The Ralf Rangnick era is underway at Manchester United, and it hasn’t been too bad a start.
The 1-0 win against Crystal Palace has given a good platform for the German tactician to propel United back into the top four race, with a lot of Rangnick’s style being evident already after just one full training session.
The original plan set out by United is that Rangnick will be in charge until the end of the season, with a two-year consultancy role commencing after his interim run in the dugout
However, Rangnick may already have other plans to stay on as a manager or find his successor.
In his introductory press conference, the German discussed that he would like to stay as manager for 12 months rather than six, stating he needed the whole year to implement his system.
Rangnick is famous for hiring coaches who share his footballing vision. Ralph Hasenhuttl, Julian Nagelsmann and Marco Rose have worked under Rangnick at teams within the Red Bull group and all were rather unheralded at the time - the antithesis of the big-name managers United's reputation seems to demand.
There is another name that came through Rangnick’s system who has recently become available.
RB Leipzig fired Jesse Marsch on Sunday after a poor start to the Bundesliga season. Leipzig are 11th in the table with only 18 points from 14 games.
Those struggles can’t be put solely on the shoulders of Marsch. Their transfer policy of enjoying an immense amount of profit to re-invest is excellent in the long-term, but in the short-term, you can have predicaments such as the one Leipzig are currently enduring.
Losing the likes of Timo Werner, Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate and Marcel Sabitzer over the past two seasons have stripped Leipzig of their best players. Even though they do have some marvellous young talent in Dominik Szoboszlai, Christopher Nkunku, Josko Gvardiol, and Ilaix Moriba, these players are still far off reaching the levels of their predecessors.
Marsch has spent just under seven years in the Red Bull system, joining New York Red Bulls in January 2015. In his three years at the MLS club, Marsch oversaw their best-ever record and finished his stint as the most successful manager in their history.
He also spent two years at RB Salzburg before jumping to Leipzig. Marsch won two domestic doubles in his two seasons in Austria, while coaching the likes of Erling Haaland, Patson Daka, Hwang Hee-chan and the aforementioned Szoboszlai.
However, between his departure from NY Red Bulls and arrival at Salzburg, Marsch had a season-long stint as an assistant, and I bet everyone can guess who it was for.
When Rangnick stepped in to take over from the recently departed Hasenhuttl at RB Leipzig while the club waited for the impending arrival of Nagelsmann, Rangnick brought in Marsch as his number two.
The duo worked well together, steering the club to third in the Bundesliga in the 2018/19 season. Leipzig's 29 goals conceded in that campaign remains a club best.
Even though it might come as a surprise if Marsch became Rangnick’s assistant at United, it might make the transition easier when Rangnick moves upstairs.
Brendan Rodgers, Mauricio Pochettino, Erik Ten Hag and others have been touted as the next permanent United manager, but maybe a former pupil of Rangnick could be the one to step up.
Perhaps having him earn his stripes as an assistant for the next six months could be the best long-term appointment for Manchester United's Rangnick era.
Who do you think will become Manchester United assistant manager? Follow our United On My Mind editor Mike Parrott on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comment section below.
