Night and Day

So the football season has come to an end for the RB Leipzig group. The first team could not complete their late season surge and finished in fifth. That means that they will remain in the second division for next year. A few days ago, they announced that Sporting Director Ralf Rangnick will take over as head coach. He is currently the sporting director for both RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg. I think that it is not a sign that RBL performed poorly this season or they were very upset with the direction of the team, but it is strictly about getting better. Rangnick has managed Bundesliga teams before and knows how to win at that level, and also how the Red Bull organization wants to play football. The previous head coach, Achim Beierlorzer will stay on as an assistant and RBL will also have a new goalkeeper and strength coach for next season.

I guess that is definitely something that is universal - we live in a "What have you done for me lately?" world. Results determine everything. Football clubs, especially clubs spending millions of euros, want to win. And they want to win now. Even though Red Bull had set a goal of reaching the Bundesliga by 2019, this season almost seemed to be a let down. They spent a great deal of money on players, but had to fire the coach in the winter. They made a late surge to perhaps gain promotion, but were unsuccessful.

The academy teams also fared well, but were unable to win any titles. The U19s were eliminated in the semi final (I was able to go see the first leg in Red Bull Arena). Many of the younger age groups, as well as the girls academy teams are still playing and, in typical Red Bull fashion, winning last weekend 7-1 (U12 boys) and 6-0 (U15 girls).

The hope is that these players will progress through the ranks of the academy to one day play for the first team. While obviously it is not possible for everyone, that is the hope of the club. Especially in Red Bull, the style of play is taught from the youngest academy age groups all the way to the first team. That way, they are developing a mentality as well as developing a footballer. That is a major difference in the US. We have one huge problem in player development in US football. That is college. Almost all the best players go on to college soccer. It throws a huge wrench in all academy and player development plans to lose a kid for four years. For example, the players on the Red Bull U18 have now been playing together for four or five years. But next fall, they all leave to go to college. And while they all will be playing at top Division 1 schools (Virginia, Cornell, Michigan, etc), they are now removed from the Red Bull environment. All the time and work put into developing these players in the academy is now finished. And the club can only hope that in four years, their players have progressed. This is a huge problem in my opinion. I am not saying that college soccer (or college in general) is a bad thing, however it is a major problem for player development. It complicates matters for players, coaches, clubs - basically everyone involved.

From my experience working in the RBNY academy, there is definitely a disconnect between coaches and players in regards to college soccer. The players (justifiably) care quite a bit about their collegiate career because that is the next step towards becoming a professional. A good college career means you get drafted and are given a shot in MLS. But the academy coaches do not care about the college process because they are helpless. There is nothing they can do but say 'okay.' So, I have seen this clash between ideals - collegiate soccer giving players the best opportunity for professional soccer while academies try to develop players to give them the best chance for professional soccer.

It is quite a complicated situation that is almost nonexistent in Europe. If a player wants to become a professional, he stays in the club's academy and tries to work his way up. He continues to learn and the academy can mold him into the player they hope he can become. They never lose him for four days, never mind four years. It gives the clubs a much greater ability to continue to develop players from 18-22, just before their professional careers. While in the US, academies lose that ability as players leave for college. It is a problem right now and I do not necessarily see it changing any time soon. Major League Soccer has done a good job implementing some rules that allow academies to keep their players after they graduate from college, but it is still not on par with the European system. Is that a major factor for why American football is behind many European counties? Possibly. Possibly not. It is certainly a major difference though.

You Make Me Feel So Young

Just to give an update on the most recent match:
RB Leipzig is currently sitting in fifth place in the 2nd Bundesliga. If they were to finish third, that would give them a chance to be promoted to the Bundesliga - which is the ultimate goal for any German football club. Last week, Leipzig played SV Darmstadt (currently third) at Red Bull Arena. The game was quite exciting, with RBL going down 1-0, then scoring with about ten minutes left to tie the match. And in the dying minutes, pressing for a victory to keep their hopes of promotion alive, Leipzig sent their goalkeeper (and every other player) forward to try to score. Sure enough, the ball falls to Fabio Coltorti's (RB Leipzig GK) feet and he puts it in the back of the next, 2-1 Leipzig. The following moments of sheer pandemonium will stay with me for quite a long time. It was quite an exciting environment to find myself in, and was absolutely crazy. I don't think words could really describe it.

Here is the game winner

I think this fits nicely with what I was planning to write about, though. So far, I have mostly talked about the anti-Red Bull feelings and how the club has caused an uproar in German football. But being in Leipzig, you certainly also see a very different side. I get to see the passion and support the club receives from its fans - young, old, men, women, anyone. At matches, it is a fantastic environment - a huge stadium with 40,000 faithful supporters. Perhaps when RBL travels to away matches, do not welcome them so warmly. But in Leipzig, they are certainly adored. 

"Einmal Leipzig - immer Leipzig - RBL" 

Once Leipzig - always Leipzig. The home supporters are (at least from my impression) completely behind the team. There is no nonsense of Red Bull or money or this or that. For RBL supporters, it seems that there is not much to the story. RBL is a football club, and people love them, just like people love Bayern München or Manchester United or any other club. Especially among young fans and children, the politics or ownership of the club is not important. All that matters is that every Sunday eleven guys come together to play a football match. So it is promising to see so many kids at the matches, kids that know every player and every stadium chant (and taught them to us!). For me, that is what football is about. The team and the supporters uniting over a match. On the field, nothing else matters - race, gender, religion, age - football is magic in that way. It gives us all something to get excited over, to pretend we are a kid once again, looking up to our idols, dreaming of being a professional athlete. At least for me, that is certainly part of the allure of football. 

The overwhelming support shown by the fans is something really exciting to see and I love going to the matches. Even at the training sessions (which are often open to the public), there are always fans there. Kids bring their jerseys to get autographs and take pictures with the team. The support for the club is there, one hundred per cent, regardless of Red Bull or logos or sponsors. 

You can go to a football game in the US, or American football or any other sporting event in the US, but the environment created by the fans does not compare to what I am experiencing here. Maybe the hatred from other clubs or other fans has stirred up some Leipzig supporters to really show themselves and their pride in the club. Maybe it hasn't, and football fans are just naturally crazy supporters. Either way, it's certainly a great environment to be a RBL fan, or just a football fan in general. And I would have to say that the players must agree with that as well.