Ex-Mainz back in Vienna
© Imago
At the beginning of the 2000s, Andreas Ivanschitz was considered the largest Austrian football talent. This was followed by a career in which he experienced heights like deep and saw a lot of the football world. He was active in a total of six different leagues, and he also played 69 games for the ÖFB team and even became a footballer of the year in Austria in 2003. At the transfer market, Ivanschitz talks about his time at Mainz 05 under coach Thomas Tuchel, the hostility at Rapid Vienna and his promotion destination as a manager at First Vienna FC.
When the 1st FSV Mainz 05 made it into the Europa League a few weeks ago, Andreas Ivanschitz cheered away from a distance and immediately had to think of his own past. After all, the four years that he spent in Mainz were peppered with a variety of positive moments, because he did the second most games in his entire career for the zero five.
“I left as a player at the time, but I stayed as a fan,” Ivanschitz told the transfer market. “The time in Mainz was incredibly beautiful and incredibly exciting. I was able to experience a change of change, for example also the stadium parade or the entire development after the recurrence of this ambitious association. For me, Mainz was and is this incredible family attachment and on the other side an association that always thinks about the future and thinks.
Ivanschitz: Tuchel “also goes uncomfortable or unusual ways”
In Mainz he worked with a trainer who, as Ivanschitz, “also” put on “: Thomas Tuchel, a” who is not afraid to speak openly to criticism that is not afraid to put up with top players if they do not perform. But Thomas is an absolute perfectionist. That may be exhausting for many, but at the end of the day Thomas has two goals and he wants to win you as a team. He also goes uncomfortable or unusual ways.
Andreas Ivanschitz with Thomas Tuchel 2010 near Mainz 05
The 69-time Austrian international Ivanschitz gave Tuchel a different view of football. He says: “To date, I have not experienced a coach who worked so detailed. He broke the game completely into the smallest detail. He gave us play details at the hand, they were at the highest level. In the past, there were moments when I thought, why is he annoying me again, why is he not in peace. Today I can say: This way has helped me to get better.”
In a memory of Tuchel, Ivanschitz has to laugh: “Thomas and I had a special relationship. He knew how he could provoke me. Before the game against Nuremberg, he said openly and directly to me: ‘Andi, if you don’t deliver tomorrow, I get you from the field in the first half.’ It was not good for us in the first half, he was angry, after the half -time speech, I moved against a glass door and then I was even more likely to achieve a header despite the cut. “
A word that still has a great rating in his life with the Austrian is responsibility. He had to take responsibility at the age of 16 when he became the second youngest rapid player ever in professional football. “For me, responsibility means to know his role. As a leader or leader, you have to anticipate, but it is just as important to pay attention to your teammates and to notice what they need in certain situations. I have always seen myself as a peace pole who made it clear that the harmony within the team was right.”
An important teacher at this time was the old master Andreas Herzog. “Andi was and is a super fun type, at least next to the square. I learned from him in the field what professionalism means. Despite his age and everything he achieved, he was brutally ambitious, he did not want to lose a training game and acted accordingly. That was very helpful for me and motivated me even more.”
Ivanschitz on the “FIFA” cover: “With Ronaldinho dribbing scenes”
A real hype had now been created around Ivanschitz. In the European Championship qualifier against the Czech Republic on October 11, 2003, he wore the captain’s armband for the first time, scored his first goal for the ÖFB selection in the same game and is the latest national team captain of the Austrians at 19 and 361 days. That year he was also elected footballer of the year in Austria. How do you change through such a hype?
“I always tried not to change and luckily had people around me who supported me. I was just grateful that I was allowed to be a football professional. Of course you get the hype about your person. But I never felt restricted in my freedom or privacy. Through today’s smartphones and social media it was much more difficult. To be professional.
