Tottenham hiring Ralf Rangnick as coach is a risk, unless

Rangnick helps Leipzig rise through the ranks

It is important to understand that Red Bull Leipzig – who seems a powerhouse today – was actually in the fifth tier of German football as recently as 2008. It was in 2009/10 that Leipzig was promoted to the German Regionalliga, the fourth division.

Then in the first season with Rangnick as sporting director, Leipzig earned a promotion to the third tier of German football. Then like clockwork a year later, RB Leipzig won promotion to the Bundesliga 2 in 2013/14. Leipzig did not automatically jump into the Bundesliga, however.

It was actually two seasons later that RB Leipzig won promotion to the Bundesliga. 2015-16, was a mere seven years removed from the club’s promotion to the Regionalliga. It was an amazing feat for Leipzig and Rangnick who had orchestrated the team the whole time.

Rangnick did add two coaching stints in the mix during that time taking the reigns from the 2015/16 season and again in the 2018/19 season. However, Rangnick never left his administrative position.

Not only had Leipzig won promotion to the Bundesliga but they then moved into Europe, first the Europa League and then even the Champions League. All under the leadership of Ralf Rangnick.

So effective was Rangnick in all of his work creating the RB Leipzig team that he became the Global Sports Director for all of the Red Bull clubs in 2019. This put Rangnick in charge of not only RB Leipzig in Germany, but also RB Salzburg in Austria, the Red Bulls of New York, and RB Bragantino in Brazil.

It was from this position that he ‘retired’ leaving four clubs and a major legacy at Leipzig and in Germany.

Now we have a 62-year-old coach, who has not coached in two years. Even then, Rangnick has only coached two out of the last nine seasons and has never coached outside of Germany. Yet he is in the frame to manage Tottenham? Hmmm…