Champions League: what Bayern Salzburg emulates

Salzburg have won an international title to which Bayern have yet to hang their flags. Three years ago, the “young bulls” won the UEFA Youth League, the Champions League for young people. Also this year, Salzburg U19 reached the semi-finals, Bayern failed in the round of 16, never went further. The people of Munich have recently put talent development back on their agenda and are also borrowing from Salzburg.

Because the people of Salzburg have even taken a pioneering role in this regard. In 2012, the “cops” changed their strategy after the engagement of sports director Ralf Rangnick and developed a successful model. Talented players not only lead the club to championships and cup victories, but years later they also put a lot of money into the club’s coffers. Bayern naturally play in a different league and take a different path, but they are definitely emulating the Salzburg team on the youth field.

Salzburg opened the Academy in Liefering in 2014, where the players and coaches have a highly professional infrastructure. In 2017, they did the same with FC Bayern Campus as a hub for young talent. His boss is Jochen Sauer, the former managing director of Red Bull Salzburg, whose goal is clear: to develop David Alaba’s successor together with his team. Because the ÖFB star is the last player so far to go from junior to professional at Bayern and advanced to regular player.

Salzburger Weg instead of the Munich experience

At first it was the other way around. When Red Bull entered soccer in Salzburg in 2005, the competition was drawn from Munich. Bayern legend Franz Beckenbauer advised patron Dietrich Mateschitz, former Munich stars Giovanni Trapattoni, as well as Lothar Matthäus and Hansi Flick (both as Kotrainer) worked for Salzburg, but long-term successes with aging player stars like Thomas Linke and Alexander Zickler did not. one.

That changed with Rangnick and also with Sauer, who followed his German compatriot to Salzburg a bit later after the controversial football teacher, and FC Bayern were already feeling it. In a friendly match in 2014, Salzburg defeated the record champions Germany 3-0. The then coach Josep Guardiola did not use the absence of regular players like Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry as an excuse: “We lost for another reason. Because the opponent was much better than us ”. Even if it was just a test, it confirmed Salzburg on the right track.

This friendly also finally marked a turning point in the still young era since 2005. Since then, Salzburg has won the championship every year, only once failed to take the cup title and made international news. A month after beating Bayern 3-0, Salzburg also won 3-0 in the Europa League round of 16 at Ajax Amsterdam. For many, this 90-minute game is still considered the best of the 15-year era.

In this context, the “New York Times” reported on “Salzburg, which takes printing to a new level.” With players like current Liverpool star Sadio Mane, they had developed a system with young players and a consistent philosophy. Successes also emerged internationally, Salzburg reached the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2018, and in 2019 and 2020 it finally managed to enter the Champions League. Plus, divestitures have thrown more than € 300 million into the coffers since 2014. Sauer, who was managing director in Salzburg until early 2017 and hired in Munich six months later, also got this off the ground.

Former Salzburg Managing Director leads Bayern junior squad

The now 48-year-old, who previously worked for Hertha BSC Berlin and VfL Wolfsburg, has been head of the youth department at the largest German club for more than three years. It came when the Bavarians opened their campus. Then-president Uli Hoeneß said at the opening of the rumored € 70-100m forge for young talents: “Perhaps this is FC Bayern’s answer to the transfer craze and salary explosions.” it hasn’t worked that well in recent years. “

Sauer took the skills he had acquired in Salzburg with him and stated when he took office: “In Salzburg, of course, I saw what a good modern infrastructure can do for the development of young players. You can already learn something from there. Salzburg, but also other clubs in Germany, paved the way for infrastructure a little earlier. Bayern now have the opportunity to “do the same and make things even better in terms of content,” Sauer said more than three years ago.

A lot has happened at Bayern since then. “Three years ago we barely had players at the professional gate. Almost none of our guys trained in the first team or even got minutes of action. You didn’t have the feeling that talents were taking over. Now we are taking important steps, ”Sauer said in an interview with“ Welt am Sonntag ”in the summer. Sauer alluded to talents such as Jamal Musiala (17) and Joshua Zirkzee (19 / photo above), who have already played this season and in Musiala’s case have already scored goals.

A stroke of luck for Bavaria

Sauer’s work is valued and his contract is extended for three years. “The fact that he chose FC Bayern in 2017 was a stroke of luck for the club, but also for Jochen,” sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said in the spring. Work on campus, which this year was affected by an incident of racism by a young coach who is no longer employed, is clearly paying off in sporting terms.

Bayern are still building their successful squad in the transfer market, for example Leroy Sane came from Manchester City for a rumored € 45m this summer, but the youngsters are also drawing attention. In 2020, Bayern fans won the title in the 3rd league, which is professionally run. Coach Sebastian Hoeneß, Ulis’s nephew, made the jump to the Bundesliga at TSG Hoffenheim. Also in the German youth top flight (A-youth, U19, note), Bayern secured first place in their relief (south / southwest) in the preseason.

Steps similar to those in Salzburg

Sauer took similar steps in Munich to those of previous years in Salzburg. Second-team players are expected to be even younger on average, for comparison: Salzburg talents at FC Liefering play in the semi-professional second division and compete with professionals there since 2013. There is an idea of ​​uniform play, the talents are promoted individually and nothing is lacking in terms of equipment. For example, a soccer simulator developed in Austria is intended to help young players to optimally exploit their potential.

And on the part of the trainers there is also a clear desire to incorporate talent into the professionals. With Miroslav Klose, who was the Under-17 coach until the summer, and Hermann Gerland, who previously had also headed the youth department with Sauer, Coach Flick has two assistants on his supervisory team who promote talent. Gerland pushed Alaba, for example, who made his professional debut in 2010. Before that, the Munich team also brought in Thomas Müller, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm, but only now is he picking up speed again.

Like Salzburg, Bavarian talents also attract top talents to Munich. Of course, this raises criticism. “We have a great responsibility. We only bring players from abroad or from Germany if we are absolutely convinced: Yes, we need it! It can get this far, ”Sauer said. Then it starts about three kilometers from the Allianz Arena on the FC Bayern campus, where the players not only play, but also live, as in Salzburg. Where not only the Bavarian youth teams play, but also the women’s teams. These are still missing in Salzburg.