Xaver Schlager – Red Bull Salzburg’s highly refined midfielder
Xaver Schlager was a goalkeeper who once conceded 19 goals in a game at youth level with St Valentin but has now developed into one of the most technically and tactically refined young midfielders in Europe. The blonde-haired midfield magician joined the Red Bull Salzburg academy at 11-years-old and experienced a rapid development between Under 19 level and professional level as he is one of the fine young players who were involved in the UEFA Youth League triumph with Salzburg. Hannes Wolf and Amadou Haidara have already joined RB Leipzig as the former will officially join the German side at the end of the season while Diadie Samassekou has received serious interest from Paris Saint Germain. The Austrian was unavailable for the UEFA Youth League semi-final and final in that tournament but has been an ever-present in Salzburg’s midfield since. Schlager’s allure to the European elite will only grow as Salzburg have made another deep run in the Europa League.
Marco Rose has implemented a high-pressing 4-4-2 diamond formation where Schlager plays in the wide interior positions or in the ten space. The 21-year-old Austrian is adept at pressing the opposition deep-lying playmaker, forcing the ball out wide where Salzburg commit bodies in the lateral press in order to win possession and launch quick attacks. Schlager illustrates his ability as a well-rounded midfielder by being as comfortable in the ten space as he is in the six space. His lumbering size allows him to hold off opposition players while being adept at playing well-weighted through balls, distributing passes into runners in the channels and playing line-breaking passes. Salzburg played Dortmund in the Europa League last season as Schlager was entrusted with pressing deep-lying midfielder Dahoud and switching to mark Gonzalo Castro when he dropped deep.
Wolf normally plays at the tip of the diamond while Schlager will fill one of the wider roles. In build-up, Salzburg can switch to a 2-3-2-3 with Schlager covering his full-back and moving next to the defensive midfielder, Samassekou to work the ball through pressure. He possesses subtle body feints and shifts to beat his man while having the vision to thread accurate passes between tight-lines of pressure. In the Austrian Bundesliga, where teams sit in tight 5-4-1/5-3-2 low blocks with situational pressing triggered by balls into midfield and back-passes, Schlager is tasked with finding space in between the lines to receive the ball and lay off to teammates establishing quick combinations in approach play.
An underrated and highly integral facet of Schlager’s talent is his dribbling ability as he has the confidence to weave his way out of opposition pressure. His ability to hold on to the ball in tight areas of the pitch allows Salzburg to play out of pressure effectively. Against RB Leipzig, in the Europa League last season, Schlager had a moment where he trapped the ball, turned and passed the ball to a teammate all in one move. His first touch and Velcro-like close control of the ball allows him to skip past opponents with the balance and grace of a ballerina despite his imposing physical stature.
Out of possession, Schlager is also effective as when he is playing in one of the wide-midfielder roles, he will come inside to counter-press and constrain space for the opposition. When he moves closer to Samassekou, with his full-back overlapping Schlager is always positioned perfectly to counter-press as Salzburg are immensely organised and well-coordinated at switching through the phases of play. He is an impeccably calm tackler but most of his ball recoveries come from his astute positioning in winning possession then driving the ball into the next phase of play.
In Salzburg’s last 32 Europa League game against Club Brugge with his side looking to come back from a deficit, he took on a pass to place a perfect shot past Ethan Horvath to score. He then threaded a perfectly weighted pass for Patson Daka to finish from a tight angle notching an assist and a goal in the first half. In this match, he had an exceptional moment where he executed an elaborate body feint to slide the ball past two men at once before working a one-two with a teammate and nearly fashioning a shot on goal. Schlager has put in impressive and dominating performances against Borussia Dortmund, Real Sociedad and Lazio as he could represent a bargain for most teams in the higher echelons of Europe. Red Bull Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund was forced to deny that the midfielder had signed a pre-contract agreement with Leipzig last week. Schlager has previously said that he will only think about his future after the season ends but all possibilities are open for him.
“ I am finished this season and we can achieve a lot. Afterwards there is time to think about what happens. But I do not exclude any club - not even St. Valentin,” joked Schlager to Laola 1.
Salzburg employ versatile and multi-faceted players in their midfield to implement their rigorous high-tempo style. Players are constantly switching roles and responsibilities in the attacking phase, build-up phase as well as in the defensive and pressing phase. Schlager is unique as he can be highly involved in every facet of Salzburg’s style of play as there are few players as comfortable with interchanging different roles and responsibilities as him. Schlager’s tactical and physical maturity is all the more impressive when one realises that he is still at the tender age of 21.
Red Bull Salzburg have a highly talented core of young and multi-faceted midfielders as they continue to churn out talent at a monstrously high rate as it is perplexing that there has not been more interest in a player of Schlager’s calibre. He can be an attacking midfield creator, deep-lying playmaker, box to box engine as well as being able to cover for an overlapping fullback or execute a man-marking assignment with valour. There are few midfielders his age with his unique and well-rounded set of skills as his team have done a fine job in tactically educating him by playing him in different roles.
Young players usually go for exorbitant prices on the market as while the cost of potential is at a premium, Schlager could represent a bargain. The competitive nature of the Austrian Bundesliga is under dispute, but the Austrian has displayed his talents on the fiercer Europa League level. Both, Leipzig and Salzburg are expected to undergo changes at coaching and playing staff level as with the former already signing three midfielders from feeder teams in the winter, in preparation for the arrival of Julian Nagelsmann, Schlager could leave the comfortability and familiarity of the Red Bull franchises.
