On Thursday, Domenico Tedesco was introduced as the new RB Leipzig coach and there was a question straight away that he said he was expecting. Which was logical, because he did not miss the fact that a quote was circulating in the so-called network that was written at the beginning of his two-year term at Spartak Moscow, which ended last summer. The quote read: “For me, the emotional aspect, the tradition, the bond between the fans and the club are part of the decision to go with a club,” he says, “a bit of a romantic.” So Tedesco 2019.
And now, as a new job, RB Leipzig, which emerged from the ground in 2009, which Tedesco himself described on Thursday as a “giant company”, which is “clearly structured” – and where he once deliberately sat in as a trainer during his training? Interesting twist, you could say that.
The 36-year-old assured him that he stood by the things he said. The football romance, that is to say, he has by no means given up – but it also exists at RB: “I think I know and I also feel that it is not unimportant for the people here whether Leipzig wins or loses a game” said the new head coach. In his decisions, however, other questions also played a role, he emphasized: “How is the club structured? How is the squad? How are the structures? How innovative is a club?” Result for Leipzig: “With a possible ten points, this club has ten points.” And Tedesco now has a contract with RB until 2023.
The poor results led to exciting debates about which football Leipzig should stand for
These ten points are not included in the Bundesliga table, which brings us to one of the problems that predecessor Jesse Marsch did: Before Tedesco’s debut this Saturday (3:30 p.m.) against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Leipzig only collected 18 of 42 possible league points and is only in eleventh place in the table (incidentally tied with the also ailing 13th from Mönchengladbach).
The poor results led to exciting debates internally and externally about which football Leipzig should stand for, because the club management wanted to return to a clearly defined RB-DNA in the summer – the team, however, less and less for this pressing-switching approach had left. She had been successful under Julian Nagelsmann with a possession-oriented style.
These debates are “a bit tiring,” said managing director Oliver Mintzlaff, who was also present at the virtual press conference on Thursday. The football differences between the coaches are not as big as they are made, claimed Mintzlaff. Then he took a piece of paper in his hand, held it up to the camera and marked different points on it with his finger: “If we put on the RBL game philosophy that Ralf Rangnick brought to the club and for which we continue to stand on a sheet of paper, “said Mintzlaff,” then maybe Jesse was right in the center, Julian was here, and Domenico is here. ” But the important thing, said Mintzlaff at the end of his improvised Powerpoint presentation: “In the end it all fits on the same page.”
Interim coach Achim Beierlorzer will no longer be part of the coaching team
Tedesco himself did not want to lean too far out of the window with explanations about his footballing ideas. He emphasized that he would definitely listen to the team, which is certainly not the worst idea: “I’m not closing myself off,” said the new coach. In the past few days, especially after the Champions League win against Manchester City, the impression had arisen that the team had more or less set themselves up and used ideas from Nagelsmann’s time – under the brief direction of interim coach Achim Beierlorzer, who will not be part of Tedesco’s staff and has now also been released from the club. Instead, the new boss brings former Bundesliga professionals Andreas Hinkel and Max Urwantschky to RB as assistant coaches.
He also noticed that “the name Julian Nagelsmann is mentioned very often in Leipzig,” said Tedesco, and he acknowledged this with great respect. This could only be due to the fact that Nagelsmann stayed “in many hearts and minds” despite his move to Munich: “So he couldn’t have done much wrong.” Tedesco also took off his hat to Nagelsmann from a professional point of view – and even if you “maybe not see it at first glance”, he feels a great ideological closeness to Nagelsmann.
Tedesco’s image of a coach who often played a hard-to-digest soccer ball has stuck
The fact that he had to emphasize this is also due to the image that Tedesco has had since his time at Schalke 04. In his first season he was there surprisingly second in the Bundesliga, but then the team smeared. In March 2019, Tedesco was given leave of absence, and the image of a coach who carried out incredibly meticulous analyzes, was humanly flawless, but often played hard-to-digest, counter-attacking football stuck.
It was different in Moscow, said Tedesco. At Spartak, he looked after a team that recently had top marks in the league with an average of almost 60 percent possession and a high number of scoring chances. In relevant nerd forums it has been debated for a long time that this Tedesco acted smoothly in a 4-3-3 with wide-spread wings. Tedesco emphasized that the ideas he was convinced of would also be implemented in Leipzig: “So it will be a mix.”
He would rather show what it looks like in the end than explain it on the lawn. But whether the game against Gladbach can already be used as a benchmark? “We don’t have that much time,” stressed Tedesco with a view on Saturday, he wanted to present his tactical ideas to the players “in a slimmed-down form” first. After all: The squad is big and good enough, he thinks, and winter transfers are not considered for the time being.
Tedesco should also be reassured to know that, according to Mintzlaff, the not yet officially known future sports director was already involved in the search for a coach – and had expressed his enthusiasm. A date when this Mister X starts at RB was not given again. Maybe it won’t come until the new season.