Louis Saha: Rangnick can win Champions League and remain as Man United boss, but Zidane my choice

Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha has told us that Ralf Rangnick can lead the club to Champions League glory this season and land the Red Devils job on a permanent basis, though he would still like to see Zinedine Zidane appointed in the summer.

Rangnick is expected to step down from his role as interim United boss at the end of the season with the Red Devils due to make a permanent appointment, though Saha has not ruled out the possibility of the German going all the way in the Europe and staying on.

“It’s not definitely the case that Rangnick won’t be there in charge of United in the summer,” Saha told us. “If Ralf wins the Champions League he will remain there as manager. There is concern around him yes, as he started really well and people thought about him staying, and now United are not playing so well… But this is all talk from the press and the fans. It’s all about results for Rangnick.”

Saha added: “Rangnick and United can win the Champions League this season. Chelsea won it, they weren’t brilliant in the first half of last year and they won it. I don’t think their squad was so strong and they won it. They finally found a foundation that was difficult to beat. They weren’t brilliant going forward but they still managed to win the Champions League.

“It depends on the draw for United as well of course because you can be challenged by that, but it’s a competition where you need to be good on the day and have some special players that are able to impress on the day, which they have.”

Saha would still personally like to see United appoint his former France team-mate and ex-Real Madrid boss Zidane ahead of next season, while he can see the issues of having an interim boss in charge.

“I have to admit it’s a hard position to be in (for Rangnick), especially when you are an interim manager. Some players will think you don’t have all the cards in your hands, so it’s not easy, it’s really not easy,” Saha said.

“I would like to see (Zinedine) Zidane appointed in the summer. He’s such a big figure and there’s no question about the respect he will receive. He’ll have the time to get things in order. The guy’s won Champions Leagues for fun. And he wasn’t helped by (Real) Madrid being the toughest position for a manager. Everyone can recognise that the Spanish league is very hard. I really think he has all the tools but whether he will go to United I’m not sure.

“I didn’t really see him going on to be a manager to be honest. The guy was such a genius at what he was doing on the pitch, but not necessarily speaking about it or being vocal. There were other players like (Marcel) Desailly or (Didier) Deschamps, all those players were more vocal than him.

“But when you have that charisma and that maturity in your head and you know football much better than anyone because you’ve seen it all before, it was just about the transition for him to communicate all this to his players. It was the challenge I could see, but he has done brilliantly. The guy worked hard and he has great staff around him. He has proved that he is going to be successful in anything he does.”

Saha still believes United can finish in the top four this season despite Arsenal’s games in hand on them but says a club of their stature should be competing for the title.

“If they don’t finish in the top four, it will be a massive blow,” he said. “We’re talking like finishing in the top four is winning the title. I’m sorry but this club should be winning games and aiming to win the title, not to be in the top four. That’s not normal. Having gone this many years when they are playing just for (the top four), because they don’t have the squad or the right manager, that’s not normal. Finishing in the top four is an indication of things moving forward, but that’s not enough.”

Saha added: “They can still finish in the top four. Whatever Arsenal are doing is not in their power. The main thing is not to draw, it’s to win and they will be fine. Anyone can drop points in this league. Arsenal are not that strong so some games will definitely be harder for them. There’s still a lot of games to play.”

United are next in action against rivals Manchester City on Sunday and Saha admits the Red Devils will have to be at their best to stand a chance against Pep Guardiola’s men.

“It’s going to be tough for United, whether they win or not,” he said. “You’re playing one of the best squads out there. It’s unbelievable. Whatever changes they make, they still perform. They have amazing talent and confidence, and their manager knows how to upset any opposition. It’s going to be really tough.

“United will have to be at their best otherwise they have absolutely no chance. They’ll need full concentration, full dedication. When I say hard-working, you have to outplay the opposition. Any 50/50s you need to win more, you need to outrun your opponent more… If they want to have a chance they have to do more than City.”

Saha also went on to talk about another of his former clubs, Newcastle, hailing their impressive form of late, while backing Eddie Howe’s men to avoid the drop.

“Their form has been unbelievable,” he said. “It’s not about the money, yes they added some additions and (Kieran) Trippier had done really well… But their other players have turned up and they’ve managed to change the momentum and confidence.

“They have a tough challenge to get out of this relegation battle, but they have what it takes to do that. I think they will beat the drop. I think the next three games will be very important for them. The next three games will be vital for all the teams down there. It’s really open, even Everton have dropped points again. We’re talking about big clubs here. It’s an exciting battle.”

While Saha is backing Newcastle to avoid relegation, if they were to go down he doesn’t feel it would be too much of a disaster for the club’s billionaire owners.

“It would obviously be a blow, but at the same time it could be a good thing in terms of starting a new foundation,” he said. “If you want to create a strong club it could be a good thing. Not to start from scratch, but it would be an opportunity to build a new foundation. Being relegated would prove that things weren’t right and needed changing. They’ve brought in a manager that’s young with a philosophy that makes sense. It would be tough getting relegated, but I’m sure they’d come back up to the Premier League very strong.”

Saha singled out his fellow Frenchman Allan Saint-Maximin for special praise and hopes to see him return from injury this weekend.

“They have one really special talent in Allan Saint-Maximin, he’s a really special talent. I really like him. He’s one of those players that’s really hard to defend against and predict,” Saha said. “They have to get him back soon. For me he’s the main player.

“When you lack confidence in this area of creating chances, he’s the main guy, especially when he starts to score goals. When you look at the players they have, he’s such an important player, but they have to defend much better, which is what they’ve been doing. They have to manage the games much better, which is what they’ve been doing. The manager has made some great decisions over the last four or five games. He’s been very impressive.”

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