Cristiano Ronaldo got it wrong with his comment about Ralf Rangnick and now he's showing him up

Ralf Rangnick would have known he was going to find it difficult at Manchester United the moment he tried to get Cristiano Ronaldo to press with the kind of commitment, aggression and structure that he expects.

If you want to see an archetypal Rangnick team then you only need to watch Austria in Euro 2024. They have topped a group containing France, Netherlands and Poland and they have done so playing the most high-octane style of any of the 24 nations.

Rangnick has turned an international side into a pressing machine and they are suffocating teams who like to play at a slower tempo. It has made Austria one of the most watchable sides at the tournament and a realistic dark horse to reach the final in Berlin on July 14.

They can only meet Portugal in the final, having ended up on opposite sides of the draw, but the meeting with Ronaldo would be a fascinating narrative around such a fixture. Rangnick never won over the players at Old Trafford but Ronaldo was most scathing of all.

ALSO READ: United have one last chance to sell forgotten £35m man this summer

ALSO READ: United to assess the future of four players after transfer window

"This guy is not even a coach," Ronaldo said. "All the coaches that I had in my career, I call them boss because if they assume the job we have to call them in that way. But deep inside me, I never saw him as the boss."

Ronaldo wasn't alone in having that view inside the United dressing room. After a bright start, the players quickly lost faith in and support for Rangnick.

But on the evidence of what he has done for Austria - and a respectable club career before that - maybe his time at Old Trafford is worth a reappraisal. Yes, the results were a disaster and Rangnick ended with the worst record of any United manager in 50 years, but there were mitigating factors.

The intensity he wanted was certainly on show in his first 45 minutes against Crystal Palace, a game United ended up winning 1-0. They tired as that match went on and that became a problem. The German wanted to instil his high-press approach but he had a group of players who didn't have the fitness for it, while his arrival in mid-season meant there was never going to be time on the training ground to change that.

Rangnick also inherited a squad unsuited to his demands and never had the chance to reshape it. Bruno Fernandes might be an energetic presser, but as Erik ten Hag has found out asking Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford to hassle and harry opponents can be a forlorn exercise. In Anthony Elanga, Rangnick found a willing listener at least.

He also suffered from being unable to bring in coaches with the kind of experience he wanted, either because they were already committed to jobs elsewhere or couldn't get past the post-Brexit red tape. His team at Carrington never convinced the players and that had an impact on the messages being conveyed and the level of performance.

Maybe it was just a case of the right manager at the wrong time. If Rangnick had a full pre-season and a clean slate to bring his own players in, then maybe United would have benefitted from his style. It wasn't just the players that weren't convinced either. His media engagements became must-attend events towards the end of the season as he lobbed grenade after grenade but his impact at the club was criticised, by myself included. It was fair at the time and he didn't cover himself in glory, but he's proven now that he is an elite-level coach, which plenty of people doubted during his time at Old Trafford.

Bayern Munich wanted him before Euro 2024 but he stuck with Austria and is now under contract until the 2026 World Cup. The 65-year-old's stock is back on the rise, however, with his spell at United increasingly put down to circumstance rather than substantial failings on Rangnick's behalf. Maybe he has one more big club job in him.

First, he can see how far he can take Austria in Germany. He is certainly benefitting from familiarity with his squad, with many of them spending time at a Red Bull club, for which Rangnick created the tactical playbook. Now he is showing it off on the biggest stage. It's a shame Old Trafford never got to see it.