insists the uncertainty surrounding Erik ten Hag’s prospective appointment is not a distraction for and stood by his remarks about the Liverpool players he helped unearth.
The Red Devils scraped past Norwich City on Saturday to move three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham in the race for qualification but now travel to Anfield to take on a Liverpool side vying to win the quadruple.
There had been suggestions that this could be the week United finally announce Ten Hag’s appointment, having wanted to wait until after the Dutch Cup final – which lost to PSV on Sunday.
For now, United’s players and supporters will have to wait to learn who will succeed Rangnick at Old Trafford but the German coach insists his squad are only focused on getting a result at Anfield.
Asked about a possible announcement confirming Ten Hag, Rangnick replied at his pre-match press conference on Monday: ‘I don’t know. This is an issue for the club and the board and as soon as there is something to announce then I’m pretty sure the club will make that announcement.
‘Right now, that doesn’t affect our preparation for the game tomorrow or the game on Saturday.
‘We are fully aware that out of those six games we probably need almost maximum points and you can see even other teams are dropping points. This is about being consistent and the team that will finish fourth will be who is most committed to that.’
Over the weekend, Rangnick suggested Liverpool might owe some of their success to his own work in Germany and Austria, claiming six of the current squad were players he helped to recruit and develop.
He was in charge of Hoffenheim when the club signed Roberto Firmino – though resigned the next day – and managed Joel Matip at Schalke. Sadio Mane, Naby Keita, Ibrahima Konate and Takumi Minamino, meanwhile, were all at Red Bull-owned teams when Rangnick was overseeing recruitment.
Rangnick stands by those comments and believes the style of football both he and Jurgen Klopp prefer means they will naturally like and target the same players.
He explained:’ I didn’t say how much influence I had on those players but it’s pretty obvious a big club like Liverpool, one of the best clubs in Europe, have six former players [of mine].
‘It’s probably the highest number of players that nobody knew by the time we gave them debuts.
‘This has got to do with a similar idea of football. Jurgen and me have known each other for a long time, I know how he wants to play, having six players from former clubs of mine is not a coincidence.’
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