If Ralf Rangnick, as head of the Austrian soccer team, can only begin to achieve as much as he did when he took office as senior sports director of Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig in 2012, then a new era of soccer is upon us.
At that time, Rangnick – who was hired by the Rieder lawyer Peter Vogl in his function as Salzburg managing director at the time – managed to build the successful construct from an unsuccessful team with full players in the autumn of his career that made Red Bull Salzburg the top club that we are today know.
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The exciting hours and days before his commitment show that Rangnick has similar plans for the ÖFB national team and really wanted this job. “Four weeks ago we wouldn’t have dared to dream of it. I hadn’t contacted him right from the start and then I got around to calling Ralf Rangnick without believing that it could be incredibly interesting for him. After that, the signals are there but it has become clearer with every conversation,” confirmed ÖFB sports director Peter Schöttel yesterday.
That’s how the conversations went
The course is said to have looked like this: After the first contact with Rangnick’s management, the demands are said to have been far too high. However, the closer the day of yesterday’s presentation got, the clearer it became that Rangnick actually likes this job. The limit of 1.5 million euros per year specified by the ÖFB Executive Committee is said to have been complied with. In addition, in the event of qualification for the EURO 2024, renegotiations would not have to be carried out – as was the case with Marcel Koller – since the contract would then be automatically extended until the 2026 World Cup. This European Championship 2024 in his home country Germany is said to have been the big motivational boost for Rangnick. The final “yes” of the 63-year-old was then on Thursday at noon.
Rangnick knows the players
Most of the ÖFB team players already know him from their time together in Salzburg or Leipzig. Everyone knows what Ralf Rangnick stands for – and what makes him angry. Photos like those of Marko Arnautovic, which showed him together with opposing players at a late dinner in the city center after an away defeat, will certainly no longer exist. There will be a clear game system from day one. It doesn’t have to and won’t be a 1:1 copy of Red Bull Salzburg’s current style of play. But there will certainly be a much more pronounced pressing than before. It is certain that the squad will also be rejuvenated under Rangnick.
Unanimous decision
Rangnick has already achieved one thing: It is historic that there was a unanimous result in a vote by the 13-member executive committee (consisting of the ÖFB president, nine state presidents and three Bundesliga representatives). Rangnick’s waving through was a purely formal act. ÖFB President Gerhard Milletich informed the committee on Thursday afternoon.
The fact that the meticulous worker Rangnick is allowed to keep his job as a Manchester United agent (six days a month) on the side was a basic condition that has to be accepted if you want to sign a man of his caliber.
ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick
Born: June 29, 1958 in Backnang
Stations as a player: Stuttgart amateurs, Southwick, Heilbronn, Ulm, Backnang, Lippoldsweiler
Stations as a trainer: Backnang, Stuttgart amateurs, Lippoldsweiler, Korb, Stuttgart U19, Reutlingen, Ulm, Stuttgart, Hanover, Schalke, Hoffenheim, Leipzig, Manchester United
Achievements as a coach:
Vice champion with Schalke 2005
Cup winner with Schalke 2011
Champions League semi-finalist with Schalke 2011
Promotion to the 1st Bundesliga with Ulm (1999), Hanover (2002), Hoffenheim (2008) and Leipzig (2016)
Promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga with Ulm (1998), Hoffenheim (2007)
Source: Nachrichten
