I came down into Salzburg on the mountain bike from Seekirchen as I was determined to get at least very drunk and watch the goals flying in. Yet again, on paper Piesendorf were lambs to the slaughter, our chance to celebrate our own existence and pump up our goal difference. After the 5-1 slapping we gave them on their soggy cornfield we were expecting no less than a serious 10-0 duffing up. Since the winter break, maybe that’s been the problem.
We’ve all started believing our own propaganda and we’ve all been writing promotion headlines for the end of season party – ‘Austria Salzburg wins the ‘Erste Landesliga’ by a country mile’. ‘Austria Salzburg’ promoted eight games before the end of the season’. Austria Salzburg is so good the other teams have stopped playing. Oh dear – bad news – not true! The other teams haven’t stopped trying and haven’t stopped playing and we have to stop making the same silly errors, week in – week out.
Take the game to the opponent – not just the ball
We are the perfect mugs for the long ball teams. Almost every team that wants to save its arse in this and any other division plays with ten men behind the ball and one on the half way line. The fact that we can play good football if we are given enough space is undisputed, which is one reason defending teams pack their own halves. But instead of drawing them out of defence by spreading the ball about and playing a waiting game, then changing up a gear, we are running forward like headless chickens into areas full of players and no room to play a good pass. If we win the ball there’s nowhere to go, and when we lose it the other team gets the ball – bang – a long ball up-field and there are two wing midfielders and a centre forward chasing onto a ball with just Alex Trappl to beat; or we pray to God that Mario Milic can run 60 metres faster than their striker can run 40. If I remember right that’s how Gabor Sztancs scored for Piesendorf after a break down the left and a pass to centre.
Too many cooks
Two defensive wing backs overlapping their midfield counterparts, a congested midfield, five players at the edge of the penalty setting up passes for the next set-up and everybody running left to right and right to left. Although, ostensibly we have eleven players in eleven positions we seem to be playing ten men around the centre circle. We are crowding our own players out instead of spreading the ball across the field and making space. How is it that although we must have had 75% of possession we couldn’t break Piesendorf down and although we had a lot of the ball on the edge of their penalty area we couldn’t get a straight shot in?
Diving sickness
Players currently particularly afflicted by this are Bernd Winkler, who takes off when he is frustrated, and Peter Urbanek; two hard-working players who don’t need to dive as a means of gaining positional advantages. Peter Urbanek is not only as fast as a greyhound and has the lungs of a racehorse; he also flies with the grace and elegance of a swan. Watching from the sidelines it sometimes seems to me we expect the referee to give us a free kick because we want one – because we are Austria Salzburg.
Ball watching
Players lose the ball and instead of tracking back, pressurising the player on the ball, blocking off passing routes and slowing the counter attack down, they watch the ball disappear with the other team. Even if Violett TV is designed to be the long arm of our purple propaganda ministry there are still enough scenes in which players can be seen not moving, not communicating and waiting for the others to win the ball back. Complacency?
Missing you Mario
After predicting Mario Schleindl would be playing his last season for Austria Salzburg for the last four seasons I’ve decided to shut up. I hope I’m wrong, because no other player stretches opponents at the back as much as Mario. Maybe running fast and shooting on sight has gone out of fashion, but as soon as Mario comes on he uses his speed to get past players instead of playing six million set-up passes and one-twos. When he sees the goal he shoots. It’s not exactly art from the Tate Gallery but he makes defences nervous and makes us happy. Maybe he needs more time on the pitch.
Missing you Wurnstl
Sadly and badly missed. A solid tackler in the centre of defence who can distribute the ball to midfield. Although Wurnstl was often overtaken by the linesman, and was so slow time moved backwards, he was a brilliant distributor which meant the build-up could come (theoretically) from the back and not from a high clearance into midfield. Every time lost the ball in defence it looked like we might let Piesendorf in again.
A bird without wings
I thought we looked good at the start of the season with Cavic attacking down the left and Feldinger on the right. Even if the crosses didn’t always hit the target, it spread the play out wide and gave us room to play. On Saturday we looked like a fat Disney chicken with no head, no legs and no wings – and everybody in the centre of midfield.
Anyway, I’ll stop moaning now. We lost 1-0 and Piesendorf got the bragging rights this week. By the end I’d already downed four beers and I got another one after the whistle to drown my sorrows. After another couple of beers at a house round the corner I was in no fit state, either physically or psychologically, to ride home so I sheepishly called my private taxi service (my girlfriend – who didn’t talk to me all the way home). And now I want to know who is going to volunteer to drive to Zell am See because I intend to drink again!
SV Austria Salzburg - USK Piesendorf 0-1 (0-1)
Austria Salzburg played with:
Trappl; Urbanek, Schmidt, Pecaranin, Milic; Rottensteiner (61. Taboga), Mayer, Neubauer, Cavic; Winkler (69. Schleindl), Leitner (51. Federer)
Goal: Sztancs (44.)
Shots: Austria 33 / Piesendorf 5
Shots on target: Austria 9 / Piesendorf 3
Shots blocked: Austria 3 / Piesendorf 1
Corners: Austria 15 / Piesendorf 3
Fouls: Austria 21 / Piesendorf 26
Offsides: Austria 3 / Piesendorf 8
Yellow cards:
Austria: 2 (Winkler, 55./foul; Pecaranin, 61./foul)
Piesendorf: 2 (Markus Thämlitz, 33./foul; Niklas Thämlitz, 42./foul)
Yellow-red cards:
Austria: 0
Piesendorf: 1 (Niklas Thämlitz, 80./unsporting behaviour)
Salzburg, Austria-Platz Maxglan, 1100 spectators
Ref: Mario Schober; Assistants: Enver Tutic, Thomas Stiegler
