AUSTRIAtypology of the players, too. Salzburg
like to play an attacking, high-pressing
and dynamic game, with a basis on the
power of collective and creating an
environment where excellent
individuals can thrive.
“There’s definitely not just one
player in the last few years who has
delivered extremely good performances
very quickly with us,” Freund explains.
“We are particularly proud of the
development of many of our boys from
the Red Bull academy such as Xaver
Schlager, Konrad Laimer, Stefan Lainer
and many more, up to our current blue
chips from our academy such as Nicolas
Seiwald, Luka Sucic and Karim Adeyemi.”
The flow of young talents just
doesn’t seem to stop. Hagenauer
points out several players in the
current team who have enormous
potential: “There’s certainly Adeyemi,
who’s going to make it, absolutely no
doubt. Then there are Mohamed
Camara, Seiwald, Oumar Solet,
Rasmus Kristensen and Brenden
Aaronson, all with a good chance to
find their spot in the big leagues.”
It’s not only about players, though.
Red Bull clubs have also been able
to find young and promising coaches.
Roger Schmidt, Marco Rose and Adi
Hutter all had their breakthroughs at
Salzburg, as didJesse Marsch, who
worked for New York Red Bulls and
Leipzig before making his name in
Austria. After Marsch left to take over
at Leipzig in 2021, he was replaced
by 33-year-old MatthiasJaissle,
who previously coached Liefering.
Jaissle played as a centre-back for
Hoffenheim (coached by Rangnick),
but retired after a serious injury. He
went on to coach the youth team at
Leipzig, and progressed to Salzburg’ssenior team, taking them to the
Champions League last16. In a recent
interview withThe Athletic, he insisted
he wasn’t “Julian Nagelsmann 2.0”.
Despite being a club from a smaller
league, Salzburg can hold their own
in the European competitions and are
possibly showing the way for other
clubs. “I think it’s difficult to compare
clubs or leagues. There are so many
different approaches and requirements,
especially for the really big clubs,” says
Freund. “But what I can say is that weare doing very well with this concept
here at Salzburg and we are all very
happy about it.
“If there are clubs that learn
something from us and that pay
attention to our path, that’s a nice
thing. But as I said, every club has to
find its own orientation and strategy.
We are100 per cent convinced of
thepathwehavechosenandit
suits our club.”
After Red Bull’s takeover of
the club, Salzburg received a lot of
criticism within Austria, just as Leipzig
did in Germany when they were added
to the company’s portfolio of clubs a
few years later.
The new owners indelibly left their
mark on the club, changing the name
of the stadium, the
badge and the shirt
colour. While Salzburg
regularly play in the
Champions League
or Europa League
and attract young
fans, their domestic
rivals have a near-
impossible job to keep up with them,
with the result an entirely predictable
Austrian Bundesliga.
“[Salzburg] certainly helped to
put Austria back on the map of
European football. Maybe all the
European leagues have problems
with a big gap between the leaders
and contenders, but in Austria the
domination of Salzburg is really
obvious,” admits Hagenauer. “Salzburg’s
rise helped Austrian football, but at
the same time it has damaged it.”“Red Bull Salzburg certainly helped
to put Austria back on the map of
European football”
Austrian journalist Andreas HagenauerRed Bull Salzburg coach...MatthiasJaissleredbullsalzburg.at