Xaver Schlager: In the fast lane under Marco Rose
Xaver Schlager is a classic box-to-box player | The Austria international can do a lot more than what his player type is supposed to do | He knows his new head coach well from their time together in Salzburg
A jack-of-all-trades covering the vertical axis of the pitch. If you think of the pitch as horizontal and vertical game axes, the vertical – between the two opposing penalty areas – therefore comes to be the positional home of Xaver Schlager. RB Leipzig’s new summer signing possesses lots of strengths in central midfield. After his difficult start in his new surroundings, he now finds himself in the fast lane.
Khedira, Gerrard, Vieira, Lampard, Schlager
A few years ago, the concept of a box-to-box player was on an upwards trend. In the meantime, it has established itself within football’s lexicon – whereby central players do not have to instinctively only slug it out around the sixteen-yard box, but also can bring in their individual qualities to both defence and attack.
This is how box-to-box players differ fundamentally: when comparing someone like Sami Khedira and Steven Gerrard or Patrick Vieira with Frank Lampard, you will notice considerable differences.
A number eight with the qualities of a six and ten as well
What this renowned quartet had in common was that they not only played along the vertical playing axis – but the individual players also acted as the axis for their respective teams. When comparing Xaver with Khedira, Gerrard and co. or numerous other players of this type, there are both similarities as well as differences.
The 25-year-old is not only hardworking – albeit on an enormous scale – he also brings an incredibly important level of game intelligence and quality with him. Schlager definitely has room for improvement, as is evidenced by only scoring three goals in 81 competitive appearances for his former club VfL Wolfsburg. The left-footed player can score goals for himself, however, proven by the fact that he bagged 8 goals for Red Bull Salzburg before his move to Niedersachsen in 2019.
With Salzburg, whose youth ranks he had come from, the Linz-born player celebrated four league titles and three cup wins before he made the switch to the Bundesliga.
From a bench role to regular
Xaver would like to win silverware with Leipzig as well in the future. His start in his new colours did not get off to the start he would have hoped for. He only featured briefly in the opening five matchdays of the Bundesliga. But after the appointment of Marco Rose, whom he knew during their time together in Salzburg, Schlager has moved over into the fast lane. During Rose’s debut against Borussia Dortmund (3-0) and in the Champions League against Real Madrid (0-2), he was in the starting eleven for both matches. Against Borussia Mönchengladbach (0-3), he was only on the bench to manage his workload. And given Konrad Laimer, another player of that role, is injured until December, we will see even more of Xaver in midfield in the near future.
He has signed a contract with the Red Bulls until 2026, and Xaver Schlager wants to achieve lots with Leipzig. Even though the season didn’t get off the best of starts, he believes there is long-term success to be had. During his media rounds, he has already said how he is fully convinced of that: “I chose Leipzig because I believe lots can be achieved here.”