Ralf Rangnick, Austria coach shaped by a Soviet epiphany and the Red Bull project | OneFootball

Spain shift from Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay to another ideologue on Thursday at 21.00, when Austria, led by Ralf Rangnick, await. El Periódico Mediterráneo reports that the 68-year-old has repeatedly prioritised Austria over elite club offers.

He declined a back-room role at Manchester United to take the job in 2023, then rejected Bayern a year later and also AC Milan to honour his agreement.

Rangnick builds around gegenpressing, the fierce counter-press seconds after losing the ball. He did not invent it, but he turned that trigger into his teams’ organising principle.

His awakening came in 1983 in a friendly with Valeri Lobanovski’s Dynamo Kyiv, with Arrigo Sacchi another influence. In the mid 1990s he evangelised the idea on German TV, challenging the long-held libero orthodoxy.

After spells at Stuttgart, Hannover and Schalke he dropped to the third tier for Hoffenheim, rebuilt the club around his methods and won promotion to the Bundesliga in 2008, where they have stayed.

In 2011 Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz arrived by helicopter to hire him to run the group’s football. Rangnick imposed a shared identity, while his blueprint influenced Jürgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann and, in parts, Hansi Flick.

After serving as Manchester United’s interim in 2022 he committed to Austria, taking them to a first World Cup since France 1998. Thursday’s tie with Spain is likely their biggest since Spain 1982.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo