"Eras come to an end," proclaimed Erik ten Hag at his first ever press conference as Manchester United manager.

He was talking about Manchester City and Liverpool's dominance of trophies, but he could've been describing Ralf Rangnick's brief stint at Old Trafford. Nearly two years ago to the day, the acclaimed German coach was appointed by United to become their new interim manager and continue as a consultant following their disastrous 2021-22 season which had seen Ole Gunnar Solskjaer dismissed.

As United supporters - and reportedly one of their own players - feverishly searched Rangnick's CV and marvelled at his work, the future looked bright. Fast forward five months and the former Red Bull sporting chief had a new job, coaching the Austrian national team.

"I'm really looking forward to playing my part in helping United become a real force again," Rangnick declared. He then added on the "honour" of coaching Austria: "The prospect of contesting the European Championships in Germany with a young team hungry for success fills me with great anticipation."

Only one of those things worked out.

Ten Hag, given a mandate to run the rule over United's football department upon his arrival in May 2022, refused to even meet with Rangnick face-to-face, according ESPN. Instead, the former Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig boss was given a mere phone call, during which it became apparent that Rangnick would be leaving Old Trafford behind.

Since then, Ten Hag has ended the Red Devils' six-year trophy drought but is now fighting to save his job, having led United to their worst start to a season in all competitions since 1962. Meanwhile, Rangnick has done his own job of revitalising an underperforming team - and unlike Ten Hag has managed to keep up the good work.

Having last played at a World Cup 25 years ago and only ever reaching three European Championship finals - one of which they hosted - Austria haven't had much to brag about in recent times. Last March, after five years in charge, manager Franco Foda stepped down off the back of failing to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.

They'd finished fourth in a group containing Denmark, Scotland, Israel, the Faroe Islands and Moldova, signalling that change was needed as attendances began to dwindle. Rangnick, who'd never previously coached in international football, was tasked with restoring not only pride but excitement in a team who'd lost their mojo and were playing drab football.

His first task was to navigate a tricky Nations League group which included the previous World Cup's two finalists and Denmark. In Austria's opening game, Rangnick's new side produced a swashbuckling performance to beat Croatia 3-0 after withstanding waves of pressure and attacking directly on the counter.

Intriguingly, the German employed a 3-5-2 system which hadn't been seen at United, despite their defensive woes. That was as good as it got for 2022, though, as Austria suffered four defeats and only drew their other fixture which meant relegation from League A.

Critics were questioning the federation's decision to appoint someone in his sixties whose best days of coaching appeared to be long gone, even if his work off the field was still revered. Before Austria watched the World Cup from home, they won two friendlies - firstly against Andorra and then European champions Italy - without conceding a goal.

Next came the challenge of qualifying for Euro 2024, Rangnick's priority. After being drawn with Belgium, Sweden, Azerbaijan and Estonia, Austria knew finishing in the top two spots wouldn't be easy feat, but they've made it look just that.

Rangnick settled on a 4-4-2, sometimes deviating to a 4-3-3 against Azerbaijan and Estonia, and Austria won four of their first five qualifiers as well as drawing away to Belgium. Their only defeat came in the reverse fixture but three days later in Baku, they booked their ticket to Germany to make it five wins from seven.

Captain David Alaba remains the standout name on the team sheet from his glorious career with Bayern Munich and now Real Madrid. There are also a few names who United fans will recognise, chiefly Marcel Sabitzer, who Ten Hag signed on loan in January until the end of last season.

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Up front, Marko Arnautovic is still the go-to guy, having been tipped to join the Red Devils during Ten Hag's first transfer window. That was until United fans protested against the club's pursuit due to allegations of racism levelled at the 34-year-old striker, whose internal understudy is Wolves' Sasa Kalajdzic. In addition, Austria's box-to-box midfielder who now stars for Bayern, Konrad Laimer, was a name frequently linked with the Red Devils when Rangnick was still at Old Trafford, having worked together at Leipzig.

Despite never managing in Austria, Rangnick's role as director of football for Red Bull, which began in 2012, saw him work partly with their club in Salzburg. Between there, East Germany and New York, he built connections with various players like Laimer who are now in his squad. That's made implementing his philosophy considerably easier, with stars innately knowing what's demanded of them by Rangnick and his coaching staff.

Austria eventually finished qualifying with a superb 19 points, just behind Belgium, and they host Germany in a friendly on Tuesday with solid confidence that they can beat their big neighbours for only the second time in their history. That's partially down to how poor Die Mannschaft have been of late, with their preparation for Euro 2024 in tatters.

The man in the away dugout at the Ernst Happel Stadium will be Julian Nagelsmann, the 36-year-old coaching prodigy who's already managed Hoffenheim, Leipzig and most recently Bayern. Sound like a familiar path?

That's because Nagelsmann has followed in Rangnick's footsteps, just like a hoard of other top German coaches such as Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel. The Germany boss paid tribute to the 'Godfather of the Gegenpress' when speaking to reporters in Vienna. "He fought extremely hard for me to come to Leipzig much earlier," Nagelsmann said of Rangnick.

"He communicated with me early on, even though we weren’t on the same team. I owe him a lot and continued the path he took in Leipzig. I'm really looking forward to seeing him again tomorrow. It will certainly be an exciting game."

While Nagelsmann added that he doesn't want the game to be viewed as "Julian vs Ralf," that's exactly what the newspapers read on Tuesday morning. Although the match is billed as a friendly, it promises to be an "explosive clash."

"It is an interesting and exciting duel - always when Germany play against Austria, regardless of how far you look back," Rangnick affirmed. "In club football, you'd call it a derby."

The 65-year-old might've been in the visiting dugout had some German football chiefs got their way two months ago, as his name was linked with the vacant post before Nagelsmann succeeded the sacked Hansi Flick. Rangnick firmly ruled himself out, telling ORF : "No chance. I decided 14 months ago to work as head coach in Austria, prepare the team to qualify for the Euros, and play a good role there. Everything else is not a topic for me."

Nagelsmann has only been in the job three games but is running out of time to resolve Germany's crisis. His former apprentice could do with a slice of luck in Vienna but Rangnick won't show any mercy, especially when he has the chance to show both Germany and United what they're missing.

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