Jamie Carragher insists Ralf Rangnick has 'put his stamp on Man United from day one'

Ralph Rangnick's Manchester United bow earned rave reviews from Jamie Carragher, who spotted the German's influence all over their victory against Crystal Palace.

The Red Devils edged Patrick Vieira's men 1-0 at Old Trafford thanks to unlikely scorer Fred – keeping their first clean-sheet at home of the 2021-22 season.

The naivety and defensive madness of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's final days were gone, and Rangnick's organised pressing philosophy was on display from the get-go. The German had a mere two days to prepare his new charges at Carrington.

'I was impressed with Manchester United,' Liverpool legend Carragher said on SkySports. 'From the fact Ragnick put a stamp on the team from day one.

'That was a criticism of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and it's a similarity with Klopp and Tuchel. He put a stamp on it straight away, with his system and pressing from the front.

'The top managers – certainly these German managers that have come in when the season's already started – they put the stamp on their team in game one, Tuchel and Klopp, two of the best managers in Europe.

'Whatever you say about United's performance yesterday, Ragnick put that stamp on his team.'

United are already 11 points off leaders Manchester City but are qualified for the Champions League last-16 and only three points off the top-four.

Stopping the flow of goals past David De Gea was no mean feat for Rangnick on Saturday. Only Leicester have conceded more goals among Premier League's top 15 teams.

Carragher's Monday Night Football colleague Gary Neville is feeling optimistic after a torturous period for United fans.

'They got there and got the job done,' the former right-back added.

'I came out of it saying: What a great 30 minutes, that's what we want to see from United. In the last hour they just got over the line, they tired a little bit.

'I actually reflect today and respect the last 60 minutes more, because Rangnick has had 48 hours to coach his team and lets be clear, in the last six to seven weeks we've said United have been a mess defensively.

'Conceding goals like you wouldn't believe, battered at home by Liverpool and City, all the teams have cut through them. What Rangnick would have wanted yesterday was order, and I think we got that.

'The most important thing Rangnick did in his 48 hours work was get the clean-sheet, stopping the counter attack, not being chaotic and a mess and I think that's really good foundations to build on.'