With Nicolas Seiwald, Red Bull Salzburg has brought forth the next top talent from its own ranks. The 20-year-old is one of the big names in midfield under Matthias Jaissle, has played all the competitive games of the current season and recently celebrated his debut goal for the “Red Bulls”. In an interview with the kicker, the youngster explains to what extent he has benefited from the sporting upheaval, how he experienced his Champions League debut and which league he would like to see himself in.
Nicolas Seiwald has grabbed his regular seat at Red Bull Salzburg
GEPA images
Nicolas Seiwald is a prime example of the Red Bull Salzburg philosophy, has been with the Red Bulls since the U9, played through all the youth teams, kicked at the Liefering cooperation club, worked his way up to becoming a regular in the professional team and most recently celebrated his debut in UEFA Champions League. The 20-year-old midfielder is a constant under Matthias Jaissle, played in all competitive games and scored his first goal for his team in the 8-0 win in the second round of the ÖFB Cup. “A great feeling. It was now about time I scored. It felt very good and of course I’m hoping for more goals,” said the 20-year-old, who made his debut for Jesse Marsch last season was the series champion from the city of Mozart and is now one of the main pillars of the current table leader.
With nine wins in the first nine Bundesliga games, the start of the new season was more than successful, the sporting upheaval in summer with the departure of coach and some regular players did not affect the team. “That it works like this is of course overwhelming. We knew that there would be a change, the team would be much younger and we accepted that. we have implemented this well so far.
Instructive Bundesliga debut
Young players like Seiwald, Luka Sucic or Karim Adeyemi in particular benefit from taking on responsibility and playing valuable minutes: “For us, the time of the upheaval was of course ideal. Luka and I were able to sniff and have a look last season We learned a lot from players like Enock (Mwepu, note) or the Patson (Daka, note) what you need to play here successfully, showing conviction and of course an attitude to victory.
For Seiwald, however, his entry into the pros was anything but pleasant. In his first starting eleven at the end of November 2020, the reigning champions promptly conceded a 3-1 home defeat against Sturm Graz. “Often you can learn more from the defeats than from the victories, because you can see what is still missing and what you need to win. If things were always going well, you wouldn’t see what you still have to work on and from where , that wasn’t that bad after all, “the youngster also draws positively from his first appearance in the Austrian House of Lords. For Seiwald it took almost three months before he came back to play for the league croesus, but that never put a damper on his development. “In general, I am satisfied. I see a constant upward trend in myself and I am working to ensure that it continues like this. In the meantime I play much more courageously, have more confidence in myself and play with more self-confidence. Hopefully it will continue like this” , the 20-year-old is in Reinen with his previous career path.
Seiwald is proud that after all these years he finally made it into a regular player in Salzburg: “It was always my dream as a youth player to play up there at some point and that it has now turned out to be very proud of course. It is really a dream come true. ” What does it take to assert yourself as a young player against this tough competition and to fulfill your dream? “You always have to stay tuned, you need a certain amount of patience and, of course, the motivation to get better every day. You always have to keep going, even if it doesn’t work out that way, and you have to try to give your all again in the next training session and in the next game. That is the key. ”
Now the midfielder from Kuchl is one of the permanent staff of the sovereign leaders, has played in all Bundesliga games so far and was also in the starting line-up at the Champions League group opener against Sevilla FC. A very special experience for the 20-year-old: “At the beginning, of course, a great feeling. When you hear the Champions League anthem, that’s a real goosebump moment. Then it starts, we get the 911, unfortunately we miss it, but in the game it wasn’t a setback in itself. There was just the feeling: We’re going on. When we took the lead, it was great to celebrate together. After the game, it was mixed feelings because we took one point We’d have signed before the game, but we could have won after the game.
When you hear the Champions League anthem, it gives you goose bumps. “
Nicolas Seiwald on his premier class debut
The atmosphere in the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in front of over 18,000 frenetic fans did not bring the youngster calm, but rather had the opposite effect: “It always gives me motivation when the opposing fans boo or yell at us. Before the kick-off it was extremely loud, when everyone whistled. That’s a great feeling. ” Seiwald not only exudes a calm manner on the pitch, with a pass accuracy rate of over 80 percent, the midfield is one of the strongest players in the entire league in this statistic. The youngster also prefers to hold back outside the field. He sees no disadvantage in this: “As a guy, I’m more of an introvert. That also helps me on the pitch, so that I have a certain calm on the ball. In the team, of course, you also need other players who give commands, motivate and criticize I’m more of the calmer type and maybe give hints in the dressing room. I see myself more as a calm haven in the team. ”
In addition to many colleagues of the same age or even younger, Seiwald can also count on the support and experience of leading players such as Andreas Ulmer or Zlatko Junuzovic in his development. Above all, the former Werder Bremen legionnaire, who embodies a role similar to the home grown man on the pitch, is a very important mentor for him: “In the beginning, Zladi (Zlatko Junuzovic, note) was my first point of contact when I was with the Pros. He helped me, gave me tips and of course I can still learn something from him. From his experience, from the way he reads the game. He’s definitely a model player in our squad. ”
After Konrad Laimer and Xaver Schlager, it is probably only a matter of time before the next midfield export from Salzburg to find your way into a bigger league. “If you want to move up, and I want that, the German Bundesliga is a step and both of them are of course a role model, because they have taken a similar path to mine. Currently, however, I am concentrating purely on my task in Salzburg,” said Seiwald not yet in a hurry. Because before that there is a long Bundesliga season as well as further appearances in the Champions League. At the home game against Lille, you again expect to be able to take something countable: “Of course anything is possible, but we shouldn’t underestimate Lille, even if they didn’t start the new season so well. We know about their strengths and of course we want to win , in the end it depends on the form of the day and then we’ll see who is the better. ”