LASK is actually a European Cup-tried club by Austrian standards.
Between 2019 and 2021, the Linz team took part in three international group phases, survived the autumn twice and collected so many coefficient points in these three successful campaigns that they are currently in a strong 49th place in the UEFA club rankings.
But there was little to be seen of international experience in the first five black-white Europa League group games of this season.
In order to survive the winter in the Europa Conference League, the athletes now need a win over FC Toulouse on the last matchday (Thursday, from 6:45 p.m. in the LIVE ticker>>>) and at the same time support from Belgium from Liverpool FC, because they are defying themselves Good performances have too often allowed us to lose our edge.
No wonder, because while LASK as a club has a relatively large amount of international experience, the Linz footballers are rather virgins in this regard. The starting eleven, which started the Europa League campaign with a home game against Liverpool FC at the end of September, had just 98 European Cup games in adult football before the 2023/24 season.
For comparison: Jürgen Klopp’s relatively inexperienced guest team, which was full of youngsters at the time, played 309 European Cup games.
Almost a third, namely 31, of Linz’s 98 European Cup appearances were made by a player who has become a black and white veteran almost unnoticed: Rene Renner.
“I dreamed of coming here as a child”
The 30-year-old left winger is now the player with the most appearances for LASK in the current squad after Thomas Goiginger and Peter Michorl – even though he only joined the club in 2019.
“I grew up with LASK, I dreamed of coming here as a child. I’ve been with the club for four years now, which I think were the most successful years in the club’s history,” said Renner during a visit LAOLA1 proud to play such an important role in the club he loves.
Unlike the other Upper Austrians in the team such as Tobias Lawal or Felix Luckeneder, the Welser did not make it to LASK via the Linz Football Academy; many, many detours led him to his dream destination.
Not only was Renner not a graduate of the Linz Football Academy, but he never attended a football academy at all.
After his first contact with adult football in the Upper Austrian lower house, he made the jump to the Regionalliga Mitte at the age of 17. The lightning-fast left-footer’s performances were so good there that in 2014 he made the jump from SV Wallern to Wacker Innsbruck, who had been relegated from the Bundesliga at the time, and was thus able to get a taste of the second division for the first time.
Special training with dad
A very young racer in the regional league for Union St. Florian
Photo: © GEPA
It would be another three years until Rene Renner’s first Bundesliga game. In 2017, they moved on to SV Mattersburg via LASK’s rival, Blau-Weiß Linz. Two strong seasons in Burgenland later, he finally found himself in the black and white part of the steel city.
“I chose an atypical path, didn’t go through an academy and was never in a LAZ. I simply worked my way up,” Renner looks back.
This atypical path also includes special units with father Erich Renner, who is a part-time football coach and is considered a coaching legend in the Upper Austrian lower house:
“I’m where I am now because of my speed, my straight game. I’ve been doing that for years. My dad is a coach, he helped me a lot in every area, whether physical, technical or anything else. That was “It’s definitely a big building block that has helped me a lot in my career.”
What you don’t learn in the academy
“The advantage of the other way is that when you get into adult football at 15, you just have to see how you defend yourself, you have to use your body differently. That’s a little different than in the academy area, which is still children’s and youth football is.”
Rene Renner
Renner is not the only Austrian kicker who never attended an academy and is currently playing at an extremely high level. ÖFB kicker Patrick Wimmer, Rapid top performer Marco Grüll and LASK teammate Thomas Goiginger, to name just a few, followed a similarly atypical path to his.
What they all have in common is their assertiveness, which can only be found in a few footballers with the red-white-red passport. While Wimmer, Grüll and Goiginger’s assertiveness is expressed in their exceptionally good technique, Renner is characterized above all by his directness and running strength, with which he plows up and down the left flank.
“The advantage of the other way is that when you get into adult football at 15, you just have to see how you defend yourself, you have to use your body differently. That’s a little different than in the academy area, which is still children’s and youth football “So it’s certainly a big advantage that you’ll have to work on your physique relatively soon in order to keep up,” Renner would take this route again and again.
VIDEO: Career without an academy: From the lower house to star
(Article continues below)
Dream of going abroad? You can sometimes be satisfied with what you have
In general, there are few decisions in the career of the Upper Austrian, who can now be described as a veteran, that he would have made differently. In May of this year he committed himself to LASK with a contract extension until 2026; Everything indicates that he will spend his entire career in Austria.
Is a stint abroad even necessary for a successful career?
“I wouldn’t say no. It would certainly be easier for you to qualify for the national team abroad. But I’m happy here,” says Renner, who has never been called up to the ÖFB team before.
He thinks: “There comes a moment when you can say that you can be satisfied with what you have achieved. That doesn’t mean that I’m not hungry for more. But that’s how things have gone so far “It’s a nice reflection on the games I was able to play.”
The thing about scoring goals
The former offensive player is particularly hungry for more goals. He was only able to score seven times in 177 appearances in the LASK jersey, although statistically he takes 1.01 shots per Bundesliga game.
“I’m just not that dusty in front of the goal. Recently I played at left back and had fewer shots there,” said Renner, who played the classic left-back role under Dietmar Kühbauer in the previous season, annoyed about this result.
Kühbauer’s successor, Thomas Sageder, has now switched back to a 3-4-3, in which the long-running player can play the left wingback as usual. He likes this change in system “very much, I’m getting to deals more often again. Plus, you have to walk a lot.”
“Now I’m trying to improve, score more goals and help the team. That’s a goal I’ve set myself for this season,” explains Renner.
Most recently captain for the first time
In order to help the team, however, he first has to win a regular place again. The left winger recently lost this at short notice when he had to sit out for weeks due to patellar tendon problems and George Bello did a lot of self-promotion in his absence.
But the cards will be reshuffled again during the upcoming winter break. And the fact that Renner enjoys a high status at Sageder was shown not least by the fact that he was allowed to lead LASK onto the field for the first time as captain in the game against Wiener Austria at the beginning of December.
In short: Rene Renner has now developed into a club great at the club he loves and is one of the defining faces of the extremely successful last black and white years. His path there was as rocky as it was atypical.
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2023-12-14 02:10:31
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