Source: Daily_Mail
Schalke's Ralf Rangnick on Manchester United clash
'Thomas Gradgrind, sir. A man of realities. A man of fact and calculations. A man who proceeds upon the principle that two and two are four, and nothing over.' Charles Dickens, Hard Times. [LNB]An excuse should never be required to quote Dickens but in case it feels gratuitous in an article about Schalke 04, Manchester United's Champions League semi-final opponents, it is because manager Ralf Rangnick once spoke of reading Dickens while a student in Brighton in the late 1970s.[LNB] Great expectations: Howedes (4) and Raul want more after Rangnick (left) gave the Champions League a twistwith victory over Inter[LNB] 'Now, what I want is, Facts,' is the opening line of Hard Times, a book set in a grimy northern English city Dickens called 'Coketown' - industrial revolution Manchester. [LNB]A fact is that United are 11 games away from another Treble. Another is that Rangnick's Schalke are one of the obstacles to overcome. [LNB]Some facts about Rangnick are that he is 52 and has never been to Old Trafford. He has never met Sir Alex Ferguson. He has been Schalke manager for just four games and he considers his team 'clear underdogs'. [LNB]Rangnick explained this in excellent English. As he said: 'I lived near Brighton for a year. For me these were some of the best months of my life. I lived with a family and I am still in contact with them today. Twice a week I would take the fast train to London and watch a First Division game.[LNB] Next up: Schalke will face Man United for a place in the Champions League final at Wembley [LNB] 'I'd see either Arsenal or Tottenham usually. But Brighton and Hove Albion were in the First Division then so I'd go to the old Goldstone Ground. It was one of the best years of my life.[LNB] 'I was studying English and PE at Stuttgart university. I was a guest student at Sussex university.' And Dickens? 'Yeah, it was hard times to read his work, the books were so thick, 1,000 pages. For me, that was hard times.' [LNB] "United are the favourites, but then so were Inter Milan..."Rangnick also played while in Brighton. He had been a junior with Stuttgart but never made it as a top-flight professional. In England he joined a local team.[LNB] 'I played for Southwick - do you know that club? I had longer hair then,' he said. He broke two ribs in his second match. [LNB]Southwick FC were in Sussex County League Division One then. Their secretary Paul Symes said: 'Ralf Rangnick was here for about six months, he was at a local college. He played two or three times in the first team, in the Floodlit Cup v Worthing. One lad from back then remembered the name but couldn't remember how good he was.' [LNB]Rangnick made an impression - as a leaving gift Southwick's players bought him a ticket for the Arsenal v West Ham 1980 FA Cup final - and soon proved to be good at coaching.[LNB] Making history: Schalke's win over Inter Milan sees the German side progress to the last four for the first time [LNB] He returned to Stuttgart and coached the amateur and youth sides before embarking on a managerial career that took him back to Stuttgart aged 40 in 1999. [LNB]But Rangnick was sacked there, then by Hannover despite guiding them to promotion to the Bundesliga and by 2004 he was at Schalke. [LNB]Thought of as Germany's second biggest club after Bayern Munich - they get 60,000 a week despite not winning the title since 1958 - Schalke shred managers. They have a touch of Manchester City about them. Rangnick lasted around a year. [LNB]He dropped divisions to take over at Hoffenheim, got them promoted but in January resigned over their selling policy. Until last month Felix Magath was Schalke manager. But Magath's methods and personality did not fit at a club where the supporters see themselves as representatives of an area and a working-class mining tradition as well as a football team.[LNB] Rangnick is regarded as a 'conversational' coach according to more than one player alienated by Magath's Gradgrind iron rule. [LNB] Leading the way: Veteran striker Raul joins in with Schalke's fans as they celebrate their remarkable achievement [LNB]Rangnick once said he was struck and 'inspired' by the amount of talking on the pitch at Southwick. His first game back in charge at Schalke was on April Fool's Day. Schalke were leading 2-0 at St Pauli when the game was abandoned after an angry fan ran on and threw beer at a linesman. [LNB]Since then there have been three victories, with Inter Milan, European champions, beaten twice. 'Extraordinary' was the word Rangnick used about Wednesday. It applies to his season.[LNB] 'Of course this was an extraordinary night, qualifying for the semi-final of the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. For me it's a first time in the Champions League semi-final. It shows how extraordinary it is, and beating the holders twice, away and at home.[LNB] 'We have a couple of outstanding young players - our two defensive midfielders (Joel Matip and Kyriakos Papadopoulos, both 19) - and they were up against players like Wesley Sneijder and Javier Zanetti. But we also have some experienced players - Raul, Metzelder. I think the mix is good. [LNB]'Benedikt Howedes is young as well, he's one of the players we need for the future.' [LNB]Howedes, impressive against Inter, was part of a Schalke youth team that included coveted goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Real Madrid's Mezut Ozil. [LNB]Locally, Howedes was felt to be the best of the three. He will need to be at his best against United. As Rangnick concluded: 'Manchester United are the favourites of course, we know that. But then Inter were the favourites against us. We know that especially at home Manchester United are hard to beat - we saw the game on Tuesday night. Up front especially, I think they have even more pace, more power than Inter.' [LNB]It is Rangnick's opinion. Ferguson will want to see it made fact.[LNB] Hold fire! Trigger-happy Roman should keep his head and faith with AncelottiFergie beware! Raul shows he is no pussycat as Schalke prepare for UnitedMan Utd 2 Chelsea 1 (agg 3-1): Hernandez and Park end Blues' runSchalke 2 Inter Milan 1 (agg 7-3): Fergie sees Raul book semi-final date [LNB] Explore more:People: Alex Ferguson, Charles Dickens, Wesley Sneijder, Felix Magath Places: Manchester, London, Germany, United Kingdom
