Football at the highest level is a tough business. There are moments when it counts. If you’re not there, you’re just gone.
Gerhard Struber took over FC Red Bull Salzburg two days after the start of the season and Matthias Jaissle’s sudden departure to Saudi Arabia, so he had no summer preparation.
His team was plagued by incredible bad luck with injuries in the fall. Only the last minute of the last CL group game against Benfica prevented an international hibernation.
All legitimate arguments as to why the criticism of Struber in the fall was sometimes too harsh. But that’s not the point at the moment.
There is no longer any explanation for this
Struber had complete preparation in the winter; he made the team more tactically variable by changing the system to a three-man chain (and discarded this basic order after three games). He was unbeaten in the first eight games in 2024, with only two draws, and narrowly but confidently won the first title duel with SK Sturm.
But what has happened in the last three games is inexplicable and, from the club management’s point of view, intolerable. With the 3:4 at home against Sturm, we missed the cup final for the second time in a row, then a 1:1 against Rapid and a 1:3 at LASK.
Games in the championship group are actually the “Bulls” specialty. These are the games in which Salzburg pulls away, not the ones in which they are caught. Struber has put the eleventh championship title in serious danger. For the first time since the end of February/beginning of March 2020 under Jesse Marsch, the club has not won three games in a row at national level.
Sports director Bernhard Seonbuchner speaks of an “insecure demeanor,” while business boss Stephan Reiter sees the potential not being exhausted. While various problems and problems could still be explained in the fall, they can no longer be explained.
Now Seonbuchner has to deliver
Struber’s departure is Bernhard Seonbuchner’s first major personnel decision as sports director of FC Red Bull Salzburg. Because Struber’s installation was de facto Christoph Freund’s idea.
Of course, it is not yet clear whether Onur Cinel will be able to reverse the trend and save the title. Seonbuchner’s probability calculation that Cinel is more likely to make it than Struber is understandable. That’s what Seonbuchner and Cinel >>> say
What Struber’s winter preparation was, the coming weeks are for Seonbuchner – the first real chance to design according to his ideas. With his coaching decision, with his squad changes. Now it’s important, now he has to be there.
In the 9th episode of the “Ansa Conference” Struber’s exit, successor Cinel and possible candidates are discussed:
All previous coaches in the Red Bull Salzburg era
What do you think of this article?