Ralf Rangnick’s Austria impresses with fluid, attacking play in a 3-1 win against Poland, highlighting their potential for a deep run in Euro 2024.
Germany, Bollywood Fever: Ralf Rangnick’s transformation of Austria’s style of play was fully evident in their 3-1 victory over Poland in Group D, showcasing the German manager’s fluid, attacking philosophy. Appointed as Austria’s manager in 2022, Rangnick was tasked with rebuilding a new attacking side after they missed out on World Cup qualification under Franco Foda and were unloved by their supporters.
An early proponent of Gegenpressing – a counter-pressing strategy to win the ball back quickly – the 65-year-old Rangnick has succeeded in making Austria a more dynamic side, suffering only one defeat in their eight matches before the tournament. The real test was whether they could perform on the big stage.
Austria did not disgrace themselves in a 1-0 loss to former European champions France in their Group D opener, but against Poland, they found the space to inflict damage. Although the two teams covered a similar distance – Poland with 111.8 km and Austria with 113.2 km – the value of those numbers lies in Austria’s attacking runs.
Austria had 21 runs into the attacking third compared to Poland’s eight, and their runs into the penalty area numbered 10 compared to just two for Michal Probierz’s team. Unlike tiki-taka, which focuses on maintaining possession to keep the opponent off the ball, Rangnick’s style prioritizes getting the ball into key areas up the pitch quickly to create the best scoring opportunities.
This approach was exemplified in Austria’s second goal. A few key passes from defense through midfield led to Alexander Prass’s ball from the left wing being brilliantly dummied by Marko Arnautovic into the path of Christoph Baumgartner, who fired in. Their third goal also came from a quick transition and long ball flick-on, which Marcel Sabitzer ran onto before being brought down in the box by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
While Austria may not have players with the raw speed and technical grace of France, their intelligent use of the ball makes them a potent force. The win against Poland has planted one foot in the knockout stage, demonstrating their potential for a deep run in Euro 2024.
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