Ralf Rangnick forgets Man United woe with emphatic result in first Austria game

Things hardly went to plan for the highly-regarded German coach during his time at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils having to settle for sixth spot in the Premier League and some poor performances to match.

While Rangnick attracted plenty of criticism for his role in the club's poor form, his first clash as Austria boss has showed that he's certainly not busted flush after earning a 3-0 victory over Croatia.

Despite the Croatian side including stars such as Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic and Andrej Kramaric, Rangnick's side were ruthless in Osijek.

Goals from Marko Arnautovic, Michael Gregoritsch and Marcel Sabitzer either side of the break put Austria top of Nations League A, Group 1 ahead of Denmark, France and Friday's opponents, Croatia.

While Rangnick's time at United led to significant criticism, talkSPORT's European football expert, Andy Brassell, believes that he was set up to fail from the moment he arrived at Old Trafford.

Brassell said: "He has not been given the tools to succeed at Manchester United.

"They have paid lip service to the idea of change under him, he was never given a real position of authority, he was interim coach, and not even sporting director, but consultant.

"I realise they have a sporting director elsewhere but there was no real promise of there being meaningful long-term change at Manchester United under Rangnick.

"I know the players have copped a lot of criticism, but has he ever really been given the authority to show that he has the power to change things? I don't think he has.

"I think it's easy to look at him, for the players, and say 'you know what, if we don't particularly like this, we'll see him off, he'll be done in six months'."

Rangnick was initially set to take up a two-year consultancy role with United following his brief stint as interim manager.

The German was going to work for six days a month for the Red Devils after the completion of this season.

But the club confirmed last week that they would be totally parting ways, with his consultancy plans scrapped.