Manchester United manager gamble looks like a mistake after Atletico Madrid defeat

When Manchester United officials spoke to Ralf Rangnick about the role of interim manager they were impressed by the German's vision for the club and the way he understood football, so much so they were willing to offer him that consultancy role to entice him out of his contract with Lokomotiv Moscow.

But as well as Rangnick speaks about the game and as clear as his understanding of what has gone wrong over the years at Old Trafford is, what he was lacking was recent coaching experience and that was always going to be a risk with a short-term appointment.

When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stepped in for Jose Mourinho there was an immediate upturn in results, but the atmosphere had become toxic at that point and a few smiles and pats on the back were enough to lift the mood amongst a talented squad.

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This time, the issues were different. United's squad needed tactical direction and while Rangnick can give it to them at their best, there is a legitimate argument as to how in tune he is with the modern game when his coaching experience over the last decade is a year in Germany's second division and then the 2018/19 campaign with RB Leipzig.

There was no experience of managing the kind of stellar names on show at United, no recent record in Europe to speak of and no army of backroom staff to help him.

His spell out of the game meant he's had to call on coaches who are complete unknowns to this United squad to help. The departures of Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna have probably hurt United more than it looked like at the time.

Rangnick has made some progress at Old Trafford since the start of December, but it's hardly been significant. There's an argument that United