Football Philosopher
Celebrations and Searching for Director of Football
After the FA Cup Final match ended and was won by Manchester United, the team returned to the city of Manchester and was awaited by thousands of fans. Although only winning one trophy, but the enthusiasm of fans can not be dammed. They celebrate all day in the city.
After the celebration with fans on the street then the official celebration continued with a meal event with all elements at Manchester United, from players, staff and even the guards and janitors took part in this event. James wanted unity in his work environment without discriminating. The event lasted until late at night.
A week later James and David flew to Germany to find the right candidate for the position of Director of Football for Manchester United. They are heading to a place that has been prepared for a meeting with the prospective Manchester United Football Director. It is located in Gelsenkirchen, a mining town in Germany.
He is Ralf Rangnick, who currently manages the Schalke 04 club. Although not many know him when he was a player, but as a coach he already has a lot of experience. He began as a coach at the age of 25 years at that time also as a player from a small team in his hometown of Backnang, Germany, FC Viktoria Backnang in 1983.
Fourteen years later, at the age of 39, he was hired by his former club Ulm 1846. He then won the Regionalliga South in his first season. Rangnick was subsequently withdrawn by Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart, and won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2000, but was subsequently sacked after a barrage of poor results. In 2001, he then joined Hannover 96, winning 2.The Bundesliga is the second tier of the German league, but was sacked in 2004.
Currently his first season with Schalke 04 managed to become runner-up DFB-POKAL, and managed to win the DFL-Ligapokal. But James is not here to make Rangnick a coach, but a Director of Football, because indeed the talent of the 47-year-old man lies in his visionary thinking. He had served as Manchester United's interim manager for 6 months although it failed miserably because the condition of the team at that time was chaotic. He was even referred to as a professor of football other than Wenger in James's previous life.
Rangnick is recognised as one of the first coaches to rely on gegenpressing tactics, where teams, having lost possession of the ball, attempt as quickly as possible to win possession back, instead of retreating to regroup together. This is done by relying on players' spatial abilities that develop by increasing memory capacity and speed of thought processes. Rangnick developed this tactic after a friendly match against Dynamo Kyiv in 1984. This tactic was inspired by the pressing philosophy of Valeriy Lobanovskyi.
From here James wants him, he wants the philosophy of the game to keep attacking and pressing opponents tirelessly until the end of the game.
"Is this where you set up the meeting, David?" James asked as he got out of the car. They were standing in front of a cafe where they met the main candidate of the Reds Devil's Director of Football.
"Yes, but we're 30 minutes early, it's still 1:30" Sean said as he looked at his watch, "And you need to hire a secretary to make an appointment."
"Yes, I'll think about it, once I meet a suitable person as a secretary, until then you have to do it" James said playfully.
James took a moment to look around. He had never been to Germany before. It was a coal mining town in Germany. The city is on the banks of the Emscher River and the canal ship of the Rhine-Herne. The city is a bit like Newcastle in England.
They sat down and ordered coffee while waiting for the clock to show at 2.
"James are you sure about this? It's a serious matter. The wrong decision here could have left the club devastated." David tried to give James some more input.
"But he hasn't had the experience of working for a Premier League club." David tried his best to explain it to James.
"But he managed English club Southwick while studying at the University of Sussex. Even then it was still around 20 years old." James explained.
"Well if it's your decision, I'm raising you once again to really never regret it later." David reminded James again.
"I'm so sure about this because I'm from the future." James said as seriously as possible but David just rolled his eyeballs.
"It's not a joke, you know, the whole club's continuity is tied to this decision."
"Yes, I know and I take this more seriously than anyone, that's why I'm here to persuade him to join our club." James said with a reassuring tone.
"I chose him because he is good at data like a professor, data will be important in the years to come, especially in squad formation and talent search. To stay ahead of the competition is key if we want to be successful in football. This is our chance to get an edge over our opponent" James said, drinking his coffee.
David is not entirely sure but he knows that is somewhat true and perhaps James' vision will pay off in the future. And he has researched the person and he is competent in his work.
As the clock ticks down at 1:57, a white man with slightly blond black hair and gold-framed glasses, dressed in a black suit enters the cafe and walks towards James's desk,
"Hello, Mr. Packer, Mr. May, I'm Ralf Rangnick." He introduced himself to fluent English.
"Hello Mr. Rangnick, call me James is fine. How do you recognize us?" James asked with a feeling of total shock.
"Well, James then call me Ralf. I searched you on the internet before coming here." Ralf said as they sat down.
James was not used to being famous. After thinking for a moment, he thought he should get used to this because even though he was not as famous as a celebrity, anyone looking for his information could easily get it online.