These are the winners of the preparation
In the spring preparations, established players and young talents also have the chance to recommend themselves for the starting eleven in the second half of the season.
Unsurprisingly, young talents in particular have been promoting themselves at FC Red Bull Salzburg in recent weeks.
Karim Konate – Take off in #LigaZwa
Karim Konate moved from the Ivory Coast to the Salzach last summer with numerous early praises, where he went hunting for goals for the talent factory FC Liefering – and with great success. In 14 second division games, the 18-year-old Ivorian netted ten times and set up two more goals. In the UEFA Youth League he shot down Chelsea’s U19s with a hat-trick. It was easy to see that he was ready for higher tasks.
Before the turn of the year, Konate, who had already played for the Ivory Coast senior team, accompanied FC Red Bull Salzburg to Malta. During the activation walk before the friendly against Inter Milan, he could already be seen in the “Salzburg underwear”, while his Liefering colleagues still wore the coat of arms of the second division club on their training clothes.
He finally made his debut for the first team in the 4-0 friendly defeat against the Serie A club and said goodbye to the winter break with a personal sense of achievement.
Five scorers in 150 minutes
At the beginning of January, when the “Red Bulls” started training, the talented striker was of course there. A few days later he was able to prove his qualities in a friendly against Bayern Munich. In the second half he came into play as a solo striker and scored his debut goal after just five minutes. Four minutes later he assisted Noah Okafor to make it 3-1.
Physically, the striker, who was trained at the ASEC Mimosas academy, was able to easily keep up with the German record champions. In the friendly matches at the week-long training camp in Marbella, Spain, he also fitted effortlessly into the team.
A few seconds had elapsed against Sparta Prague (2-1 win for Salzburg) when he stole the ball from the Czech goalkeeper and Sekou Koita made it 1-0. Against Karlsruher SC (3-0) he appeared with one goal and another assist. After three games and 150 minutes in the new year, he already had two goals and three assists under his belt.
“He played a great preparation, is a very interesting stock for the future. I’m very, very happy,” scatters Salzburg sports director Christoph Freund the attacker in the LAOLA1 interview roses.
In the last test before Salzburg’s competitive game opener against Sturm Graz, he remained without a scorer, but his hunger is far from satisfied. After team training, Konate puts in extra shifts with a personal trainer. In addition to his great talent, the young professional also has the right attitude.
Will he already play a role in the Bundesliga in spring? “Let’s see, we have a lot of high-quality strikers. But he was there throughout the preparations and even scored. If we need him, I have no qualms about it,” said Freund.
Lukas Ibertsberger – The footsteps of father and uncle
It is true that Liefering talents are allowed to demonstrate their talents in the Salzburg training camp year after year. However, not many would have expected such convincing performances from Lukas Ibertsberger.
The 19-year-old from Seekirchner has been playing in Salzburg for almost ten years and is gradually making his way into the Liefering starting eleven. The full-back made his debut for the second division in September 2021 against Dornbirn when he came on for Benjamin Böckle (now with Fortuna Düsseldorf) in the 64th minute of the game.
He was also allowed to prove himself at the training camp in Spain. Reason enough for father and uncle to travel to the Mediterranean coast to see their protégé on the spot.
Father Robert played for Salzburger Austria in the 1990s, also as an “outside packer”. Uncle Andreas threw himself from 1997 to 2005 for the white-violets in the duels. “Ibertsberger, the third”, like the “Salzburg News” the last titles, so football is in the blood.
Compare with Philipp Lahm
Especially against Bayern, the defender showed with sugar-fine vertical passes. In the Salzburg fan forums, comparisons were even made with Philipp Lahm. In defensive terms, Ibertsberger does not lack solid duel toughness. In the last friendly against Slovan (1-0) he stepped on the foot of the opposing captain Vladimir Weiss. Enraged by this, the veteran played unsportsmanlike and was sent off with a red card.
Against the Slovaks, the native of Salzburg acted a little more offensively as a left eight and occasionally appeared in the penalty area with dangerous final moves.
