Departures at Austria?

Sports boss Gorenzel: “I am in contact with clubs!”

Austria Klagenfurt's sports boss Günther Gorenzel draws a positive conclusion about Malta.(Bild: Claudio Trevisan)

The Austria Klagenfurt training camp is over! The Bundesliga footballers return to Carinthia on Saturday. Austria Klagenfurt's sporting director Günther Gorenzel gives a positive summary of Malta in an interview with the "Krone", talks about the system, "Hinti", the academy and possible departures. .

Departure! Austria Klagenfurt woke up at 4 a.m. and at 6 a.m. "Malta Air" brought the Violets from the Mediterranean island to Vienna. The "Krone" spoke to sporting director Günther Gorenzel on the spot.

Günther Gorenzel (right) spoke to the "Krone" before the journey home.(Bild: Claudio Trevisan)

Mr. Gorenzel, after two test match wins and nine training sessions, the players are blowing their socks off. How would you sum up the camp?
Günther Gorenzel: We had excellent conditions. Sun every day and very good pitches. Nobody got injured, with Cvetko and Robatsch we only had two sick players on the last day. I was impressed by the team spirit. I'm grateful that the camp was made possible for us - despite the austerity measures!

Despite the tough sessions, Austria's boys had fun in Malta.(Bild: Claudio Trevisan)

In the 2:1 test win over Domzale, you played a 3-5-2 system, in the sparring sessions before that always a 4-3-3 - what suits you better now?
We have the players for several basic formations - that has always been the case and is definitely an advantage. We have another test on Friday against Lafnitz, maybe we'll add another one. That will reveal even more.

Gorenzel believes that Martin Hinteregger (right) could become Austria's winter transfer king.(Bild: Claudio Trevisan)

Martin Hinteregger's move to Frankfurt in 2019 was voted one of the top 20 winter transfers in Bundesliga history by Bild - could he become Austria's winter transfer king?
Definitely. The quality paired with his attitude to sport and life make that possible. But we have to give him time and not expect miracles from him straight away.

Austria have only scored 14 goals so far - is a striker still to come?
We'll keep our eyes and ears open. Toshevski is now returning to Klagenfurt for training. And with Bennetts and Schwarz we have brought in two additional attacking options to Binder. Jaritz and Bobzien also harmonized well against Domzale and created more chances than usual.

There are said to be interested parties for Jannik Robatsch (right).(Bild: GEPA)

There are rumors that there are inquiries for Jannik Robatsch and Simon Spari.
I don't want to talk about names, please. But there are players that other clubs are thinking about and with whom I am in contact.

What is your position on the academy merger demanded by the state?
It makes sense to talk about it if you want to streamline structures and strive for cooperation in youth development. However, a success-oriented structure is needed - based on how international soccer is organized. It is important not to rush into everything under time and cost-cutting pressure - that would send out the wrong signal. We have presented concrete ideas - then we'll see if we can reach an agreement in the discussions.