FM21: Ralf Rangnick — The Fundamental Pillars of Success
Background
Over the last twenty years, it could be argued that no individual has had more of a significant influence in German football than Ralf Rangnick.
The German has been a key contributor to shaping the game both on and off the pitch.
Rangnick drew inspiration from the likes of Arrigo Sacchi who could be argued as the biggest influencer on today's pressing game. The German opting to implement a style of gengenpressing, in which the team through pressing triggers aim to win the ball back from the opponent, ideally within eight seconds of losing it.
Rangnick was also a pioneer, he was ahead of his time and whilst at Hoffenheim was one of the first coaches to use video analysis to make informed decisions.
There is no doubt that he has influenced the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann and Marco Rose, who are without a doubt some of the best managers in the game.
The exposure to Ralf’s ways of working has certainly inspired many, this becomes apparent when we look at The Rangnick Network as displayed by The Athletic.
Clearly, Ralf has some aura about him, the trio of managers mentioned above all admit that they have been influenced by the German and it is clear to see when studying their ideologies and theoretical approach to the game, they all are tainted with similar traits, the Rangnick effect.
His recruitment philosophy was made clear during an interview with The Blizzard back in 2015 ‘The difference between us, both Salzburg and Leipzig, is that when we sign or scout new players, we are fishing in a very small pond. We are only interested in players aged between 17 and 23, as from our experience, when you are over 23, you are no longer a talent.
The Fundamental Pillars of Success
The three C’s are what Rangnick has identified as his fundamental pillars of success, they have become his trusted foundations, ones which have brought him success beyond belief.
In just two and a half years during his tenure with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Rangnick propelled the club from the third division to the Bundesliga. A similar feat was again achieved with RasenBallsport Leipzig, who in eight years were taken from the fourth tier to a UEFA Champions League Semi-Final.
Concept
The first pillar is that of concept, the notion behind this is for all Rangnick’s sides to have a similar blueprint on the pitch. Through the implementation of attempting to implement a specific DNA, the club will have it’s very own identity.
This also provides the side with commercial leverage, in this case, the pairing of the Gengenpress style of play with Red Bull, both associated with acceleration, high energy and living life on the edge.
This DNA is considered within the recruitment strategy, as you can see from the below screenshot I have selected the mental and physical attributes which I feel are best suited to the Gengenpress philosophy (Aggression, Anticipation, Determination, Teamwork, Work Rate, Acceleration and Stamina).
For the purpose of this post, I have assigned the scouts to six-month assignments across Europe’s big five leagues and also the Sky Bet Championship with the view to identifying players which would fit in with the DNA.
Competence
Similar to Monchi and his Masterclass series, Rangnick shares the same core value that in order for the team to be a success it will not only rely purely on the playing staff, he calls this competence.
Before the age of “Moneyball” Rangnick placed an impetus on employing individuals that could add value to his players, placing an importance on the ability to not only secure results but to improve his players as individuals, seeing this as the quickest and most sustainable way to add value.
Rangnick would state that ‘It is essential to find the best people for each role within the club’, he labels this as club building, a process in which the playing squad, coaching team, recruitment team and medical teams are reviewed to ensure that the best people are in post.
None of us are as good as us all together
Fortunately, the data in relation to the above is easily displayed on FM21, by simply clicking on the staff menu and the overview tab. This will provide you with a comparison of each staffing team and provide you with a baseline of the lowest and highest average for the league in which you operate.
If the Rangnick philosophy of football is to be taken on, your role will be to target yourself to raise the standards of the staffing teams, which should result in players developing faster (coaching staff), improved ability to identify the best upcoming talent (recruitment staff) and keep your players playing (medical staff).
Capital
The final point capital is the fulcrum to enabling Rangnick to implement the philosophy, and for that reason, the German set out his stall from the beginning stating that his aim was to create a squad that can not only win titles, but one which is focussed on the identification of players that could be sold for double figures within two years.
With this commercial aspect spearheading the recruitment process, it is essential to understand the key factors which can influence a players value within Football Manager to ensure that the double-figure resale value can be achieved within the two-year window.
Age: When creating our squad profiles the peak ages range between 24 and 29 years-old. Therefore for the purpose of this blog I am going to say that most players peak around their 27th birthday, and common sense would lead you to believe that at this age they would yield the highest market value.
Rangnick’s philosophy of recruiting younger players makes total sense as it increases his chances of moving them on for a plusvalenza.
League Reputation: When you sign a player from a lower division team on Football Manager, his reputation will immediately improve. This leads to the players value increasing and therefore a recruitment strategy could focus on signing players from less reputable leagues to add value to the signing.
The talent pool
Exploring the scouts work after five months of scouting you will see that 44 players have been identified, these individuals are all at the point of scouting under the age of 23 and were a good fit with the attributes which were selected as a criteria, ensuring that the scouts only returned individuals which I deemed would be a good fit to play gengenpress.
Unfortunately, there was a selection of players from the returned reports which had to be rejected due to the players initial value being over £10 million pounds.
Just to give you a flavour of the calibre of players who were identified, I will name a few;
Goalkeepers —Unai Simón of Athletic Bilbao (£27m)
Defenders — Nikola Milenković of Fiorentina (£11.5m), Renan Lodi of A. Madrid (£11.75m) and Ronald Araujo of Barcelona (£22.5m)
Midfielders — Ismaël Bennacer of AC Milan (£21.5m), Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad (£17.75m) and Manuel Locatelli of Saussuolo (£27m)
Attackers — Alexander Isak of Real Sociedad (£20m)
Rangnick select
The above team is the best eleven which I have selected from the pool of players identified by my scouting team, these players all have the required attributes to match the Rangnick philosophy and in theory, should all meet the criteria laid out within this blog.
If this post appeals to you and you think you have the ability to spot talent, then I’d like to direct you towards FIVEYARDS.
FIVEYARDS is the Online Transfer Market for Fans which allows you, the user, to back players you think are undervalued in the current markets by either recommending them by submitting a scout report or backing your opinion through buying the player with actual cash and following them on their journey.
I will be attempting to create some scout reports on the site in the very near future as I look to return to writing about football in real life.
I hope you have enjoyed the successor to my Monchi piece and as always would be keen to see what targets the process has identified for you within your own saves.
Fin.
