Ralf Rangnick, Austria coach, from Soviet ‘epiphany’ to moulding Red Bull’s empire | OneFootball

Spain face Austria on Thursday at 21.00, meeting Ralf Rangnick after Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay last time. Another inspirational coach, but with a very different blueprint.

Rangnick shunned a comfortable Manchester United desk role to take Austria in 2023. He later turned down Bayern, and earlier AC Milan, to honour that deal.

Clubs covet his “gegenpressing”, or counter-pressing. He did not invent it, but he put the post-loss press at the heart of his teams. The spark came in 1983 against Dinamo Kiev under Valeri Lobanovski, with Arrigo Sacchi another influence.

He even championed it on TV in 1990s Germany. After Stuttgart, Hannover and Schalke, he dropped to the third tier for Hoffenheim, rebuilt structures around pressing and won Bundesliga promotion in 2008.

In 2011 Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz arrived by helicopter to make him sporting chief across the group. Rangnick pushed shared principles and identity, a breathless style that suited the brand, and his blueprint influenced Jürgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann and, in parts, Hansi Flick.

“He is a spectacular coach, very methodical and attentive to detail,” said Sergio Escudero, who played under him at Schalke. “The sessions were very intense, and he wanted players to interpret spaces, not be static,” he told EL PERIÓDICO.

After an interim spell at Manchester United in 2022, he committed to Austria and reached a first World Cup since France 1998. Thursday’s tie is arguably Austria’s biggest since Spain 1982, and for Rangnick, 68, a further chance to burnish his legacy.

Source: Superdeporte