From working in insurance to keeping Barnsley in the Championship, Gerhard Struber’s route has been an unusual one but now the Salzburg coach is hoping to progress in Europe ahead of Benfica with the Champions League’s youngest-ever team…
Tuesday 28 November 2023 10:55, UK
Gerhard Struber’s Salzburg side caused a stir in the opening round of this season’s Champions League when they won away at Benfica. An impressive result regardless, they made history by doing so with the youngest team in the competition’s history.
"The average age was 21," Struber tells Sky Sports. "Sometimes we play younger. This is the mission here - to develop young players - because Red Bull Salzburg can be a trampoline for many big talents. It is one of the most interesting development clubs in Europe."
As the former home of Erling Haaland, there is no denying that. Salzburg's youngsters, who top the Austrian league, have since been beaten by Internazionale and Real Sociedad to leave them third in Group D but are still well-placed to qualify for the Europa League.
Not bad for a former Barnsley boss who had all but given up on professional coaching to pursue a career in insurance before being spotted by Red Bull Salzburg sporting director Ralf Rangnick. He was persuaded to take another path.
"This is much closer to my heart," reveals Struber.
"I had a football break for three years. I was doing a completely different job at the time, working for a big insurance group. After that, I started coaching part-time with my home-town club SV Kuchl when Ralf Rangnick came and watched one of our friendly games.
"We played a high-pressing style, very proactive. This was the reason why he invited me for an interview and I took a full-time job with the U15s. That conversation convinced me to jump back into football. I am very pleased I was brave enough to leave a safe job."
No regrets about walking away from the world of insurance, then? "I miss the people. Not so much the job." But that does not mean that he did not learn from it. "The profile of that job was very logical, very data-driven," he explains. Football has moved in that direction.
"It reminds me a little bit of my time in the insurance industry now. Many clubs are analysing the data. This has changed very much in the last few years. It is very interesting and very helpful because it lets you work out how you have to train. The analysis helps."
Red Bull Salzburg have been at the vanguard of that analysis. Struber also worked with New York Red Bulls before returning. "I have always felt at home with Red Bull. They have a distinct way of seeing the game. Those coaching ideas are also in my personal DNA."
But it was Struber's time in England that really helped to bolster his reputation as an innovative and exciting young coach. He inherited a Barnsley team that was bottom of the Championship in November 2019, without a win in their previous 15 matches.
He proceeded to keep them up in the most spectacular style, securing back-to-back wins over Nottingham Forest and Brentford in their final two fixtures. Both matches were won in stoppage time. "It was an emotional explosion," recalls Struber.
"It was a very difficult situation at Barnsley. The challenge was to develop a completely new style of play but every game was like a knockout game, so important. Especially at the end. I will never forget it." The only pity was that the pandemic meant empty stands.
"To have had the fans there would have been perfect," he adds.
"But I had my team there. It was a low-budget but a highly motivated team. Even now, I am in touch with a lot of those players. Whenever I go back to England, I can get in touch. There is that good feeling, relationships and friendships developed under big pressure."
Struber's time in New York challenged him in a very different way.
"With the transfer rules, the salary cap, the whole culture there is completely different. We cannot compare it with Europe. The preparation is much more difficult with long travel, with time zones. It is challenging to create the right physical environment."
He is proud to have qualified for the play-offs in each of his three seasons there but his time was marred by one high-profile incident when new signing Dante Vanzeir racially abused an opponent. Struber received criticism for not removing the player immediately.
"At the pitch, the player told me a different story," he says. "This whole thing was a learning experience for me."
Back home in Austria, he talks of having grown and is facing a new test in Salzburg. If Barnsley required him to keep a team up and in New York demanded qualification for the play-offs, here it is about developing players - and winning. "The difference is that you have to win the title at Salzburg as well," he says.
"On the one hand, it is to develop players. On the other, we have to win the Bundesliga. This is the challenge for the young boys. To jump out of the Champions League and then go into a Bundesliga game with a completely different psychological demand.
"For some young players, this is a lot of pressure so we have to find the balance to give them the right tools and the right mental plan so that they can handle that pressure. They don't just have to win but win by playing in an attractive way. That is the expectation."
For talented youngsters like Israel international Oscar Gloukh and teenage striker Karim Konate, the rewards of the Salzburg trampoline are obvious. "They have the chance to play at a good level in the Bundesliga and also in the Champions League, " says Struber.
"That is everything these young players want because they are playing against the very best teams in Europe. They know that if they are able to deliver good performances, then it is clear that they will have an interesting opportunity with their next transfer.
"It makes us a very interesting environment for young players. We give them a high level of support so they can develop in the right way, playing an interesting style of play. Many clubs are looking at us for best practice. They jump to Germany, they jump to England."
In the meantime, Struber will continue to develop players and deliver results. "That is my mantra," he adds. "My ambitions are clear. Our big goal is to be in the Europa League in the spring. Real Sociedad away is the next game. Benfica at home could decide it."
And no plans to return to his job in insurance.
