Background and career
Ralf Dietrich Rangnick (German: [ʁalf ˈdiːtʁɪç ˈʁaŋnɪk]; born 29 June 1958) is a German football coach, executive, and former player who is the head coach of the Austria national team. Rangnick began his coaching career in 1983, succeeding his career as a player, at age 25. In 1997, he was hired by former club Ulm 1846, with whom he won the Regionalliga Süd in his debut season. Rangnick was then appointed by Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2000, but was dismissed in 2001. He subsequently joined Hannover 96, winning the 2. Bundesliga, but was dismissed in 2004. After a brief period with Schalke 04, Rangnick joined TSG Hoffenheim in 2006, and achieved successive promotions to the Bundesliga. He departed the club in 2011 and returned to Schalke 04, where he won the 2011 DFB-Pokal and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. He later served as head coach at RB Leipzig across two periods between 2015 and 2019. Rangnick joined Red Bull as director of football in 2012, helping oversee their expansion into European football, emphasising the recruitment of unproven players and developing youth systems with a worldwide scouting base and an attacking on-pitch philosophy across their clubs. As a result, Red Bull clubs rose in market value from €120 million to €1.2 billion during his tenure. Their clubs have also seen sustained domestic success and generated sizable profits with player transfers, which led to Rangnick's promotion to head of sport and development in 2019. He resigned from Red Bull in 2020 and joined Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow as manager of sports and development in 2021. Later that year, Rangnick was appointed as interim manager of Manchester United until the end of the 2021–22 season, following which he took charge of the Austria national team. Rangnick is credited with developing the Gegenpressing tactic, whereby the team, after losing possession, immediately attempts to win back possession, rather than falling back to regroup. His sides have been noted for their pressing and high attacking output, as well as for popularising zonal marking. He is credited for influencing Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann and Jürgen Klopp, among others.
Ralf Dietrich Rangnick was born and raised in Backnang. His parents, Dietrich and Erika Rangnick, met in 1945 in Lichtenstein, Saxony, in the Ore Mountains. His mother is from Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) and his father is from Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia). Rangnick began his playing career at VfB Stuttgart, but was noted for his strategic talents and was added as player-coach. His playing career was short-lived and was primarily concentrated in Germany, but included a stint at English club Southwick while studying at the University of Sussex.
Rangnick was one of the first coaches to publicise football tactics, notably during a ZDF SportsStudio TV broadcast in December 1998. As a result, Rangnick became known as the "professor"; a title initially used to jeer him, which then grew to be used to show respect.
Rangnick began his coaching career in the 1980s, first as player-coach at his hometown club Viktoria Backnang, then continuing on to play and coach at VfB Stuttgart II and TSV Lippoldsweiler. In 1988, he became the head coach at SC Korb, remaining for two seasons before returning to VfB Stuttgart for four seasons to manage the Under 19 team. In 1991, he won the U-19 Bundesliga (German: A-Junioren Bundesliga), the highest honor in German U-19 football. Rangnick then returned to first team management in 1995 with two seasons as head coach at Reutlingen 05. He took the club to a fourth-place finish in his first season. They began the following campaign strong, with the club in the midst of the promotion push by Christmas. However, Rangnick would not see the season to its finish as he was sought after by his former club Ulm in January 1997. Reutlingen were in fifth position when Rangnick left the club. His first match in charge of Ulm finished in a 2–0 loss to Greuther Fürth. Ulm were also positioned in the Regionalliga Süd, and although Rangnick could only manage a sixth-place position from the remainder of the 1996–97 season, they started the following season with a 3–1 win against Karlsruhe II. They won the Regionalliga Süd Championship in 1998. Rangnick adapted well to life in the 2. Bundesliga, and Ulm mounted a strong promotion push that led them to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history in 2000. During the winter break of his second season, he signed a deal to move to top flight VfB Stuttgart for the next season. This was supposed to remain secret until the end of the season, but in February it was leaked out into public knowledge. This caused an outcry, especially as the team began to lose ground in the table, and by the end of March, Rangnick resigned from the post prematurely and, on 3 May 1999, took control of Stuttgart for the club's final five matches. His final match was a 2–0 loss to Unterhaching.
On 3 May 1999, Rangnick took control of VfB Stuttgart, for the final five games and saw the club finish 1998–99 season in eleventh place. He won two out of the club's five final matches. His first match was a 2–0 loss to Bayern Munich. Rangnick was now first team coach at the club he had served as a player and coached at amateur and under 19 level previously. His first full season in the 1999–2000 Bundesliga saw the club finish in a respectable eighth position. The following season was much tougher, however the team succeeded in making the round of 16 in the 2000–01 UEFA Cup after winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup, and the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal. Nonetheless, Stuttgart's Bundesliga form left them hovering in the relegation zone by the halfway point. After their European exit in February 2001, Stuttgart dismissed Rangnick. His final match was 2–1 loss to Celta Vigo in the UEFA Cup on 22 February 2001. Stuttgart were in 17th place at the time of his sacking. Rangnick finished with a record of 36 wins, 16 draws and 34 losses.
The next season brought a new post, as Rangnick took over 2. Bundesliga side Hannover 96 on 23 May 2001. His first match was a 1–1 draw against Union Berlin on 30 July 2001. His first season was a complete success as they romped home as champions and were promoted to the Bundesliga after a 13-year absence. Their first season back at the top level saw them consolidate with an 11th-place finish, but, as their form nosedived in the second half of the 2003–04 season, Rangnick was dismissed following a 0–1 defeat at Borussia Mönchengladbach in March 2004. Hannover were in 15th place at the time of his sacking. Rangnick finished with a record of 44 wins, 22 draws and 32 losses.
