Phenomenon Red Bull Salzburg • NEWS.AT
It’s been almost exactly a decade since the FC Red Bull Salzburg footballers, who are so celebrated today, made themselves the laughing stock of all of Europe. Ironically, a Luxembourg club called F91 Dudelingen kicked the squad, who had been pimped up with Mateschitz millions, out of the Champions League qualification and made supposed stars like Christoph Leitgeb or Jonatan Soriano look like crushed Mozart balls. “Sports director Ralf Rangnick starts his time in Salzburg with a huge disgrace,” the German newspaper “Bild” sneered in July 2012. “Dudelingen is a real football dwarf. But apparently still big enough to be sponsored by Red Bull Eliminate Salzburg stars.”
An embarrassment of the special class. Above all, an alarm clock. Because today we know: It was the starting point of a hero’s journey that made Salzburg one of the hottest numbers in European kicks. And to the beacon of hope of a football nation. FC Red Bull Salzburg’s amazing success story began with defeat.
Not a stone unturned
“We had players with us against Dudelange who only looked at themselves. They were four to three in the second leg and didn’t even know that we needed a goal to get promoted.” For ex-cult striker and TV expert Stefan Maierhofer, Dudelingen is still one of the blackest episodes of his career. But even the “major” can see from today’s perspective which crucial screws were turned in the days surrounding the disaster. “Everything was called into question and in some cases radically changed. Especially when it came to transfer policy, no stone was left unturned.”
Instead of full players with experience, the newly installed sports director Ralf Rangnick brought in very young talents, blue chips, whose names were only known to the greatest insiders. A brilliant eye, a huge network – thanks to his experience at stations like Schalke 04, VfB Stuttgart or TSG Hoffenheim, the German seemed to know exactly which professionals fit into his new concept.
For seven million euros, which is ridiculous from today’s perspective, he signed no-names like Kevin Kampl from the less sophisticated VfR Aalen or Sadio Mané, who came to the Salzach from the French second division FC Metz. When the two midfield violinists left the club two and three years later, they brought in more than 40 million euros, including resale bonuses. A sixfold increase in value – even hardened punters get teary-eyed.
Fluctuation as the top priority
A system was born that still works in principle today and has provided a transfer plus of more than 200 million euros in the past five years alone. And with permanent success: children who play football in the U8 today have never experienced a different champion than the Salzburg team in their lives. If you rely elsewhere on continuity and the belief that only well-rehearsed teams can be victorious in the long term, Salzburg have declared fluctuation to be the top priority. “We not only accept that players leave us after a few successful years, we want it too,” explains Christoph Freund, who apprenticed at Rangnick for three years and took over the post of sports director from the Swabian in 2015. And whose system not only supported it, but made it even faster and more efficient.
»Not only do we accept that players leave us after successful years, we want it too«
Christoph Freund, sporting director of FC Red Bull Salzburg, on staff turnover as a strategy
The advantages are obvious: income is generated that has long since allowed the club to stand on its own two feet. Space is created in the squad for new talents who are already pawing their hooves in the second row. And role models are produced that send out the signal: Look, from Wals-Siezenheim you can make it into the wide world of football. So says Ferdinand Oswald, German-Austrian goalkeeper in the service of league rival WSG Tirol: “If I were a young player and I had offers from Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or RB Salzburg – I would choose the latter.” Probably also because Salzburg is envied for the infrastructure at the training ground by many German Bundesliga clubs.
The RB network
There are now a number of major clubs in Europe that have already accessed RBS directly or indirectly. Liverpool FC (Sadio Mané, Naby Keïta, Takumi Minamino), Borussia Dortmund (Erling Haaland), Bayern Munich (Marcel Sabitzer, Dayot Upamecano), Leicester City (Patson Daka). And of course lawn ball sports in Leipzig, where, as the European association UEFA confirmed in 2017, they have the same main sponsor but act completely independently of Salzburg. A controversial view that is hotly debated in football circles. No fewer than 18 players and one coach have been transferred from the city of Mozart to East Germany. Certainly not to the detriment of the releasing and receiving club.
»Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or RB Salzburg – I would choose the latter«
Ferdinand Oswald, WSG Tirol goalkeeper on his advice to young players
In general, the ingenious networking strategy is a huge asset with which the series master can grow. Because in Austria there is a second division club, FC Liefering, as a cooperation club, which is the real talent factory. Here, the young wonder kickers from all parts of the world can get used to the language, weather and, above all, the style of play in the Red Bull circus before they are allowed into the really big ring. Whether Xaver Schlager (today Wolfsburg), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton), Dominik Szoboszlai (Leipzig) or the current star striker Karim Adeyemi, who is due to switch to Borussia Dortmund in the summer – they all made their first steps in Liefering.
Just like Mo Camara from Mali, one of the outstanding players in defensive midfield against Bayern. A “six” of the most modern character. He came out in 2018 from a football academy in the Malian capital of Bamako, with which Red Bull Salzburg has been cooperating for years and which has also brought stars such as Diadie Samassékou (via Salzburg to Hoffenheim) and Amadou Haidara (Leipzig). The West African country is considered one of the largest and best talent pools in the world, with six Malians currently under contract in Salzburg and Liefering. There is no end in sight for the river.
Jaissle – young, eloquent, smart
Liefering is not only the perfect recruiting place for the players, but also for the trainers. The current head coach, Matthias Jaissle, was “poached” last summer after only six months (and an extremely strong point average of 2.12). Young, eloquent, smart – the only 33-year-old perfectly embodies the attributes that Red Bull wants to radiate. Be it in marketing for the can or in football, where the term “RB style” has long been part of folklore. Jaissle plays exactly the kind of spectacular power football that Ralf Rangnick had in mind when he revolutionized ten years ago and which, with its straightforward and brutally efficient style, is currently considered modern.
A model of success that has long been inspiring beyond the borders of Salzburg. Now they will not found an RB fan club in Vienna-Hütteldorf or Graz-Liebenau, the frustration of not having a chance in the title race for years is too great. However, people there take note of the valuable contribution Salzburg makes to Austria’s international reputation. Providing the national team with top players like Nicolas Seiwald, Junior Adamu or long-running favorite Andreas Ulmer is one thing. Almost more important are the points that are collected for the UEFA five-year ranking, which decides the number of starting places in the European Cup competitions. There, Austria has now made it to eighth place in the best leagues in Europe, an all-time high with 38,450 points – almost half of the points collected can be attributed to the Red Bulls, who were the first Austrian team to win the knockout round this year .-phase to reach the premier class. And that as the youngest team of the entire competition. The average age against Bayern was a tender 23.7 years, the Germans were almost five years older.
This article originally appeared in News print edition no. 9/2022.