Ibertsberger would definitely be able to assert himself with Austria’s series champion. Along with Konate, he was the only Liefering player who got a chance against Slovan. He must have left the “Young Bulls” training camp for this purpose. On Thursday he played against Basel’s U21s in Valencia, on Saturday he was in the training center in Taxham against Bratislava.
The chance of getting stuck as a left-back may be greater than ever at the moment. After all, Andreas Ulmer is not getting any younger – although that was said five years ago about the 37-year-old.
Sekou Koita – Back to old strength
The third winner of the preparation has a long history of suffering behind him. At the beginning of 2021 he was condemned to watch for several months because of a doping offense. In the pre-season of the same year he tore his cruciate ligament and was out for almost a year. Now Sekou Koita seems to be getting back to his old strength every day.
In the current season, however, the Malian has not had a big “impact”. The 23-year-old made only nine competitive appearances with a total of 223 minutes due to findings. In which he acted, such as in the 1-1 draw in the Champions League against Chelsea, sometimes uncoordinated and overwhelmed.
In the spring preparation, however, there was a lot of “old Koita” to see again. With agility, speed and clever actions, the attacker embarrassed even the Bayern defense. He managed to equalize at 1:1 against Bayern Munich.
However, Koita also attracts attention with one or the other impetuous action. Against KSC and Slovan, the duel lead was sometimes too hard. As long as the result of the duel is not a foul, Salzburg head coach Matthias Jaissle will want to see exactly that from his protégés – full power in every game situation.
More highlights
With a selection of a few players, other kickers are inevitably neglected. Lucas Gourna-Douath should also be mentioned at this point, who played the sixth position in the preparation in an exemplary manner. Compared to last year, he was sometimes deeper in the ball possession tests and was therefore more involved in the build-up game.
Loan returnee Amankwah Forson also proved a good option for the Jaissle team. Its variability is an advantage. In Altach he was sometimes used as a left-back, while the people from Mozart’s city rely more on his attacking qualities. He also cut a fine figure as a defensive midfielder against the Slovakian leaders.
The last few weeks have also been positive for Adam Stejskal. After Nico Mantl went on loan, the Czech rose to number two behind Philipp Köhn. The 20-year-old cut a good figure in his appearances, especially against Sparta Prague he was able to excel. Were Salzburg to regularly use their own talents not only for outfield players but also for the goalkeeper position, Stejskal could count on a chance to win the one-liner in the summer.
It’s also worth mentioning Noah Okafor, who continues his form into the new year. The World Cup participant pulled off a brace against Bayern and shot Salzburg to a narrow 1-0 win in the last friendly.
air upward
On the other hand, one or the other talent could not show up in the preparation. Benjamin Sesko was already lagging behind his form before the long winter break and didn’t make an impression in the tests either.
Due to the great competition on the offensive, the 19-year-old, who is moving to RB Leipzig in the summer, even has to worry about his regular place. He missed the dress rehearsal against Bratislava due to illness. Two other talents remained under the radar in Maurits Kjaergaard and Lawrence Agyekum.
Some players have not yet played at an efficient pace of play due to discoveries or absences due to illness. These include Andreas Ulmer, Nicolas Capaldo, Dijon Kameri and Fernando.
However, Matthias Jaissle cannot complain about a lack of quantity or quality. With Oscar Gloukh, Maccabi Tel Aviv signed a top talent in the winter.
Spoiled for choice for Jaissle
With Sturm in the Cup and AS Roma in the Europa League, the first competitive games of the new year are waiting for Salzburg to face the tough challenge. It is still unclear which players will be called up for the two games against Jose Mourinho’s team. Three places are available. New signing Gloukh has already been notified to UEFA.
Another late registration place could go to loan player Jerome Onguene. Returnee Daouda Guindo did not play a role in the pre-season due to injury, but would be an alternative to Ulmer on the left. The position was mainly filled by Bernardo during the preparation. Konate would also have earned his first minutes on the international stage. Jaissle is spoiled for choice.