Xaver Schlager is also aware: "This is a very good opponent against whom we have to give our all."
Reunion with Foda
The Nottingham professional once celebrated his international debut under Franco Foda, and therefore knows the current Kosovo head coach well.
"He is very structured, tries not to take the biggest risks, wants order behind the ball," says the Lower Austrian.
While it's a reunion with Foda for many ÖFB players, for Rangnick it's "a normal game".
Solutions in Attack
In any case, it will once again be about finding attacking solutions against a compact opponent. The ÖFB team struggled with this for a long time against Israel.
In defense of his team, Rangnick cites statistics like "expected goals" and "expected threat," in which his team was clearly superior to the Israelis.
"One can have different opinions on how much better we could have done, but the data speaks a clear language," he says.
The Newcomers Must Internalize
Schlager, meanwhile, explains: "The most important thing is that we bring stability to our performances and develop step by step."
In this context, it is important that the newcomers integrate well sportingly. "There are many new faces who first need to internalize this way of playing; for many, it's new," he says.
Schlager continues: "You can take any operation where a group of people works together – the longer you work together, the better it gets, the more routines fall into place, everyone knows what the other wants and can do."
