New York Red Bulls – An adventure outside of your comfort zone

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In November they finally joined the team at short notice, when the contracts were fixed and the season was still played to the end after the basic round. In the midst of strict Corona requirements and with a short training lead time, the first play-off match was played with the later MLS champion Columbus Crew. In the end, the Red Bulls lost 3-2 and were eliminated. But the impressions remained and are now growing to great anticipation for the new season.

“You also need your own ideas”

In the Struber / Eibler then go under the surface with more lead time. It is clear that the entire Red Bull Group has a generally similar philosophy when it comes to football. This should then be visible at the clubs Red Bull Bragantino in Brazil, New York Red Bulls in the USA, Red Bull Salzburg in Austria and RB Leipzig in Germany. And yet there are differences that depend on the people acting on the supervisor’s bench, as Eibler knows: “Of course we want to play offensive football, attack early on and present the opponent with problems with high intensity against the ball and good positional play. But even if there is a certain basic philosophy, you need your own ideas to be successful. Salzburg under coach Marco Rose was simply different in possession than they are now. There are definitely differences. ”Gathering the best ideas into a plan is the process that the Sigleßer actively helps shape:“ I enjoy a lot of trust from Gerhard Struber and should always express my opinion. Ultimately, it is about our access to an idea that we represent together outside on the square. “

After all, the new Austrian coaching duo, who still know each other from their academy days (when Struber was with Red Bull Salzburg and Eibler with Admira), have big plans. Three times – 2013, 2015 and 2018 – the Red Bulls from New York have won the Supporters Shield, that is, the award for the MLS team with the best points after the basic round of 34 games. That may be a nice prestige interim balance and also brings a fixed ticket for the North and Central American Champions League, but this honor is far from the end of the sporting flagpole. Only in the play-offs does the season go into the decisive phase with the knockout games. In the end, the final duel for the so-called MLS Cup, where the champion is crowned, rises between the two semi-final winners. Incidentally, a Burgenlander succeeded in doing this in 2016 with Andreas Ivanschitz. As a US legionnaire, Baumgartener celebrated the first ever MLS triumph in club history with the Seattle Sounders.

The Red Bulls are still missing the trophy in question, “that’s a great incentive. We want to build something good here and play for titles, ”says Eibler, who has a three-year contract. In a league that, according to his first impressions, “is very physically shaped by the American players, but also offers a lot of fun due to the numerous South American legionnaires.”

Eibler is still putting off the fact that it is now going to the USA for almost a year – the next home visit is planned for the Christmas season. Girlfriend Julia, for example, will not be able to visit him until the summer at the earliest due to her training. “It can be difficult when you say goodbye at the airport. But it’s just the thing I want to do now. She fully supported me right from the start, everyone in my family is also extremely proud. ”Eibler’s best friend Jakob Krenn, himself a kicker at SC Sollenau in 1st class south in Lower Austria, who has been in kindergarten together, also gave me good advice in Sigleß knows. “He also said from the start that I should definitely do it.” Smirking addition: “He would like to come with me.”

But Bernd Eibler now has to fight this path alone. The ambitious coach is also aware of this: “At SV Mattersburg I worked very close to home, that was a certain comfort zone. Now the plan is to take the next step. “

In a completely new environment in the middle of a metropolis. The Burgenlander already sniffed at it during his first stay in the US: “We are stationed around 40 minutes outside of New York. It was very impressive when we drove towards Manhatten for the first time and then the skyline of the skyscrapers rose. In general, there are many impressions, the entire project is very exciting. “

And there is something to learn every day, of course also linguistically, in terms of English. Nevertheless: “I would not have thought that it would work so well – and it is getting better day by day.” An important aspect, after all, Bernd Eibler also wants to get to grips with the new environment quickly on a communicative level, not just professionally, but also to develop as a person. “It was my declared goal to take such a step. I am also ready for this, which is why the anticipation for the new task predominates. “

In which what is so popular in the media, age will not play a role either. At 26 years of age, the Burgenlander would be, so to speak, the best footballer’s age for an active player, as a supervisor he is very young. “I already noticed in Mattersburg that it can even be an advantage because you have a completely different connection with the players and find a different approach. That doesn’t change anything in terms of mutual respect. ”Eibler has earned it – and has now rewarded himself with his own personal advancement.

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