It was already clear beforehand that Florian Grillitsch and Patrick Wimmer were coming back from muscle injuries. But Rangnick says: "There were six other players who were healthy but not yet match fit. And the match fitness you need in the USA against Argentina and Spain is something else entirely."
An example: "Xaver Schlager came as a surprise to us. He had played almost every minute in the last four to five games for Leipzig, but then suddenly hit a slump during the World Cup. He himself asked to be substituted at halftime against Algeria because he couldn't go on."
There Needs to Be More "Bang" Again
In hindsight, the players could have been subjected to more intensive performance tests at the first squad gathering, but the head coach also doesn't know how one should have reacted to these rather sobering results.
In any case, the ÖFB team performed at best averagely in categories so crucial for Rangnick, such as sprints, quick runs, ball recoveries in the final third, and the number of counter-attack situations after ball recoveries, in contrast to the European Championship.
His insight: "If we want to bring our football back onto the pitch, we have to go all in; there has to be 'bang' on the pitch, even in training. In hindsight, we included too few sessions where there was 'bang'."
That's why he only called up match-fit players to the squad for the start of the Nations League.
And yet, according to the coach, more would have been possible with a different draw: "Even with this squad in this condition, if we had played in the other side of the bracket… I would have liked to play in the Bosnian group. Then we might have faced Switzerland, and even against Germany, we would have had decent chances to compete on equal terms."
But that was not the case. Instead, the ÖFB team ultimately went home with nine goals conceded from four matches. "That's too much. We have to get back to keeping clean sheets. That primarily has something to do with intensity," says Rangnick.
The Discarded Spain Idea
Before the match against Spain, he even "considered whether we should play from a deep block with a back five." However, the plan was then discarded.
"Wenn wir das gemacht hätten, wäre es eine Abwehrschlacht gewesen"
"If we had done that, it would have been a defensive battle. With what player profiles can you then launch a counter-attack? You need a really fast, pacey dribbler. Patrick Wimmer is that theoretically, perhaps Konrad Laimer, but then it stops there," says Rangnick.
In many discussions about this option, the consensus was: "We stick to our DNA!"
Less Golf and Excursions
However, he will change one thing compared to the World Cup: the players' leisure options. It is well-known that parts of the squad often enjoyed playing golf, and there were also free days in Santa Barbara or Los Angeles.
"We will reduce that a bit at the next training camps," Rangnick announces, "it's always a question of balance. We thought it wouldn't be wrong for the guys, energetically and mentally, if they could go out and meet their families. We will reduce that to a different extent."
