Ralf Rangnick, 62, is a big fan of England. At the university in Stuttgart he had once studied English as a teacher, he has a soft spot for the country, the language and football on the island. Rangnick also appreciates Italian facets. His favorite vehicle, at least in good weather, is a scooter from the cult brand Vespa. And some time ago the trainer quoted in his WhatsApp profile a life motto of the sports car king Enzo Ferrari, which sounds a thousand times more beautiful in Italian than in the German translation: “Sono i sogni a far vivere l’uomo” – there are dreams that some Bring man to life.
Rangnick no longer needs to be awakened after eventful decades in the football industry, including the creation of the Bundesliga location in Hoffenheim, two coaching episodes on Schalke and, most recently, a long success story at RB Leipzig (since 2012). And it would also be too high and a bit too pathetic to speak of a burst “dream” – now that it is clear that months of discussions about joining AC Milan have ended without results. For Rangnick, however, it was already a perspective with an emotional touch Rossonerito change the red-black from Lombardy. As the new general representative of the 18-time Italian champion, in that double role as trainer and sports director in which Rangnick can best develop, in his view, also with strategic power of attorney for transfers and the football methodological approach.
Just becoming a coach or just head of sports over the current coach, as Milan’s owners hoped last, was out of the question for Rangnick.
A statement with comparatively pragmatic insights
The emotional side of the Milan thing has a name: Arrigo Sacchi. At the end of the 1990s, Rangnick had already explained the advantages of a chain of four on the tactical board on television when Germany was still a republic of Libero and men. He adored the former Milan coach guru Sacchi and the great Russian silent Valeri Lobanowski (Dynamo Kiev), who had revolutionized the game with space coverage and pressing. With his mentor Helmut Groß, he spent several nights studying the big Milan team of that time. The Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy’s daily football bible, headlined in May, Rangnick could become “the sacchi of the third millennium” at Milan despite all the excitement that triggered his possible arrival at the club. The prospect was no less than that.
A statement with comparatively pragmatic insights came out late Tuesday evening, sent by Rangnick’s advisor Marc Kosicke: It had “agreed with Milan that the time is not right at the moment and that there is no momentum for working together”; It is important to take into account the “good development and the good results under coach Pioli”. Milan immediately reported that Stefano Pioli, 54, is getting a new contract by 2022.
Previously, the AC won 2-1 in Sassuolo, both goals were scored by glamor striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 38, who was brought back as a helper in the harsh winter. Since the Corona break, Pioli, who had started tenaciously, has won seven wins and two draws Europa League is almost safe now. And even if Milan again misses its longing goal of returning to Europe’s premier class, this is considered a success given the course of the season. However, the upswing no longer suited the plan of the managing director Ivan Gazidis and the club owners to start a revolution with Rangnick. Pioli, described by Gazzetta as a “calm normal one trainer”, “brilliantly mastered the break due to the pandemic,” Milan said. So: no reason for a realignment, not even for a miniature revolutionary. Despite advanced agreements with Rangnick, the coup was blown off.
When he started talks in the fall with former Arsenal CEO Gazidis and the men from US hedge fund Elliott, who acquired Milan after an awkward interlude with an owner from China, the club was down. In spite of horrendous transfer expenditures, there was no sporting progress because more was invested in mass than in class.
Rangnick, with his special expertise, seemed to be the perfect candidate for change. For a move away from star football, for a new style à la Leipzig or Ajax Amsterdam, with developable talents to raise Milan back to the Champions League level – and to build a squad that promises returns by increasing market value instead of continuing to squander millions . But the longer the matter dragged on, the more Milan won games, the less likely the renovation with Rangnick became, which is as challenging in negotiations as in daily work because every detail has to fit for him. “È fatta”, headlined a newspaper recently, the obligation was accomplished. But that was a Lombard duck, like so much that was spread.
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