For the first time in a long, long time, Austria has a legionnaire coach in Ligue 1.
With Adi Hütter, the first Austrian coach since Walter Presch, who looked after Angers SCO in the 1956/57 season, takes over a team in the top French league with AS Monaco.
However, it is no surprise that the Vorarlberger’s choice of club after a year’s break from being a coach falls on the Monegasque top club – on the contrary.
Hütter was specifically scouted in view of his profile. As a former coach of FC Red Bull Salzburg, who took his first steps as a coach with the youth of the “Bullen”, he fits in perfectly with the change in philosophy that Monaco is currently undergoing.
Strategy change to make AS Monaco more sustainable
It is a change that was initiated a few years ago, but is far from over. In order to be able to better understand the background, however, one has to go a little further.
The year is 2011: AS Monaco was on the verge of slipping into insignificance before oligarch Dmitri Rybolovlev bought the struggling second division side and led them back to Ligue 1 with substantial financial injections.
The Monegasques quickly established themselves as one of the top clubs in the league, including winning the French championship in 2017. However, a more than difficult 2018/19 season, when relegation could be avoided with a lot of pain, brought about a rethinking within the club.
Oleg Petrov became the club’s vice-president and CEO and set the course for the strategic change. “We can say that we come from a small country. We don’t have tens of thousands of fans at every game, so we have to be extremely efficient in everything we do,” said the Russian, who resigned from his post in March. in 2021 versus LAOLA1.
For Monaco it was clear: If you want to establish yourself as a top club in France, you have to focus more on youth work. The club from the Principality was primarily inspired by Red Bull.
Red Bull as a great role model
The appointment of Paul Mitchell laid the foundation for change. Between 2018 and 2020, the Englishman not only worked as head of the scouting department at RB Leipzig, but also acted as technical director for the New York Red Bulls and RB Bragantino.
“Our shareholder and Oleg asked me to set up a long-term strategy similar to what Red Bull did.”
Monaco board member Paul Mitchell
The Englishman was asked to “set up a long-term strategy similar to what Red Bull did”. In June 2021, among other things, a new training center for the academy was set up.
International talents should also find their way to Monaco in the future. “Red Bull invests in talent in the market and creates a culture and an environment that allows this young talent to grow and be consistently successful,” Mitchell described the Red Bull role model.
Although Mitchell brought in Mo Camara and Takumi Minamino, players who are very familiar with the system in Salzburg, the commitments off the pitch were a lot more important.
Know-how from the Red Bull stable should fix it
In order to be able to make the strategy realignment sustainable, the right know-how was needed in the scouting department and in the coaching staff. For example, Mitchell took Drissa Diallo from RB Leipzig and installed the man from Guinea as AS Monaco’s chief scout.
With Lawrence Stewart, the head of the Salzburg scouting department was poached and brought to the principality as sports director. Stewart is now sporting director of Chelsea FC.
Paul Mitchell with a past at Red Bull
Photo: © AS Monaco
Even the first coach of the Mitchell era immediately had a little Red Bull paint. Niko Kovac, once not only a player in Salzburg, but also coach of RB Juniors and assistant coach in Salzburg, was appointed head coach in 2020.
The Croatian should put Mitchell’s predetermined philosophy into practice on the pitch. After only a year and a half, however, they parted ways again. With Philippe Clement, a coach without a Red Bull past took over. After a disappointing 2022/23 season, which brought Clement’s dismissal, it was clear where the journey should go in the future.
So it is no coincidence that Jesse Marsch and Matthias Jaissle, two coaches who are well known in Salzburg, were considered hot candidates for the coaching post in Monaco. However, a shift in management delayed the process of finding a coach.
Mitchell resigns, successor comes from Brazil
With Paul Mitchell, AS Monaco will have to do without the mastermind of the club’s realignment in the future. The Englishman announced his retirement at the end of the 2023 summer transfer window earlier in 2022. In addition to the search for a new coach, the search for a successor was also a priority.
This was ultimately – how could it be otherwise – found at Red Bull. Thiago Scuro is the name of the man who should continue the path that AS Monaco has taken.
“I know Thiago. I had the pleasure of working with him at Red Bull,” Mitchell told the Monaco Tribune. The 41-year-old Brazilian was sporting director at RB Brasil between 2013 and 2015 and 2017 and 2019. Most recently he was managing director of Bragantino. Monaco will be Scuro’s first stop in Europe.
Thiago Scuro ‘knows the style and what the club needs’
“He has great managerial skills to take the club to the next level. But he also has a different style than me. After three years, it’s exactly what the organization needs,” said Mitchell of his successor.
Adi Hütter signing the contract
Photo: © AS Monaco
“He’s lucky because he’s already been exposed to the Western market thanks to Red Bull. He knows the style and what the club needs. He also has an incredible network in South America,” adds the long-time Monaco sporting director.
The fact that, unlike Mitchell, he was never a professional footballer, is not an obstacle, according to Stéphane Darmani, correspondent of “Canal +”: “He is not a former player and therefore knows how he surrounds himself. He relies on his scouts and lets himself be advised on recruiting everyone. He is not one to work alone.”
One of these people will now be Adi Hütter. The Austrian should continue on the given path on the bench. With coaching experience at the RB Juniors and 2014/15 in Salzburg, the Vorarlberger is well prepared for the engagement in the Principality.
Partner club Cercle Bruges: What Hütter has in common with Muslic
However, Hütter was on the radar of those responsible for Monaco well before this summer. In an interview with LAOLA1 in 2021, Mitchell already pointed out the large talent pool of Austrian coaches and referred to Hütter, among other things.
However, signing Austrian coaches is far from new for Paul Mitchell. In addition to AS Monaco, the Englishman also looked after partner club Cercle Brugge. Mitchell was also responsible for the fact that Dominik Thalhammer was hired as head coach in 2021.
Miron Muslic and Dominik Thalhammer
Photo: © GEPA
The obligation of Miron Muslic (at that time as assistant coach) was also his responsibility. Following Thalhammer’s sacking, Muslic took over as head coach and guided Cercle Brugge to a strong sixth place finish in the Jupiler Pro League last season.
“We want to develop a real coaching philosophy within our organisation, with firm principles of the game,” says Mitchell, also knowing how important the work at Cercle Brugge is for the flagship Monaco, as the Belgian club also serves as an important development station for some talents.
European Cup as a clear target
In the future, the sporting director position at Cercle Brugge will also fall within the remit of Thiago Scuro, who will therefore be able to work closely with two Austrian coaches.
What else Cercle Brugge and AS Monaco have in common is that both clubs missed out on the European Cup spots last season. While one could be quite satisfied with sixth place in Bruges, sixth place in Monaco was considered a great disappointment.
Now it’s up to Adi Hütter, together with his co-trainers Klaus Schmidt and Christian Peintinger, to get the ship back on track. Because the goal of the Monaco boss is clear: the club should be regularly represented in the European Cup again in the future.
Monaco wants PSG to become dangerous again in the future
AS Monaco is ambitious. Challenging PSG in the fight for the championship will be difficult, but not impossible.
“We have to operate with intelligence, a long-term plan and a strategy. We want to be the number one rival. We want to narrow the gap from year to year with modern working methods,” says Mitchell, who will soon be leaving.
With Adi Hütter and Thiago Scuro, however, he has placed his vision in the right hands.
2023-07-05 20:32:20
#Adi #Hütter #perfect #hands #Red #Bull #Monaco
