develop a team and be successful? That’s what drives me.’
According to reports, Eberl and Freund were able to score points with Rangnick with just such a promise: He can and should have an explicit influence on the much-vaunted reorganisation of the team at Säbener Straße. During the talks, Rangnick apparently got the impression that FC Bayern had realised that the outgoing coach Tuchel was right with his very clear opinion. Tuchel has long believed that it would be good for the team if the existing hierarchies were broken and new players were brought in. According to SZ information, however, it is not correct that Rangnick – as can be read in some places – has demanded a contractually anchored decision-making authority in all transfer matters. But he does want to move sporting matters!
Should Rangnick decide to move to FC Bayern, it will, funnily enough, have been a bit of a coincidence that made this liaison between the eternal revolutionary of German football and Munich’s big business possible in the first place. The fact that Rangnick was able to find two former confidants from the Red Bull universe as the responsible negotiating partners on the Bayern side was never planned. Christoph Freund has been employed by FC Bayern since last September because those responsible realised how important good youth development and excellent scouting are in the wake of the €100 million shock surrounding Harry Kane. And Max Eberl is there because honorary president Uli Hoeneß wanted to hire him before he briefly escaped to RB Leipzig.
According to reports, a decision could be made this week as to whether the creator of counter-attacking football is serious about moving to the club that has had a certain penchant for possessing, caressing and spinning the ball at least since the coaching days of Louis van Gaal and Pep Guardiola. However, Rangnick is said to have long since realised that a transitional game based purely on Rangnick’s doctrine cannot be implemented with the FC Bayern squad anyway. Onur Cinel, who Rangnick brought into the Austrian national team as an assistant, is even regarded as an explicit lover of ball possession.
From FC Bayern’s point of view, the question of whether to play against the ball or with the ball is of secondary importance anyway. The important thing for those in charge – the older ones may remember the glory days – is that FC Bayern finally become German champions again.
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