Managing Manchester United has to be one of the most difficult jobs in world football, particularly when the Red Devils aren’t at their best.
They haven’t yet recovered from a poor period under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and rumours coming out of Old Trafford, per The Mirror, would suggest a number of players are none too impressed by his replacement, Ralf Rangnick.
That’s as maybe, because for now the German is tasked with taking the club forward.
How he does so in the interim period will arguably author the next couple of seasons for the Red Devils.
Not forgetting of course that he will, potentially, be taking a job upstairs at the end of the 2021/22 campaign in order to oversee things in a sporting director role.
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As Sir Alex Ferguson showed during his epic tenure at the club, there can be no shrinking violets in the managerial position, which was essentially why Solskjaer was let go.
Rangnick has to stamp his authority on the side in the same way as Fergie did, and rule with an iron fist if he needs to.
That will mean making a few unpopular decisions, but if United want to be winners again, then they need to be made.
Though Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a few important goals this season, by and large, he is a luxury for this team.
His presence upsets the shape and feel of the XI who, until the Portuguese came onto the market late in the day, seemed to know exactly the formation they were going to play and how they were going to play.
Ronaldo simply doesn’t do enough during the course of the game to justify his place in the side.
There are other players that need to go to, of course, with Anthony Martial being a prime candidate.
With more seemingly unhappy at a lack of game time according to The Mirror report, Rangnick either has to lay down the law or let them go.
United can afford no passengers at this point in time and Rangnick can’t afford not to get things right either.