Austrian football was different 20 years ago.
Rapid Wien and FK Austria Wien, the two most prominent clubs in the country’s capital, have been consistently battling it out to win the Austrian Bundesliga title for years.
SK Rapid Wien has won the most titles in the league to date, with 32 championships in Austria and one in Germany, achieved in 1941.
Cue 2005, and the landscape of Austrian football changed drastically.
Red Bull, the energy drink manufacturer, decided to purchase a football club in Salzburg and invest heavily in both the infrastructure and the team itself.
German Ralf Rangnick was hired to develop a Red Bull style of play, which ultimately centred around counter-pressing and rapid, high-intensity attacks.
With the rise of a new dominant force in the Bundesliga, as well as in the youth categories, the former giants had to reinvent themselves.
Currently, more than half of the clubs, especially in the top half of the table, are trying to imitate or are heavily influenced by the Red Bull way of working.
Rapid began to settle into a position of second place in Austria, consistently falling short of Red Bull Salzburg.
Many players left the club to strive for the German Bundesliga or even Red Bull Salzburg itself, as Marcel Sabitzer did, resulting in a decline in Rapid Wiens quality.
The start of the 2020s was especially rough for Rapid because, after another second-place finish in the 2020/21 season, Rapid have never managed to finish better than in fourth place.
Last season, Rapid were even on the verge of missing out on the championship playoff and facing relegation in the relegation play-off for the lower half of the table, forcing the club into a coaching change.
After Zoran Barisic was released, the club hired German coach Robert Klauß as their new head coach.
Klauß found immediate success, qualifying for the championship playoffs at the last minute and climbing back into fourth place.
What’s interesting about Robert Klauss style of play is that he is a Red Bull coach through and through.
The now 39-year-old began his coaching career at RB Leipzig, progressing through the ranks of their academy to their Bundesliga team, where he served as assistant coach to both Ralf Rangnick and Julian Nagelsmann during their respective tenures.
After a stint in Nuremberg, Klauß is now bringing the Red Bull tactics to Rapid Wien.
The club is currently in second place again, this time behind SK Sturm Graz, and is in contention to win a title for the first time in 16 years.
In this tactical analysis, which focuses on a team analysis, we will examine how Robert Klauß tactics transformed a struggling team into a Red Bull-powered juggernaut in just a few months.
Verticality Over Ball Security
Examining Rapid Wiens ball possession this season under Robert Klauss coaching style reveals obvious similarities to how the Red Bull teams worldwide play.
Robert Klauss preferred formation is a 4-4-2 setup, which often evolves into a 4-2-2-2 formation because he prefers his wingers to be positioned centrally.
Looking at their structure in the build-up, Klauß prioritises verticality over ball security.
While Rapid has more possession on average compared to their opponents so far this season, this fact is mainly due to the teams status as a top team in the league.
Due to a significant drop-off after the top four or five teams in the Austrian Bundesliga, many smaller clubs are not interested in playing with possession against Rapid.
Let’s take a look at Robert Klauss build-up play.
Here, we can see a very typical situation for Rapid while building up.
Their centre-backs are occupying the half-spaces and are starting to dribble the ball towards the opposing team’s press.
In their shape, the full-backs are extremely wide near the sideline, with the near-sided full-back staying close to the backline and the far-sided full-back playing at the height of the attacking midfield.
One of the str
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