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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Daniel Murphy

Ralf Rangnick has been shown how to transform Manchester United in one transfer window

Ralf Rangnick hasn't been the first to say it, and he almost certainly won't be the last, but the idea that Manchester United are always just two or three transfer windows away from being competitive again is nothing but a cop-out.

United are in a rut and perhaps their deepest to date. Though the football was largely dull under Louis van Gal and the atmosphere toxic during Jose Mourinho's reign, trophies were still won. Silverware may have been absent during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's ill-thought-out time in the hot seat but the football was often exciting and for a spell, it felt like the good times were back. Even if they evidently weren't.

The Norweigan was inevitably sacked in November and instead of getting a permanent replacement straight away, United's hierarchy opted to forfeit a whole campaign less than halfway through by bringing in Rangnick. Hiring a man who had managed just one season in the last 10 and who is renowned for playing a certain style that takes time to implement on a temporary basis has surprisingly not quite worked out as hoped.

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United can't win a trophy this season. A fifth in succession. They are currently down in seventh place and a spot in next season's Champions League is looking unlikely with just three wins in the last eight Premier League outings. It would take a mighty turnaround for United to catch up to the two North London sides and, despite Arsenal and Spurs' own tendency to slip up, they don't look to have the confidence, belief or fight to do so.

It's a new nadir for United. They look so bereft of ideas in attacking areas, have no control of games in midfield and are often calamitous at the back. When David Moyes infamously said in 2013 that United 'must improve in a number of areas, including passing, creating chances and defending,' who'd have thought it would still be the case nearly a decade later?

United have been on a steady decline ever since Sir Alex Ferguson waved goodbye and Rangnick - who is set to move into a consultancy role upon once the season ends, though how much influence he will have has yet to be defined - has given his own time frame for when the club can be competitive again.

The German spoke eloquently on how United must now sign players in the image of the next manager they appoint, whoever that is, and how the squad needs much more physical aggression in it rather than just a collection of technical players who, reading between the lines, don't like it when things get tough. He's absolutely spot on and United would do well to listen to Rangnick and actually give him the power to make change when he moves upstairs. Though it feels much more likely that he will be ostracised and have little say in the running of things.

However, one line of his thinking sounds like a cliche that has plagued United for some time. The idea that it will take multiple transfer windows to get things right. He said: "This is not rocket science. It has to be done and if that happens it does not necessarily need three or four years, maybe two or three transfer windows, then the situation could be different."

While there is no doubt it would take several windows to make United an elite side again able to go far in the Champions League, there is absolutely no reason why just a single great window can't make them capable of challenging for the Premier League title. The repeated explanation that it takes multiple windows to get the squad just right has been abused as an excuse for constant failure, to believe it will get better next time without any actual change.

A dangling of the carrot to keep the fans on the treadmill. Hopeful that they'll reach it soon.

Though on a much smaller scale, one just needs to look at the massive improvement Crystal Palace have made this season to see that it takes just a single summer to drastically improve. Last season the Eagles finished down in 14th after a dreary campaign under Roy Hodgson and now they sit up in ninth, just seven points off last year's tally, already having scored more goals and conceding 24 fewer.

What did they do? Well, they hired a young manager - despite reservations about his ability - in Patrick Vieira who had a clear style of play he wished to implement. Palace then went out and signed young, exciting, talented players who fit that mould. Marc Guehi, Joachim Andersen, Conor Gallagher, Michael Olise, Will Hughes and Odsonne Edouard were all signed in a single window and they have all helped make them a better side.

Wilfried Zaha (left) and Conor Gallagher have been excellent for Crystal Palace this season. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images.)

Palace have gone from a team that sat deep and relied upon their talisman Wilfried Zaha to produce magic to a team that plays progressive, attacking football with quality and danger all over the pitch. They're now on course to finish five places higher than last season and are into the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

When a club with much fewer resources can have such a significant turnaround in less than a year, then what exactly is United's excuse?

If more examples are needed, then Thomas Tuchel proved last year when he was hired by an underperforming Chelsea following the sacking of their own version of Solskjaer that, sometimes, it doesn't even take a transfer window at all. Just an elite coach who knows what he's doing. They won the Champions League.

It's a massive summer in store for United. If they get it right by hiring an elite coach and recruiting players to fit his identity rather than to boost social engagement, then there really is no reason why they can't get themselves back up the table. The issue is those in charge of the club have shown no signs of being able to do any of that.

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