Manchester United

Ralf Rangnick: 'Manchester United captaincy should go to a vote'

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 28 April 2022

Ralf Rangnick: 'Man United captaincy should go to a vote'

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick believes that Erik ten Hag should decide the Red Devils' captaincy for next season via a player vote.

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick believes that the Red Devils' captain for the 2022-23 season should be decided by a player vote.

Centre-back Harry Maguire has donned the armband for the current campaign but has come under swathes of criticism for his performances this term and could supposedly be stripped of the captaincy by Erik ten Hag.

There are also fears that Maguire could miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, and Rangnick does not believe that the England international should retain the armband by default.

Speaking to the press ahead of Thursday's Premier League game with Chelsea, Rangnick said: "I can only tell you what I have done in the past when I was head coach or manager because in Germany it's called 'Mannschaftskapitan' — the captain of the team.

"I strongly believe the captain should be elected by the team because he's called the team manager and we always did that, we always had a board of four or five players.

"We called it the 'Spielerrat' [players' council] — elected by the players. The player with the highest amount of votes was the team captain at the end. That was how I did it.

"I know a lot of head coaches don't do it that way. That's what I would do if I was still the manager next season but in the end I'm not. This is something that Erik will have to decide."

Man United will be aiming to cut the gap to fourth-placed Arsenal to three points with victory over the Blues, but the Gunners will have two games in hand ahead of the weekend.