He also looks back on his cover pictures for the “FIFA” video games in 2008 and 2010. “It was a cool time. I flown to Barcelona at the time and took in with Ronaldinho dribble scenes. The wearing of special suits alone only for pass, shot or jubilee situations was impressive. Of course, I got five copies for each console,” says the ex-Mainz with a smile.
I celebrate every player who takes a distance learning or learns a new language.
Already at a young age Ivanschitz was not the classic professional, who concentrated exclusively on football, but one who also trained beyond the horizon. So he finds it significant that the professionals actively deal with other things apart from the round leather. “I find it incredibly important that you also use your head,” he emphasizes. “Of course you are traveling a lot as a professional, but you also have a lot of free time in between. I have already read a lot of books at my active time, dealt with things outside of football, have also invested in innovative startups. I celebrate every player who takes a distance learning or learns a new language.”
Today Ivanschitz is sports director at the Austrian second division team First Vienna FC. The fact that he will return to Vienna at some point was not foreseeable in his active time. After his surprising change from Rapid to Red Bull Salzburg in 2006, he was considered an enemy image for many Rapid fans and had to be protected by the police at the first meeting.
Ivanschitz: Royal RB change “did not bring any added value” in terms of sport “
“That was very crazy at the time,” recalls Ivanschitz. “Today, after many years with a little distance, I can say that the change did not give a sporting value. I just wanted to do something new back then, and it felt right to take the next step and leave rapid. I wanted to leave my comfort zone. There were loose inquiries from abroad, but they were never as specific as the offer from Salzburg. I found the project very exciting at the time. Never calculated.
While he was able to shine with strong performance at Rapid, he had to deal with start -up difficulties and problems in Salzburg. The result: way out to Greece to Panathinaikos Athens. “After all of the theater, I was good at leaving Austria and restarting at Panathinaikos. Panathinaikos Athens is an absolute traditional club, and I was also able to gain experience in the Champions League and Europa League. In addition, it was the case that I had lost the joy of football a little in Salzburg and that she had recovered in Athens. So the decision was absolutely right.”
After moving to Red Bull Salzburg, Ivanschitz experienced in the Austrian national team that football can also be cruel in a way, when he was victims of hostility and insults and also had to take fierce criticism in the ÖFB jersey. “I try to win something positive from every negative situation, but the whistles at the time and insults were already hard and of course hunged. In the end I had to accept that because it is part of the game. Today you are the hero and tomorrow you will just whistle,” states the 41-year-old.
Ivanschitz 2014 in the ÖFB selection
For Ivanschitz, football was also the opportunity to travel the world and at the same time get to know a wide variety of people and different characters. He ran in Austria, Greece, Germany, Spain as well as the USA and the Czech Republic for football clubs. While he became champion in Austria and the Czech Republic, he won the MLS Cup in the USA-the championship title.
Although Ivanschitz undoubtedly had a great talent and potential, he always had to put up with critical voices that he would have brought too little out of his career. “I always thought that way and worked so to get the maximum out and strive for the highest,” he says. “In football you also make decisions that you do not know whether it was the right one at the end of the day. At the end of the day, I am very proud of what I could and was allowed to achieve. I feel extreme gratitude and hope to have left a lasting impression at every club.”
Ivanschitz wants to rise with First Vienna
Ivanschitz emphasizes: “Being a football professional is not always easy. There are heights, there are deep. That I was able to see so much of the football world together with my family as a person and as a family man. That my children were able to get to know new cultures, new languages. The countries as a person and my personality helped me a lot. It was nice to have my family with me. Support gave me a lot of strength. “
Far from the big football stage, he has now arrived at the Austrian second division team First Vienna FC. As a sports director, he consciously opted for a smaller club to gain initial experiences at the official level, although he pursues a clear goal: with the first Vienna to get promotion to the Austrian Bundesliga. “The Vienna has developed extremely positively in the past five years. I have been convinced that the Vienna still has a lot possible. The club has great potential and a special story, because of the fact that it is the oldest football club in Austria.
Interview by Henrik Stadderko