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A winter break is needed for the Sturm Graz to stop running. With a 3-0 win over St. Pölten, the Bundesliga team celebrated their ninth victory in the last ten games. After total sports failure in the spring of 2020, Sturm took a splendid turn and returned to play on the league roster that same year. Now coach Christian Ilzer is warning against excessive carelessness.
Before Sunday’s games in Salzburg (against WAC) and LASK (in Austria), Sturm was just one point behind the Salzburg leaders, tied with Rapid and one point ahead of LASK. After the end of the twelfth round, the Graz team will have a postponed game up their sleeve.
Sturm coach Ilzer said: “If you read the table, it looks really good at the moment. We really took over the top.” After the fifth consecutive victory in the league, the coach was very satisfied, but also emphasized: “It is important for us that we not only sit and look at the table, enjoy the Christmas holidays for a short time, but then let’s focus a lot on what needs to be developed. There are quite a few. “
The important points are increasing the intensity for longer periods of time, or “choosing the pace of the game so that we can better control things when the opponent is overweight,” Ilzer said. That could be in demand in upcoming road games at WAC (17) and Rapid (Jan 23). “You will soon see how far we have come, how well we can carry this level, if we can extend this race beyond the Christmas holidays.”
On Saturday, the Graz team won a match that was meanwhile “razor’s edge”, as Ilzer admitted. “But at the moment we have this race, which allows us to come out unscathed in these phases. Also, Jörg Siebenhandl, who plays impressively all fall.” The defensive stability around the goalkeeper is impressive: only five goals conceded in the first eleven games are a club record. According to League partner Sky, only FC Tirol surpassed this number in the Bundesliga, which in autumn 2001 did not score until Matchday 12.
“It’s a shame that Christmas is coming up, we have a great streak. Normally it is not said because it is a good moment, but we would be in a good rhythm at the moment,” said Jakob Jantscher, who has really blossomed as a forward. The veteran (31) has booked a lot in his final year of contract with four goals and seven assists and doesn’t seem averse to staying home. “We had conversations that were also very positive,” said Jantscher, who was confirmed in this opinion a little later by sporting director Andreas Schicker.
An extension is also in the works with Georgian team player Otar Kiteishvili, who is still tied until 2022, Schicker said. “Of course I try to renew a player like him from the beginning, but it won’t be easy.” On the contrary, Sturm is a club that depends on the income of the transfer. “If a really good offer comes in the summer, then you have to accept it.”
Günter Kreissl’s sole 34-year-old successor made the team slimmer and cheaper in the summer, but added top-class foreign and domestic players like Jon Gorenc-Stankovic and Andreas Kuen. According to Schicker, the main focus was on the interpersonal area. “It was essential that we become a real team. So Sturm always succeeded.” This happened. “We managed to become a real unit.”
St. Pölten, on the other hand, has sporadically indicated his potential and could still fall outside the top six on Sunday. “I think the team has a lot to offer for us to be in sixth place,” said coach Robert Ibertsberger. “Now we have ten finals ahead of us. We need to draw the right conclusions to prepare preparations so that we can have a positive start. SKN kick off with a home game against Admira in the spring.
