Jurgen Klopp makes Rangnick admission after Ten Hag appointed Man Utd manager

Jurgen Klopp has admitted he has sympathy for Ralf Rangnick as the Manchester United interim manager sees out the rest of the season.

Rangnick will remain in charge of the remainder of the campaign before handing over the reins to Erik ten Hag. The Ajax boss was confirmed as United’s new manager on Thursday, and is set to take over at the end of the current season.

Ten Hag becomes the club’s fifth permanent manager since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. Rangnick, meanwhile, is set to move into a consultancy role, as per the agreement when he joined the club in December.

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Before then though, he has to oversee United’s final games of the season as they look to rescue their slim top four hopes. Fresh from masterminding a 4-0 win over United in midweek, Klopp was asked about United’s situation during an interview with Jamie Carragher for Sky Sports. The Liverpool boss admitted to having some sympathy for Rangnick, who he classes as an influence on his own management style.

“We all know the first good news I think for the United people is that Erik ten Hag is agreed now, and the future starts now already. But they have to get through this season as well,” Klopp said.

“It’s really hard, I can imagine, and obviously Ralf Rangnick, and I know how it sounds when the manager of Liverpool says I feel a little bit for him, but it’s like that. I can understand it’s really difficult.

“You go to Liverpool, they are really good, and you go ‘we have no defensive midfielder’, that’s not good news. It’s just not cool, and that’s the situation they’re in.

“I’m not interested in gulfs or distances between us and them. I know we’ll go there next year and they’ll have the results from last year in mind, and it makes it even more difficult when we arrive there. But for the moment, it is how it is, and we are happy with our situation, and they will sort their situation.”

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