“Big Problem.” – Austrian Expert On Issues Facing Former Liverpool Man At RB Salzburg | OneFootball

Written by Mark Strickland

Austrian football expert Fabio Schaupp from the podcast Die Beste Liga der Welt (The Best League In The World) gave us an update on Pep Lijnders’ start as the head coach of Red Bull Salzburg.

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Schaupp said: “When Pep Lijnders came, everyone was excited. The club was happy to have such a prominent name and someone from Jurgen Klopp’s philosophy and coaching staff.

“Everyone was pretty excited in Austria, asking, ‘What will this football be like? Are there any changes?’

“In the beginning, the football was offensive-minded.”

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Lijnders’ reluctance was surprising after he gambled his salary at Liverpool on converting Trent Alexander-Arnold to an inverted right-back.

Salzburg beat FC Twente and Dynamo Kyiv 5-4 and 3-1 on aggregate in the Champions League second and third qualifying rounds.

However, they lost their first three league phase games, conceding nine without reply to Sparta Prague, Brest and Dinamo Zagreb.

Schaupp said: “They weren’t the big names like Liverpool or Real Madrid. They were all good teams, but if you want to make an impression in the Champions League, you must get some points.

“It was a big problem. Salzburg is in the biggest crisis for 10-12 years, 100%. It is the biggest crisis since Red Bull arrived.”

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“There are a lot of talks about Pep Lijnders, the current sporting director, player quality, and they are not playing well. They are struggling a lot. They do not adapt. They stick to a 4-3-3.”

Lijnders made Janis Blaswich – on loan from RB Leipzig – his number-one goalkeeper and captain.

The pre-existing goalkeeper – Alexander Schlager of the Austrian national team – was recovering from surgery on his left knee.

Schaupp said: “[Lijnders] did not make it a fair fight for the number one goalkeeper.”

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Ljinders gave Bobby Clark and Stefan Bajcetic their first starts for the club in the first Champions League group phase game, losing 3-0 away to Sparta Prague.

Liverpool beat Sparta Prague 11-2 on aggregate in the Europa League last season and Clark scored his first competitive goal for Liverpool in the round-of-16 first-leg 6-1 victory at Anfield.

On the fallout from this decision, Schaupp added: “You’ve got a big problem in the dressing room because it feels like [they] don’t deserve it.

“It sounded like, ‘We’ve [been] here for so many years. We work our backside off to play there. And you come in just because you’re the darlings of the coach.”

The low point was a 5-0 defeat in the Bundesliga to Sturm Graz, but they then went four games unbeaten domestically.

Lijnders has since won his first Champions League game as head coach, winning 3-1 against Feyenoord – the former employers of Arne Slot.

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Albeit clearly not the start to life Lijnders would’ve been hoping for in Austria, there remains plenty of road left in the season to transform the fortunes of Red Bull Salzburg and attempt to claim back Austrian Bundesliga glory from reigning champions Sturm Graz.