Trauner before Salzburg duel between injury concerns and Rangnick praise

Gernot Trauner appeared on the pitch only three times in eleven Eredivisie matches.

WHAT

Only six out of a possible 15 competitive games played, but very important for the team: Gernot Trauner he likes it despite the captain he lost Feyenoord Rotterdam it still has a high reputation. Being physically unable to appear regularly in English weekdays, the 32-year-old Upper Austrian is always resting to be ready for the all-important games. This includes the home duel with Salzburg on Wednesday (21 pm, LIVE! on Kicker) in the Champions League.

The second-ranked Dutch player is aiming for a third win in their fourth game. Unlike the pointless “bulls”, the course of table 16 is correct. towards the point of collision. Trauner was always in the “master class”. As an important support in the opening 0:4 against Bayer Leverkusen (up to the 72nd) and recently on October 23 in the 3:1 victory at Benfica Lisbon. The only time he was not in the starting lineup was in the 3-2 win at Girona, where he played for 19 minutes.

“On the first day when he was on the training ground, I saw how good and experienced he is. He is a very good passer. He can also pass the ball between the lines. As a coach, that’s what you want to see. He also knows how to defend, he’s very disciplined and organized. He is definitely here to play and help us,” said Feyenoord coach Brian Priske on the sidelines of the duel with Benfica.

The 47-year-old took over the coaching position from Arne Slot in the summer. Shortly before that, Trauner had suffered a thigh injury in the ÖFB team’s second EURO group game against Poland on June 21 in Berlin, which set him back in preparation and continues to affect him. “We have to be careful with him. He has a serious injury. We want to take good care of him so that he is healthy during this intense period,” explained Priske. He himself would like to see Trauner, who is tied to the club until the end of June 2026, “playing 90 minutes more often.

The truth is that Trauner had injury problems again after his debut season in Dutch uniform in 2021/22. While he played 31 out of 48 competitive games in 2022/23, it was just 27 out of 48 in 2023/24 This downward trend could continue. He played three times in eleven games in the tree this year. This was the case for more than 90 minutes in the league classic which lost 2-0 against Ajax Amsterdam on Wednesday.

However, the 1.83 meter man only got the reserve again at Saturday’s CL dress rehearsal, a 3-2 home win against Alkmaar in the Eredivisie. The Dutch media also wrote that they did not want to take any risks regarding the Salzburg game.

Rangnick praise

“Salzburg have to win for sure we also have to get the points in these games,” Trauner said after the latest international double. “Our fans are behind us, so it’s always difficult for the opposition to win. But you can’t rely on that, we have to show good football.” Trauner himself also showed this in his eleven games in an ÖFB uniform in the 4-0 against Kazakhstan (October 10th) and 5-1 against Norway (October 13th) in Linz, after missing the start of the upcoming Nations League with an injury.

“When I think that Gernot Trauner has only started once at Feyenoord since the EURO and then delivered such a performance twice, I can only take my hat off,” suggested ÖFB team boss Ralf Rangnick at the time. Although he has only 15 international caps, he has now found a non-important place in the ÖFB A team.