EXCLUSIVE: Austria's Gregoritsch on Rangnick & Alaba's influence on dazzling Das Team
He played most of his career for Augsburg, where the Graz native also met Jan Moravek, a three-time Czech international and now Flashscore expert. In this interview with his former teammate, Gregoritsch talks about the Austrian national team, Ralf Rangnick's Bayern Munich links and the special role of David Alaba.
Moravek: This record is impressive: 25 games, including 15 wins, four draws and only six defeats - plus a goal difference of 46:25. You probably already know what I'm talking about: that's Austria's record under Rangnick. He also coached me briefly once, but unfortunately only for a few months, so I'm interested to know: What has he changed compared to the previous coach? How is your relationship with him?
Gregoritsch: "He came to Salzburg 12 years ago and completely changed Austrian football. With the football he played in Salzburg, he had such a significant influence on young players that many of them had already internalised his game by the time they moved up to the pros.
"When you can choose from 500 players and 15 of them have learnt your game from an early age, you now have the great advantage that everyone knows what they have to do.
"He gives totally clear instructions, he is totally friendly with all the players and he gives us a lot of freedom off the pitch because he says: 'You have to make your own decisions on the pitch, so you can also make your own decisions off the pitch and do what you want. The main thing is that you train well.'
"That's why I have a great relationship with him, the whole team is super happy and he has created a team spirit that already existed in a similar way, but not as blatant as it does now.
"It used to be like this with Austria: if you won twice, you were world champions, and if you lost twice, you were the worst team in history. And he's managed to get us to win twice and then win twice more and then again. Together with us, he has built up a level of euphoria throughout Austria that has never existed before."
'Very, very pleased' that Rangnick stayed
How did you feel about the connection between Ralf Rangnick and Bayern Munich?
"I never believed he would do it. I was always surprised when a new announcement came after two weeks of negotiations: 'They've reached an agreement.' That took too long for me. You don't negotiate that long with Bayern Munich if you have the opportunity to go there.
"The way he talks to us, the way he feels comfortable with us, the way I've experienced it, I've always believed that he would like to stay with us. Thank God it has been confirmed! When I heard the news, I wrote to him straight away. I was very, very happy about it."
You've been playing in Germany for a long time, how special or unique is it to be playing a major tournament like the European Championships here?
"It's incredible! Playing a tournament in general is very, very special for me. This time it's particularly special because we're here. Everyone speaks the language, I've lived here for 12 years and my whole family and all my friends are here.
"This is the first time my father (Werner Gregoritsch, coach of the Austrian U21 team, editor's note) has seen me play an international match from the start. I've already played 55-60 international matches, but his teams have played at the same time and that's very special for me.
"I can really appreciate this, because how many tournaments can you play in your life as an Austrian? Maybe four if it comes to it? My family and friends were all in Berlin for five days for the first two group matches. That's very, very nice."
It's the second major tournament for you. You even scored a goal against North Macedonia at the 2020 European Championships. What are the differences between then and now?
"It's hard to compare because we hardly had any fans there due to coronavirus. We were still playing together in Augsburg back then, which wasn't an easy time for me. It was actually a bit of luck that I was allowed to play in this European Championships. It was great, too, but different to now.
"Now you have a bit more euphoria. You see the fan zones and fan marches, everyone is watching and this euphoria only arises when fans are there. If there are no fans, then there can be no euphoria. Before the tournament, I thought it would be cool, but similar. But now you have to say: it's very, very special."
One big happy family
Your squad is a good mix of older players - Marcel Sabitzer, Marko Arnautovic, Florian Kainz, Gernot Trauner and yourself - and many aged between 25 and 27. How does the team structure work?
"Because there isn't such a big difference between one generation and the next, we've all been playing together for five years. All these players like (Christoph) Baumgartner, (Konrad) Laimer, (Xaver) Schlager, (Kevin) Danso, (Maximilian) Wober and (Stefan) Posch have been with us since 2019/2020. It really has become a family.
"When I came to Augsburg - you might remember that too - we were also close and did a lot together, but that's not even half of what the family we are here. It really is a group of friends.
"And in the end, that's also crucial for our style of play, because everyone knows that the person next to them gives everything for the other. It's very important that you can rely on the person next to you."
Ralf Rangnick has a clear idea of how to play, which you seem to implement well and which ultimately helped you win the difficult Group D. Is the 4-2-3-1 a fixed formation or do you sometimes vary it?
"At the very beginning, we played with a back three, but sometimes we also play with two strikers. We also did that a few times in qualifying for the European Championships with Arnautovic and myself. In general, we've done that more often.
"But the way the system is now, it's totally fine and it works. The coach always adapts it completely to the opponent."
Alaba essential as coach
David Alaba can't support you as a player this time, but only as a coach. What do you think of his role? How important is he?
"I think it's very, very important for the team. And I think everyone knew that it was important for him to be there. He's a really, really great person and the best player I've ever played with. But he's certainly also the best leader I've ever played with. It's incredible the effect he can have on the team. He always wants to win.
"When he's on the sidelines, red against blue and he's pushing a team, you can be sure that the training will be a blast. It will be so intense, so strong and so good. He can convey that and it's certainly the most impressive quality I've ever seen in a player.
"He always wants to win. That doesn't mean he can't lose, but when he wants to win, he wins. I don't think he's ever not won a training game that he wanted to win - and he actually wants to win every training game. That's unbelievable.
"It's very exciting and that's why it's so important that he's involved. He doesn't have a big task with tactics or anything like that, but he's there and that gives some people a very good feeling."
Your next opponent is Turkey. Let's look back to March 26th in Vienna: 6-1 to Austria, you score a hat-trick and now you're playing Turkey again just three months later. Will you try the same game plan again or how will you approach this game?
"It's definitely better for us that we won the game 6-1 and didn't lose 6-1. But as you know, that's often the most dangerous thing. You can't say: 'That was just a test match', because international matches are always tough and everyone wants to win them.
"I think it can be dangerous, but I also think our team is stable enough in the head to make it work well. We have a good team, we have a good mindset: we can be good if we call on everything we have to bring to the pitch."
You had two short journeys to the two games in Berlin, you flew to Dusseldorf and then it's off to Leipzig on Tuesday. As a player, do you feel that the association has put thought into the choice of the European Championship venue (Schlosshotel Grunewald in Berlin, editor's note)?
"Top, top, top. The hotel is great, the city is great. We had two home games and didn't have to travel. The families were all just around the corner. That was really great."
Do you think that Austria's rise has something to do with the Austrian league? How do you rate it? How do you think the standard is developing? And what do you think Sturm Graz and Salzburg are capable of in the Champions League?
"Our league has clearly gotten better. Many better players have come to Austria. But I don't think that an Austrian team will play a good role internationally in the future. It's simply too difficult with the new system.
"But still: the Austrian league is great, we have some players in it who are all very good. There is hardly any drop in performance compared to the players who have been abroad for a long time. Above all, the young generation is hard-working, every single one of them wants to improve and listens. And that's important, that they want to do it to get better."
Looking at the tournament as a whole, which three players impressed you the most?
"Nico Williams 100%. Then Nicolae Stanciu from Romania, who scored the goal against Ukraine, is a very good player. I also liked (Michel) Aebischer from Switzerland. A lot of good players this year."