RB Salzburg goalkeeper Walke: Two and a half years without a game and yet indispensable
As a violinist in an orchestra, it’s like being in the goal of a soccer team. Number one sets the tone, number two is only allowed to support. Hardly any other place has a greater understanding of this than in the Mozart city of Salzburg, whose festival is home to the world’s most important festival of classical music. Alexander Walke managed to play a leading role as number two in Salzburg.
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On Tuesday in Wolfsburg, around 170 kilometers from his birthplace Oranienburg, the goalkeeper will meet VfL Wolfsburg in the Champions League with RB Salzburg in the evening (6.45 p.m.). Walke will most likely watch the spectacle from the bench and wait for the first premier league game of his career when. But even if the 38-year-old no longer plays a major sporting role at RB, his influence on the Austrian series champion is still immense.
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“Alex Walke is still indispensable in this team. In the meantime, no longer as number one, but as a motivator in the dressing room. With his open and communicative nature, he is still a face of the team,” explains Alexander Bischof. Since SV Austria Salzburg was taken over by the beverage manufacturer Red Bull in 2005 and renamed FC Red Bull Salzburg, the current head of department of the Salzburger Nachrichten has been reporting on the soccer club from the city of Mozart. Because Walke and RB belong together like Salzburg and its festival.
The goalkeeper, who was trained in the youth of SG Eintracht Oranienburg, the predecessor of today’s OFC Eintracht, has been playing in Salzburg for eleven years now. Only left-back Andreas Ulmer, who has meanwhile also replaced Walke as captain of the team, is under contract with RB for two more years. “Alex is an institution in Salzburg. Many fans are of the opinion to this day that he would be the best choice for the job as number one, “says Bischof.
“Walke fell victim to this club policy to a certain extent”
There were only brief doubts about the quality of Walkes at the club attachment. When he moved from FC Hansa Rostock to Salzburg in 2010, he was unable to assert himself immediately and was able to go to Fürth for another six months in the winter. After ex-Cottbuser Gerhard Tremmel said goodbye to Swansea City, Walke prevailed in the internal battle. “He was then an absolute top performer and was voted Player of the Season by the fans. Only when Peter Gulasci came did he have to clear the gate for two years. Even Alex couldn’t get past Peter,” said Bischof. Walke guarded the RB box 226 times before he had to give way again for Cican Stankovic in 2018 and was no longer allowed to go back into the goal.
“The move to Stankovic was very critical of the media and the public,” explains Bischof, but he knows why Salzburg decided: “At that time, the club committed itself to the philosophy of giving young players a stage in order to gain market values to generate. Walke fell victim to this club policy. ”He has not played a competitive game for Salzburg since May 2019. But instead of pulling away pouting, Walke found another way to deal with the situation. “He became a mentor and the good soul of the team. He is fully recognized and passes on his tips and experience to the younger players,” says Bischof, above all the two young German goalkeepers Philipp Köhn and Nico Mantl.
The current average age in the team is 23 years. “Some of the players are actually half my age. It’s a completely different generation. The important thing is simply to help the boys. Some assume it, with some it is difficult, “Walke said of this newspaper role. They appreciate this combination of experience and openness to help at RB. This is one of the reasons why the veteran’s contract was renewed for another year in the summer.
“We know exactly what we have in Alex and how important he is for our team. He is an absolute leader both on the training ground and in the dressing room,” confirmed RB Sports Director Christoph Freund SPORTSBUZZER demand. It is an open secret, Reporter Bischof, that the German is offered a position in the club after his active career. “But I don’t think it’s out of the question that the club will renew with him in the summer. Ambition and motivation to play are unbroken with Alex.” And one thing is clear, said Bischof: “You won’t find a better substitute goalkeeper . “If you will, he is the best second violin Salzburg has ever had.
