Breaking news: As Manchester United coach Ralf Ragnick finally chooses his captain after calling pogba , Bruno and Ronaldo for a meeting, as he appoints a captain amongst the three of them

 Ralf Rangnick has turned into the 

galactico whisperer this week, soothing

 some of the biggest stars, and some

 might say egos, in the Manchester 

United team with his words. One-on-

one meetings have been held with 

Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes,

 Paul Pogba and others.

For the German coach, famed for 

his tactical innovation and strategic 

intelligence on the pitch, it is a new 

challenge. Every boss has to deal with

 man-management, of course, but 

never have Rangnick’s skills in this

 department been tested quite like this.

The biggest club he had managed 

was Schalke in Germany and the two

 clubs where he was most successful, 

Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig, were 

nonentities playing non-league football

 but thanks to his legacy they now 

sit fourth and seventh respectively 

in the Bundesliga.

But at those clubs he had young, 

hungry players largely devoid of 

ego and eager to learn.

‘It was crazy, unbelievable football 

we were playing: pro-active, aggressive

, attacking football,’ said Demba Ba, 

the former Newcastle and Chelsea 

striker who made his name under

 Rangnick as Hoffenheim took the 

Bundesliga by storm in 2008. ‘We 

were the age — 21, 22 — when 

whatever the coach says, you take it 

in, you listen.’

Now comes the crunch for Rangnick, 

squeaky bum time as one of his 

predecessors might say, though 

United no longer compete for titles

. Can Rangnick have the same 

effect in the final third of the season 

on a 37-year-old billionaire, a free-

spirited No 10, and a 28-year-old 

World Cup-winner who is out of 

contract at the end of the season?

Last week Harry Maguire and Marcus

 Rashford both took to Twitter to deny 

unrest at United, specifically the charge

 that there is an English camp which

 baulks at Ronaldo’s attempted 

dominance of the dressing room. 

Yet no one can convincingly deny 

that the arrival of Ronaldo, logical 

though it looked on paper, has disrupted

 the equilibrium on and off the pitch.

Those close to the dressing room 

speak of his constant need to be 

the acknowledged leader. Maguire will

 remain captain but the body language

 between Ronaldo and his English team

-mates will be scrutinised at Leeds

 and for the rest of the season. And 

Ronaldo’s body language isn’t hard to read.

Rangnick said this week that tensions

 in the dressing room have been 

alleviated by clearing out players who

 wanted to leave in the January, though

 that does not address the issue 

of whether the players left actually 

appreciate Ronaldo or even want him there.

Rangnick’s job in the last three months

 of the season is to mould this disparate

 group of individuals, all signed by different 

managers with divergent footballing

 philosophies, into a coherent team.

‘It is an ongoing process,’ admitted 

Rangnick. ‘The challenge for me was 

in coming mid-season, at a time when

 the team was lacking confidence 

and not doing well.

‘And of course to work with a group

 that was not put together by me 

— that’s not alibis or excuses, just a 

mere fact. For me it was about getting

 the right mix, the right moments 

in which we had to play offensively

 and defensively.

‘Obviously we had to reduce the

 number of goals conceded, which 

we did, and on the other hand still 

be dangerous in possession. I think 

we have shown some improvement 

in the weeks and months, but there 

is space for more in the future.

‘We just need to play continuously

, to stick to a game plan even if a 

game doesn’t go well. This is the 

thing we have to get better on.

‘I think since it’s obvious that the team has 

developed, that we control — not for 

90 minutes — but for larger parts 

of the game. We are dominating and 

controlling games, this is what it’s all 

about in football. The team needs to 

know how to play and this will also raise

 their level of confidence, if you 

have a feeling of controlling games.’

United are better than the team who 

lost 5-0 to Liverpool or 4-1 at Watford

, a low bar of achievement. Yet they 

are far from what one imagines Rangnick 

would want.

Ba recalled that at Hoffenheim: ‘

We were built to destroy other teams

. We would not and could not breathe

 from the minute we started the game

. We were very dominant and this 

is what he was asking us to do every 

single weekend.

‘I remember playing Hamburg when 

we got promoted and one of their players

 saying in an interview after the game, “

I don’t know what they had for breakfast

 but I want the same thing” because 

of the intensity we put on them.

‘But it wasn’t what we had for breakfast

. It was the way we were training. And 

Jurgen Klopp, after we played Dortmund

, said: “Listen, this is how football 

should be played. And from tomorrow 

this is how my team will play.”’

Contrast that with the damning assessment of 

United from Southampton manager 

Ralph Hasenhuttl, a Rangnick protege

 at RB Leipzig: ‘It is not a big secret

 that when United lose the ball that 

the reverse gears are not the best

 from everybody.’

Marvin Compper played for 

Rangnick at both Hoffenheim and 

RB Leipzig and was recruited by him 

as a coach at Lokomotiv Moscow last

 year. He acknowledges that not all

 players are built to play the Rangnick 

way, but insists his former boss can 

adapt to United’s stars.

‘It’s not for everyone and there were

 players who came in and were let go,

 maybe because they weren’t fit for 

that kind of style. But, if you buy into it, if 

your heart skills are made for it, you 

definitely grow into it. You need speed

 and if you’re not quick you need to 

be quick in your head.

He’s looking for players who have

 intrinsic aggressiveness in pressing

. He uses the word hunting. You 

wait for the signals and hunt down

 opponents.’

Ba concurs. ‘Ralf has triggers. 

We would target one player. When 

he has the ball, we close every pass

 option that he has. When that is done

, we go with two, three, sometimes 

four players to press one guy. But not

 half-pressing. It was 150 per cent.’

At United, Compper says he sees

 signs of that. ‘His philosophy is 

developing and adapting.

Even now that he has a team with big

-value players who might not fit the

 typical philosophy, and even though 

there’s not a lot of time to build something

, I see bits of behaviours implemented

 by him. He is more than capable to 

find a solution to bring his philosophy 

on pitch.’

As Ba puts it: ‘Who has to adjust 

to who is the big question? If United 

brought him in they know he can have 

a big impact.’

Rangnick has 13 games to demonstrate that.