The German sporting director talks about his philosophy – ‘like a jigsaw with 500 pieces’ – his time at Sussex University and what has gone wrong at Manchester United

In the end Ralf Rangnick did not get the England job in 2016 – he was, he says, down to the last two, alongside Sam Allardyce – but you can still see his influence on the English game. Jürgen Klopp uses tactics grounded in Rangnick’s fast transitions and his Liverpool team have four players who owe their big break in Europe to Rangnick: Joël Matip (at Schalke), Roberto Firmino (Hoffenheim), Naby Keïta and Sadio Mané (RB Salzburg).

Rangnick is a byword for tactical influence and talent development in Germany, even taking some credit for the national team’s 2014 World Cup success. This season’s Bundesliga has been nicknamed the “Rangnickliga”, as five teams in the top six positions have head coaches who learned their craft under him.

The personable German, 61, has embraced a new role as head of sport and development at Red Bull, looking after teams in New York and São Paulo, where the newly purchased Bragantino are on the verge of promotion to the Brazilian top-flight.

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It is a change from last year, when he combined the jobs of sporting director and head coach at RB Leipzig, keeping the coach’s seat warm for Julian Nagelsmann, who arrived from Hoffenheim in the summer. Leipzig finished third and reached the German Cup final. “This only worked because all the players we had in the squad were those I had already signed as sporting director, so we had an existing relationship,” Rangnick tells the Guardian. “It would have been impossible to do both in the long term.”

The pillars of his sporting director role encompass everything on the football side: the first team, academy, medical set-up and recruitment. “We see it like a jigsaw with 500 pieces, and our role is to ensure that we have each piece available to help every player improve. We help every individual in the whole club develop and flourish.”

Rangnick is a pioneer: at Hoffenheim in 2006, he was one of the first coaches to use video analysis. His methodology is a forerunner of gegenpressing: that the best chance of winning back the ball is within eight seconds of losing it, and most goals are scored within 10 seconds of regaining possession. RB Leipzig scored 60% of their goals like that last season. His teams play with a high tempo and always look to play vertical passes – just like those Bundesliga teams coached by Rangnick disciples.

Rangnick looks back with pride at his work with Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg, whom he left in 2015. Leipzig were in the fourth division when he joined and are now realistic Bundesliga title contenders. Salzburg are breaking scoring records in Austria (46 goals in 10 games) and had a stunning start to their Champions League campaign, beating Genk 6-2 and losing 4-3 at Liverpool.

“We can see where they are now and say we took the correct decisions at the time; that gives us a good feeling.” Both clubs have spent money but Rangnick makes the point that they are not the only ones. Salzburg have made a profit of more than €200m in player sales in the past five years.

Rangnick fell in love with English football as a 21-year-old student on a year abroad at Sussex University, as part of his English and PE degree from Stuttgart University. He remembers going to the Goldstone Ground and watching Brighton lose 4-1 to Liverpool. “I remember the Brighton fans singing: ‘Seagulls! Seagulls!’ despite the scoreline. And the Liverpool fans responded: ‘Seaweed! Seaweed!’ Scouse humour, huh?”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jürgen Klopp (left) and Ralf Rangnick before the Bundesliga game between Borussia Dortmund and Hoffenheim in October 2010. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

He famously played for the local non-league side Southwick FC, 11 games that moulded him as a coach: “The most important thing for me was the amount of coaching we did on the pitch,” he says. “We always spurred each other on, coaching among ourselves or motivating each other. That was inspirational for me.”

Now Rangnick is the inspiration, a poster boy for a sporting director model that is increasingly popular in the Premier League – with one obvious exception. Manchester United let it be known they wanted a director of football more than a year ago but no appointment has followed.

So would Rangnick, a sporting director with a proven track record, be interested in an approach from Old Trafford? “I am happy where I am but if any club wanted to speak to me, the question would have to be: ‘Can I be somebody who can influence areas of development across the whole club?’ Otherwise you are only getting half of what I am capable of. If, after that, you can work together in a trustworthy and respectful way, then you are more likely to be successful.”

Rangnick understands the reluctance of some clubs to change a traditional set-up. “It’s always difficult to follow someone like Sir Alex Ferguson, who was so successful and in place for a long time – and that’s even harder if you are often changing coaches,” he says. “With every coaching change, the identity changes and this is reflected in the sporting development. You can look at the money that team has had available in the last five years and say there has been an underperformance.”

It is no coincidence, he adds, that the two teams currently dominating the Premier League have a clear playing style. “They have their identity and know what they need to develop, and so it’s no coincidence that they are dominating the league.”