Legionnaires in focus

Austrians have a tough time at Salzburg

Alone on the pitch: Alex Schlager and Samson Baidoo.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Runners-up Red Bull Salzburg have relied on strong legionnaires for many years. However, the proportion of home-grown players has recently declined significantly. But the Bulls are not alone in the Austrian Bundesliga. 

Before the Salzburg team's home games, the "Rainermarsch" traditionally blares through the loudspeakers in the Bullen-Arena. This is unofficially regarded as the second national anthem in the province. When the team from the city of Mozart represents Austria on the international stage, Rainhard Fendrich's classic "I am from Austria", which many consider to be the secret national anthem, is always played.

Most of the Salzburg players are probably not familiar with either anthem, as they are not from Austria. In any case, there are only two players in the current squad - Alex Schlager and Sammy Baidoo - who are still in contention for the Austrian national team.

Decided against ÖFB
With Salko Hamzic, the Bulls have an ÖFB U19 team player in their ranks. However, top talent and dual national Oliver Lukic has decided to play for the Croatian team in the future. He is following the example of Amar Dedic, who was born in Zell am See and grew up in Austria, but plays for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Otherwise, the Bulls squad is a small world selection.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, stock.adobe.com)

This reinforces the trend of Salzburg relying less and less on home-grown players. While 42.4 per cent of all minutes played in 2018/19 under Marco Rose were still accounted for by red-white-red players, in 2022/23 under Matthias Jaissle it was just 22.4 per cent. In the previous season (see right), this figure fell to 17.3 per cent, and in the current league season it is just 9.1 per cent. And that is all down to Baidoo. No other Austrian has ever played for Salzburg. 

Not an isolated case
However, the Bulls are no longer an isolated case. With Sturm Graz (11.3%) and LASK (21.9%), two other teams rely predominantly on legionnaires - with some success! Which is why the league and the ÖFB should consider solutions to reverse the trend in the interests of the national team. 

„Krone“-Kommentar

Bei den Fans gehen die Wogen hoch

"No Austrian is no glory" was the title of a Krone column after Salzburg's 3-0 defeat at Sparta Prague. For the first time since 2021, the team from Mozartstadt played a competitive match without any red-white-red players. Nobody was substituted in the "Golden City" either. Instead, head coach Pep Lijnders used 16 legionnaires.

As hundreds of reactions from our readers showed, this struck a nerve. Many fans are concerned about the development, some even spoke of "disgrace". The issue caused a stir. But there were also fans who defended the cops in their approach. After all, it's about success and if the home-grown players aren't good enough, you have to rely more on legionnaires.

That is a logical argument, because ultimately the Bulls want maximum success. However, a team with predominantly legionnaires does not guarantee this, as the previous season has shown. Moreover, it is understandable that Austrian soccer fans welcome at least one or two Austrians on the pitch. It is therefore not surprising that the calls for Alex Schlager in the Bulls' goal are getting louder.

Which gives hope: In the Youth League, eight (!) Austrians were in the starting eleven for the 3-2 win in Prague. With a bit of luck, we'll soon see some of them move up a level.