AC Milan will face off against Red Bull Salzburg tonight and there are certainly some similarities between the projects that the two teams want to carry out, a report has claimed.
La Gazzetta dello Sport looks ahead to tonight’s winner-takes-all Champions League clash between Milan and the Austrian champions at San Siro, remarking how it will see two teams come up against each other who share certain philosophies.
It starts with scouting where the Rossoneri – thanks to the work of Geoffrey Moncada and his network of scouts – monitor dozens of matches every week, especially in countries such as Belgium and France. Kalulu, Saelemaekers and above all De Ketelaere arrived from there, and it is no coincidence.
The players who have passed through the doors of Red Bull Salzburg though is quite extraordinary with Haaland, Minamino, Data, Manè, Szoboszlai, Upamecano, Naby Keita, Adeyemi, Haidara, Samassekou, and now Sesko and Okafor among them. This is thanks to a work of scouting and algorithms, which Ralf Rangnick was instrumental in.
There is a point of difference when it comes to affiliates as the Red Bull group – in addition to two teams in Formula 1, one in MotoGP and two hockey teams – has five other ‘mini Leipzigs’ in Salzburg, Liefering, New York, Bragantino and Brasil.
From 2008 to 2014 there was also a Red Bull Ghana, purchased for €5.5m and rebuilt with a new stadium, but it closed its doors due to poor results.
So far it is their only failure and the general affiliate network is the main difference with Milan and with Italy in general, as with the exception of Juventus who have a youth team in Serie C, there is nothing like that.
The most relevant to Salzburg are Liefering, a satellite team in the second division of Austria that welcomes the most talented to gain experience, with Benjamin Sesko the latest to develop there.
Software and the use of data is another big part of Salzburg’s philosophy that Milan have begun to adapt. Patson Daka – the Leicester striker signed from Salzburg after 60 goals in two years – was discovered by data analysis.
Each area of the Red Bull operation, from the fitness centre to the training fields, is connected to sensors that collect information on the athletes. Daka was discovered thanks to footage analyzed by a computer, which selects a better quality ‘short film’, almost like a YouTube video.
Thanks to a database that monitors over 400,000 players a year through video and data analysis, players are then sorted into an ‘end list’ by role, characteristics, where he plays, what is needed etc. An example is Timo Werner, who ended up at RB Leipzig after being relegated with Stuttgart the previous year and then ended up being sold to Chelsea for €60m.
