Ralf Rangnick took charge of Austria after leaving Man Utd (Photo: Getty)
Rio Ferdinand admits he’s ‘looking at Austria with envy’ after their performances at Euro 2024 under former Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick.
Austria have been one of the surprise packages of the Euros so far, only narrowly losing to France in their opening game before impressively beating Poland 3-1.
A place in the knockouts will be secured for certain on Tuesday evening if they get at least a draw against the Netherlands, and if results go their way they could even shockingly top Group D, aka the Group of Death.
This is all the more impressive given Austria’s lack of world-class stars, with their best player and captain David Alaba missing the tournament through injury.
Moreover, the side are coached by Rangnick, best known to fans in England for an ill-fated six months as interim-manager of United, where he won just 11 of his 29 games, and was later slated by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Though well-respected, the German is more regarded for his expertise as a sporting director than a manager, and was set to take up a consultancy role at Old Trafford before being offered the Austria job in the summer of 2022.
But he’s worked wonders with the national team, with their style of play catching the eye of United legend Ferdinand, who was hoping to see similar types of performances from Gareth Southgate’s England.
Austria have emerged as Euro 2024’s dark horses (Photo: Getty)
‘Ralf Rangnick, have you seen what he’s doing with Austria? Wow, wow, wow,’ the former Three Lions defender said on the Five podcast.
‘[Former England goalkeeper] David James did tell us Austria were going to be his dark horses and we were ridiculing it, we were laughing. I caned him and said, “What are you chatting about?”.
‘They’re not going to win it, but they’re playing really good football. The biggest thing for me is they look like a well-coached team.
Rangnick endured a miserable six months in charge of Man Utd (Photo: Getty)
‘That’s all I’m asking for. A team that looks well-coached and know what they’re doing in and out of possession.
‘They attack together, they run off the ball, out of possession they defend. They keep possession off the ball.
‘Just basics, man, please. Why am I looking at Austria with envy?!’
Such was Austria’s impressive form in the qualifiers and build-up for the Euros that Bayern Munich attempted to hire Rangnick to replace Thomas Tuchel but he turned the Bundesliga giants down.
Should Austria finish third in Group D and qualify for the knockouts, as is expected, they could well be drawn against England in the last-16, should the Three Lions secure top spot in Group C when they play Slovenia on Tuesday night.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Manchester United news, exclusives and analysis
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.