Eckert is only 28 years old, but he is in his 11th year as a coach. Schopp is already his third Oakwell boss, though today only marks his first anniversary.
But relying heavily on seasoned youngsters is what the Reds are all about. Callum Styles, who joined him in bringing forward tonight’s championship visit to Luton Town, surpassed 100 league games before he turned 21.
Eckert has already worked for Red Bull Salzburg, Red Bull Leipzig and Bayern Munich alongside players like Marco Rose, Thomas Letsch, Miroslav Klose, Gerhard Struber (who brought him to South Yorkshire) and since then Valerien Ismael and his replacement, Schopp.
The last three Champions League winning coaches, Jurgen Klopp, Hansi Flick and Thomas Tuchel are, like Eckert, Germans, and the Red Bull franchises have been production lines for forward-thinking coaches.
Where the revolutionary philosophers of France had coffee shops and the London football thinkers of the sixties gathered in the greasy spoon cafe of Cassettari, the “big office” of Salzburg seems to be the equivalent of the 21st century.
“That’s where I met Gerhard,” explains Eckert.
“We all shared a large office at the academy. There were Marco Rose, who is now Borussia Dortmund coach, Thomas Letsch, who coaches Vitesse Arnhem, and Gerhard Struber, who is now in New York (coaching another Red Bull club). It definitely helped that we had a great office and some talks about football and the way we look at things.
“I had the pleasure of working with many excellent coaches, with Miroslav Klose (Bayern U-17 coach promoted to assistant coach with Flick), one of the most important. It was great to be in contact with such personalities and to have conversations about football and how they see the players, the development of certain aspects of the game.
“Many German coaches are managing great teams and are very successful with them. If I look at the championship, there are many excellent coaches and coaches from England, but for a coach like me it helps, there are coaches from Germany who have made their way and left their mark. “
Austrian Schopp, who went from playing to training in Salzburg after a loan from the New York Red Bulls, is part of the lineage. Eckert hadn’t worked with him until this preseason, but they are clearly like-minded or they wouldn’t be at Barnsley, who follow the high-intensity, high-pressure principles of this new German wave, but whose head coaches have tread differently. paths within it.
Ismael, who started out as a coach in Germany and Austria, preached direct “vertical” soccer. Schopp is much more in love with possession, but has cunningly sought a middle way.
“We had a very, very good season, we achieved too much in some eyes, so you can’t change much of a winning formula, you just have to add pieces to it and slowly evolve and strengthen,” argues Styles.
“The player obviously wants to play a little more because he has seen the quality in the team and he knows what we can contribute, so I am excited about what the future holds for us and for us to express ourselves a little more.
“We are all clear about what we are being asked to do, it is just a process. Getting to the full flow is going to take a few games and some time. “
Tellingly, when Barnsley lost their captain and best player Alex Mowatt in the summer, following Ismael to West Bromwich Albion, they looked to youthful solutions.
Josh Benson, 21, was bought from Burnley, but in opening games, Styles went from winger alongside Romal Palmer, 22, pulling the strings and shooting free throws like Mowatt used to do.
“It’s good to have the backing,” he says. “That is my responsibility as a player, to make things happen.
“I feel like I need pressure to perform at my best and I’ll take it easy. It’s just about adding things to my game and getting better every day in training. “
Whether they can replicate or exceed fifth place from last season remains to be seen, but Barnsley has a clear idea of where they are headed. Schopp’s first win – 1-0 against Coventry City on Saturday – was an important opening milestone.
“We just need to be a little more confident in certain areas, but overall I think it was a good performance,” says Eckert.
“We were solid and in all three games we only conceded one goal, so there are a lot of good things to build on, it’s just a few small details that we try to add.”
On and off the court, there are brilliant minds leading the process.
Last six games: Bradford City WLDL; Stevenage WDWWDW
Referee: Or Langford (West Midlands)
Last time: Barnsley 0 Luton Town 1, September 12, 2020, Championship.
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Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-08-17 05:47:53