Who is Matthias Jaissle?

Matthias Jaissle, the man tipped to replace Eddie Howe at Newcastle United, might not be too well known given that his only head coaching roles to date have been in Austria and Saudi Arabia. So who is the man linked with a move to St James' Park?

The 38-year-old German played for Hoffenheim before embarking on a coaching career that took him to Denmark and into an academy role at Red Bull Salzburg. His first senior job was at FC Liefering, moving on to the top job at Salzburg in the summer of 2021.

Jaissle won the double in his first season and retained the league in his second. He worked with Karim Adeyemi and Benjamin Sesko in Salzburg, competing in the Champions League, before moving on to Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League in 2023.

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He has spent the past three years in the Gulf, winning the Saudi Super Cup in Hong Kong last year. But before that he spoke to Sky Sports as part of our Future of Football series for an illuminating discussion of his ideas and how he saw the game progressing.

Here's what we found out…

Inspirations as a coach

Jaissle is steeped in the Red Bull school, having been the head coach at FC Liefering and Red Bull Salzburg at a young age. This means a particular emphasis on high pressing and relatively direct play, looking to move the ball forwards whenever possible.

But his Salzburg team also had plenty of possession and Jaissle would not want to be pigeonholed. "You have to develop your game, you have to always make progress." He has indicated that he is willing to look to all of the game's top coaches for inspiration.

"They always have some principles you can see which make sense to include in your philosophy. It's not about copying, exactly, but seeing interesting things, creating your thoughts about it, and then, if it fits, you can bring it into your way of playing."

What formation does he play?

That has been reflected in the evolution of his preferred formation. At Salzburg, it was often built around the narrow 4-4-2 with wingers coming inside that Ralf Rangnick popularised across the Red Bull teams. But he switched things up in Saudi Arabia.

With Al Ahli, he often adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation building with either a 3-2-5 or a 2-3-5 structure - something that is de rigueur in the Premier League. Speaking to Sky Sports, he explained that it was more about principles of play than the precise formations.

"It is not about formations that much. It is more how you want to play, how you want to attack, how you want to defend. If you understand that and the players understand that, tactically you are much more flexible and the formation is not that important."

It can be demanding for players. "These days the players are more and more involved in tactical things. Every coach and every club works with principles, so every player has to know a lot of things, tactically, in each phase of the game. I think that's a big change."

Predicting the future

Speaking to Sky Sports in 2023, Jaissle anticipated some of the changes that have been seen in the Premier League since then with its increased robustness and the growing focus on set-pieces. "It could be more dynamic and more physical also," he suggested.

He added: "Only the most professional players will survive at the top, top level, I would say." Jaissle also predicted that "there will be more and more so-called all-rounders" in football in the future - meaning defenders who attack, attackers who defend, and more.

"Players who are able to play in more positions, which makes total sense and makes it easier for the manager to change within the game or alter the formation. That is quite easy if the players understand it and know how to live your principles on the pitch."

That extends to the goalkeeper role with his preference for those who can be part of the build-up. "Goalkeeper is not a position by itself any more. It is completely included with the other guys. A goalkeeper has to have an understanding of all phases of the game."

But motivation still matters

Jaissle has experience working in multi-cultural dressing rooms, citing the fact that the number of different nationalities at Salzburg was into double figures. And for all the focus on tactics, technique and physicality, motivation remains key to management.

"I think the communication and the connection with the players is always the base for leadership and being a good coach," he explained to Sky Sports. "You really have to take care of that. I would always prioritise one on ones and face-to-face conversation.

"You really have to take care that you don't have too much information. This is a big challenge. As a manager or coach, you know so much about tactics, but you cannot just give everything to the players. You have to really take care not to overwhelm them."