Salzburg (foto: Getty Images)
Austrian side Salzburg hasn’t looked this feeble in a long time, struggling in this season like never before.
Salzburg endured a week straight out of a nightmare. Midweek, they suffered a humiliating defeat in the Champions League, losing 4-0 at home to Brest, followed by a crushing 5-0 loss to reigning champions Sturm Graz, confirming the ‘shift in power’ that has taken place in Austrian football in recent years.
In the past, Salzburg was known for producing new stars in world football and successfully developing managers, with many moving on to bigger stages. Marco Rose secured a job in the Bundesliga, Jesse Marsch went to the Premier League, and Matthias Jaissle signed a dream contract with Al Ahli in Saudi Arabia.
However, this trend has now come to a halt. Last season, Gerhard Struber was sacked prematurely, and things don’t look good for his successor, Pepijn Lijnders, a former assistant to Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
"We’ve lost confidence, and with that comes instability. We must play better defensively. Right now, we’re just shadows of ourselves. I saw this right after we qualified for the Champions League," Lijnders said after the debacle in Graz, with his position increasingly under threat due to the poor results.