"Max is a great set-piece coach for us, an extremely good addition to our team. We have now scored a set-piece goal in every game, and that comes down to a lot of training sessions, a lot of running paths being explained, and a lot of zones being occupied," Gregoritsch said, offering insight into the set-piece work at the ÖFB Campus.
Ritscher brings in "many new ideas that we soak up like a sponge. It's fantastic that it's working out like this, because it's a brutally important part of football," Phillipp Mwene added.
And Sasa Kalajdzic knows: "That is a quality we need to have when things aren't flowing in open play."
Even kick-offs are being analysed
Even aside from the goals scored, the ÖFB team repeatedly caught the eye with clever variations during this autumn's Nations League campaign—be it from free kicks, corners, or throw-ins.
Moreover, the team looked fairly solid defensively in this department, with only the temporary 1-1 equaliser in the home match against Israel, conceded from an opposition corner, being preventable.
Ritscher also appears to analyse opposition kick-offs. For Ireland's kick-off in Linz on Saturday, lone striker Gregoritsch lined up on the right side of the defensive back four.
Sure enough, after the whistle the ball was played back to goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and hoofed roughly toward the area where Gregoritsch would have been stationed. Konrad Laimer ultimately headed the ball clear ahead of the Styrian.
Already massively successful at LASK
Ritscher's appointment as set-piece coach for the ÖFB team is, as is well known, only a secondary role. The 32-year-old works full-time on Dietmar Kühbauer's coaching staff at LASK and naturally oversees set pieces there as well.
In the spring, the Tyrol native transformed the reigning Austrian double winners from a team that posed virtually no threat in this area into an absolute powerhouse from dead-ball situations.
Just recently, in their 4-0 Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava, LASK found the back of the net three times from set pieces in a single half.
A great fit on a personal level too
"Dass wir schon so erfolgreich bei Standards sind, spricht für sich."
"I'm very glad we have him. Today was a home game for him too, and in the end, it was a tailor-made evening," head coach Ralf Rangnick celebrated alongside his assistant after the win in Linz.
The German enthused: "It is great fun working with him. Choosing him was entirely the right decision. We met with five candidates and after meeting him, we were in total agreement that he is also a wonderful personal fit for the coaching staff."
And beyond that: "The fact that we are already so successful from set pieces speaks for itself."
