Ralf Rangnick insists ‘it’s not rocket science’ for Manchester United to close the gap to Liverpool and Manchester City.
United travel to face Liverpool in the Premier League this evening, with the latter looking to maintain their push for the title and still in pursuit of all four major trophies this season.
The Red Devils are fifth and a huge distance behind both Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the Premier League this season, though Rangnick insists that closing the gap on the division’s top two is not ‘rocket science’.
The interim boss believes United are in need of ‘two or three’ windows of strong recruitment, insisting the club must identity a style and system and make additions of the right profile.
“It’s not complicated,” Rangnick said at his pre-match press conference.
“It’s not rocket science. But in order to have the best possible wind, you need to know what your destination haven is. If you don’t know that, it is always difficult.
“I don’t think a club like Manchester United can afford to take three or four years in order to achieve that. I don’t think that is necessary.
“We spoke about Liverpool earlier on and how long it took them. It will take two or three windows if you know what you are looking for. If you don’t know what you are looking for, it is a needle in a haystack.
“If you know what kind of football you want to play and what kind of profiles for each individual position, then it is about finding them and convincing them to come.
“Liverpool finished eighth (after appointing Klopp in October 2015). The year after they didn’t play European football at all, so the full focus in Jurgen’s second season was on the Premier League and the national cup competitions.
“Then it took two transfer windows. But even in the other transfer windows that came later on, there has been a lot of very good transfers and signings. This is what it’s all about.”
Rangnick also spoke on his side’s injury problems with the club set to be missing a host of senior names at Anfield, with Rapahel Varane, Fred, Scott McTominay, Luke Shaw and Edinson Cavani all out injured.
The German discussed his side’s ongoing problems with injuries and says it is an issue that the Red Devils must work out and address.
“This is also an issue that worries me a bit, the number of injuries that we currently have,’ he added.
“I compare that with Liverpool. Despite them still competing in four competitions, they have no injury problems at all.
“We play only in the Premier League and we have five or six players injured. This is an issue that needs to be taken care of for the future. Why is that the case? Why does it happen?”
