The knowledge and expertise of a man who brought the likes of Emil Forsberg, Naby Keita and Timo Werner all to the same club, while bringing that same club from the lower leagues of German football to the UEFA Champions League in no time at all, is surely one of the most sought after in football.
Well, there is such a man, and his name is Ralf Rangnick. And he gave Leipzig fans the perfect Christmas present last year, to cap off what has been a dream start to life in the elite of football in the Bundesliga and Europe.
I’m happy that my future lies with this great club, which has undergone fantastic development and which — in my opinion — still has a long way to go, – said Ralf Rangnick after news he had signed a two-year contract extension as the club’s sporting director through to 2021 filtered through the good cheer from the club’s Christmas party last year.
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He’s the sporting motor of our club and so is fundamental to our future development, added RBL’s CEO Oliver Mintzlaf, who — along with Rangnick and coach Ralph Hasenhüttl — is one of the three wise men pushing the club onwards and upwards with all the energy packed into one of the cans sold worldwide by Leipzig’s multi-billionaire owner, Red Bull mogul Dietrich Mateschitz.
This is a very positive sign for our association, especially in terms of continuity, sustainable structures and development.
Positive for Leipzig but negative for everyone else both domestically and Europe-wide given the central role Rangnick has played in the club’s rise from coming into existence in 2009 to Bundesliga podium challengers and UEFA Champions League participants in eight insolently short years.
Style of play
We truly believe in our systems. The players we have are willing to learn our style of play. We asked ourselves, ‘What style do we want to play? After that we scouted, and signed the players who fulfilled our requirements, said the former Stuttgart and Hannover boss.
The interesting thing is that they all came here with the idea of wanting to develop.
Rangnick and now Hasenhüttl have played a direct part in that on the training pitch where The Professor’s innovative methods have been key to producing one of the Bundesliga’s most exciting attacking units.
Not finished yet
A frightening thought for the other 31 countries at next summer’s World Cup is that Germany might have been even better under Rangnick, the man Jürgen Klinsmann initially wanted as his assistant coach only to be turned down and have to opt instead for Joachim Löw.
Instead, the game of ‘what might be…’ will be played out on the domestic and continental stage, and it could be just as daunting a prospect for those who will face Leipzig in the future.
I have the picture of what will happen on that day here in Leipzig already in my head, – said Rangnick as he embarked on that 2015/16 campaign that would end with an historic maiden berth in the Bundesliga.
Given how that vision became reality, and how things have progressed since, Leipzig fans can start dreaming happily about what their understated, visionary, street-smart sporting director has in mind now. That really will be like all their Christmases coming at once.
