Those involved should be informed in good time who is in the starting line-up. “It’s important not to wait until the day of the game and roll the dice,” emphasized Gspurning and reported on his initial findings. “Everyone is happy to be there, they know the situation and can deal with it well. They support each other,” said the Styrian after the first three units.
Several parameters go into the decision-making process. “Every impression is important. It’s about soft skills – how does one present themselves, what effect does it have on the team,” said Gspurning. The 42-year-old sat down with all four goalies on Saturday evening, and individual talks will follow later this week. “I’m the one who puts down the tool box and they take out the tools.”
Replacement for Lindner wanted
For the ÖFB team, the European Championship qualifiers against Belgium and Sweden are imminent. Heinz Lindner will be absent due to illness. Neo goalie coach Michael Gspurning can choose from a quartet.
Gspurning sees quality in the goalie quartet
Gspurning formed a certain opinion about the four candidates even before the start of the course, the coach admitted. “I didn’t come with a blank sheet of paper. No one is without prejudice.” Nevertheless, everyone has their chance. “They are on a similar level.”
Bachmann, who is in the team for the first time under Rangnick, has already adopted the English style for Gspurning. “He’s very robust and good at defending goals,” explained the neo-goalman coach in an ORF interview. While Pentz has strong footballing skills according to Gspurning, 22-year-old Hedl made very good first impressions. “There’s a lot of potential there,” explained Gspurning. Schlager, on the other hand, brings “a good overall package. He is good from the line and has an attacking teammate. He’s a modern goalie,” said Gspurning.
According to Gspurning, important attributes for a good goalkeeper are “mental strength, competitiveness, physique and an offensive mindset”. A successful goalie must “stand high, be connected to the back four and consciously take risks”. Belgium’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is currently the most likely to meet these requirements in world football. “He’s complete for me,” said Gspurning.
Only match practice is not decisive
The star goalie is set at Real Madrid, like Hedl at Rapid and Bachmann at Watford – in contrast to Pentz at Bayer Leverkusen. The ex-Austrian played his last competitive game last December. Schlager, in turn, was a LASK regular goalie until he was demoted to the bench due to his upcoming move to Red Bull Salzburg. It was last used on May 7th.
“If you don’t play like Pentz in the long term, it’s not easy. But it can’t be that game practice is the only point,” explained Gspurning and said about Schlager, whose few weeks on the substitutes’ bench were “to get over”. The Salzburger should probably have the best cards for Brussels.
Improving goalie training as a goal
Whoever wins the race – the times when the ÖFB team had several top goalkeepers at the same time, as was the case at the end of the 1990s with Michael Konsel, Franz Wohlfahrt and Otto Konrad, are over. Nevertheless, Gspurning denied the question of whether Austria had a goalie problem. “But the goal is that in a few years we will have a clear number one for many years to come.”
In order to achieve this, Gspurning wants to achieve improvements in training together with ÖFB “Head of Goalkeeping” Günter Kreissl and Roland Goriupp, head of ÖFB goalie training. However, Gspurning cannot spend too much time on this, as he is still engaged as a goalkeeper coach at Union Berlin.
The German club was also Gspurning’s last stop as a professional, before that he was involved with Wiener Austria, Pasching, Leoben, Xanthi, Seattle and Schalke, among others. In the national team he brought it to three international matches with two defeats and one win. He was in the ÖFB squad for the last time in October 2010 – in a 4-4 win over Belgium in the European Championship qualifier in Brussels.