In 2005, Austria Salzburg were purchased by energy drinks company Red Bull.
The move didn’t go down well with everyone, and some of the team’s supporters were put
off by the rebrand.
However, over the last few years, the club – known since as Red Bull Salzburg – has
gained respect for the efficiency of their operation.
They possess an excellent scouting system, with several of their best finds, such as
Naby Keita, Sadio Mane and Dayot Upamecano, moving on to thrive in some of Europe’s
top leagues.
However, this season, they have won new admirers purely due to the quality of their football,
as well as some surprising results on the continent.
Manager Marco Rose and his assistant, former tactics blogger Rene Maric, were placed in
charge of the first team after taking the club’s under-19s to victory in last year’s
UEFA Youth League.
They have enjoyed an incredible debut campaign at the helm.
Salzburg won the Austrian Bundesliga in impressive fashion, and they reached the final of the
Austrian Cup.
They also reached the semi-finals of the Europa League, knocking out Real Sociedad, Borussia
Dortmund and Lazio before falling to Marseille.
All of this has been achieved in exciting style.
Rose generally lines his side up in a fluid 4-3-1-2 shape with a diamond midfield.
The defence is fairly settled: Stefan Lainer, Andre Ramalho, Duje Caleta-Car [DOY-AY CHALE-TA-SAR]
and Andreas Ulmer form a back four that sits in front of experienced German goalkeeper
and club captain Alexander Walke.
Up front, top scorer Moanes Dabour is joined by one of Fredrik Gulbrandsen, Hee-chan Hwang
or Takumi Minamino.
However, the middle four is far more flexible.
Xaver Schlager is arguably the most versatile midfield option.
The 20-year-old Austrian has operated as a deep-lying playmaker, a No.10 and a left winger
at various points in what has been a breakthrough season.
His positional awareness enables him to fill in almost anywhere depending on the team’s
requirements.
As a result he simultaneously competes with Hannes Wolf and Minamino for the attacking
midfield berth, and with Amadou Haidara, Diadie Samassekou and Valon Berisha for a place in
the central trident.
Salzburg are extremely focused on verticality when attacking.
This means that they often look to play through the centre, making full use of their diamond
midfield shape’s many different angles and combinative possibilities.
The back four circulate the ball from side to side looking to open up and exploit gaps
in the opposition defensive block.
Ramalho is particularly skilled in progressing possession, regularly finding more advanced
teammates with penetrative passes.
One commonly used piece of interplay involves the Brazilian centre-back finding the feet
of a Salzburg striker who has peeled off the frontline, taking his marker with him and
creating space in the opposition defensive line.
Said striker will then offload to the attacking midfielder, who looks to target the aforementioned
space.
The compactness of Salzburg’s shape allows for quick combinations in and around the final
third.
They tend to play in tight spaces and, with two strikers, one attacking midfielder and
the outer midfielders making forward runs, they can turn the opposition quickly through
one-touch passes, one-twos, lay-offs and through balls.
They are reluctant to go wide as a first course of action – this seems risky as the chances
of a giveaway appear high in a congested centre, but the primary aim is to create quality chances
by constantly playing through lines of pressure.
One of the reasons Salzburg are so comfortable playing in tight central areas is that these
conditions are ripe for intense counter-pressing, which is another of their key facets.
If one of their penetrative passes is intercepted, they usually have enough players nearby to
instantly surround and pressurise the opposing ball-winner.
If they are unable to play through, Salzburg are willing to go around their opposition’s
defensive block.
To do this they make use of their full-backs, who are often the sole providers of width
on their respective flanks.
Lainer and Ulmer are easily found through diagonal passes out from the centre-backs;
from there they target the space behind the opposition midfield line with diagonal passes
inward to the ball-near striker and the attacking midfielder.
Both full-backs take up high and wide positions during attacks.
At times this allows Salzburg to overload opposition defences.
Assuming they are up against a back four, if one draws out their opposite full-back
they can create a 3v3 or 3v2 centrally against the opposition’s centre-backs.
Rose’s side are not fond of the traditional looping, deep crosses.
Instead, if their full-backs find themselves in crossing situations, they will aim for
the edge of the opposition’s 18-yard box.
This is an effective strategy as it allows them to once again benefit from the combinations
their shape affords them.
Defensively, Salzburg’s system is occasionally modified to suit the task at hand.
Against Lazio they defended in a 4-3-2-1 shape which allowed them to better press the Italian
side’s diamond build-up structure, while against Dortmund a flat 4-4-2 was deployed
with Schlager going man-to-man against the Germans’ advancing right-back, Gonzalo Castro.
They generally favour a ball-oriented attacking press, in which their aim is to gradually
suffocate the opposition ball-player and cut off his immediate passing options.
The back four often sits just beneath the halfway line to support the press, which is
triggered most obviously by passes towards the touchline.
Pressing from the inside out, they then look to isolate the ball-player, forcing a turnover
or a long ball.
They are aided in this by the compactness of their system, though they are at times
susceptible to switches of play to the opposite flank.
Dynamic, fast and aggressive with and without possession, Salzburg are encouraging fans
to forget their controversial ownership history and focus instead on their intriguing tactical
approach.
For that, Rose and Maric deserve immense credit.
And, having thrilled in the Europa League this season, they can rightly aim to stun
the Champions League come 2018/19.