Austria - The Rise from the Shadows (International Management)

After completely losing any form of interest in any type of club management, I've been thinking what kind of save I could do. So I turned my head to International management, but I still wanted a challenge and a story to be there.

So in this save I will taking over Austria. There are 2 reasons for this:

1.Their senior team has never won a competition ever.
2. I believe their squad could be capable of really challenging for Euro 2016 and the World Cup in 2018.

I have never done International management before, so I have a lot learn about International management before the kick off of the Euro 2016 campaign.

There will be a storyline to this save, I've never seen an International story on this site, so I wanted to try something new and give you a story that you find different as well.

I know I've never really stuck to my stories before, but I just can't find any interest in club management anymore, so hopefully I can stick to this one and create a story worth following.

I enjoy you enjoy following this journey with me.

Austrian FA decide on new manager for Euro 2016 campaign

'It's been a hard decision, but we have decided that this nation needs a fresh new manager for the upcoming Euro 2016 campaign. We're aiming for this nation to be one of the best in the world in the next 10 years. We want a manager who has that ambition to succeed with us and grow us as a nation and win our first competition.

We have decided to relieve Marcel Koller of role with immediate effect and we wish him all the best in the future and thank him for everything he has done for the nation of Austria.

Austrian FA appoint unlikely candidate of Thierry Henry as manager

Shock coming out of Austria today as the Austrian FA announced Thierry Henry was to be their next manager. The Frenchman who has no links with Austria or Austrian football was seen as the perfect person to take the nation forward.

'We see Thierry as the perfect man for the Austrian job. Hiring such a legend for our nation shows how ambitious we are to become a top nation in world football. There aren't many people who understand football as well as he does and we look forward to seeing what he can achieve with the great nation of Austria.

Things are looking good for Austria in recent years, with massive investment going into youth players, backed by the likes of Red Bull at Red Bull Salzburg. With players like David Alaba and Arnautovic, backed by a lot of talented youth players, Austria certainly look like a solid side to go on and win things in the future. Is Thierry Henry just the mssing piece of the puzzle they needed to really transform their nation?

Thierry Henry reasoning for becoming Austria Manager

'Well I was contacted by Red Bull Salzburg to become a coach for their club, and still being under a contract with Red Bull, I thought it would be a good idea to come here and help young players grow and give them tips I received when I was a youngster. Around that time, the Austrian FA had released a statement about their ambition to become a top nation in the world. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to put my stamp on world football.

When I arrived in Austria to start my coaching job with Red Bull Salzburg, I immediately contacted the Austrian FA and told them I wanted to take the job of managing Austria. They were in shock that such a high profile name wanted to take over the nation.'

With Thierry Henry being a coach at Salzburg also, will he be favorable to Salzburg youngsters, or will he give everyone a chance to show what they can do for their country.

One thing is for sure, the nation of Austria is excited about their footballing chances for the first time in a long time. They are looking forward to seeing how Thierry Henry transforms how their nation plays and they are massively optimistic about the Euro's in 2016. First though, Thierry Henry has to qualify for the Euro's from his group which Austria are currently first in after 6 games.

Austria's Qualifying Group:
Austria
Russia
Sweden
Montenegro
Moldova
Liechtenstein

Interesting choice of manager, lets see how Thierry does!

Tallery - Thanks mate, I'm looking forward to it

Interesting!

Nation and Squad Overview

World Ranking: 16th
Rival Nations: Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Turkey, Czech Republic and Slovenia
Captain: Christian Fuchs
Vice Captain: Currently No Vice Captain
Capital City: Wien

Squad Overview

Goalkeeper

This is one place the Austrian National Team lacks with no real top quality goalkeepers. However, they do have Cican Stankovic who possesses great potential and could be in the Austrian net for years to come.

Right Back

One of the best players in the team plays here, in Florian Klein. A star right back for any national team, however he is 29 years old so the 2018 World Cup could be his last tournament for us and is someone we will need to replace pretty soon.

Centre Backs

We have 4 solid centre backs in the Austria squad, in Kevin Wimmer, Aleksander Dragovic, Sebastian Prodl and Martin Hinteregger. With Dragovic and Wimmer still being so young and being our best centre backs, we are sorted here for years to come.

Left Back

This may be a shocking choice here, but Christian Fuchs will be our starting left back. He is our captain and a deadball specialist. He will be one of our main players for our Euro 2016 campaign. However like Klein, the 2018 World Cup could be his last tournament for us.

Defensive Midfield

We're really not short of options here in Defensive Midfield, but our main CDM will be Junuzovic as I think he is the best player we have in that position. At the age of 27 he still has years ahead of him in the national set-up and will always be a key player for us.

Right Midfield

Our 2nd best player is here, in Marko Arnautovic. He is a key player for a very strong Stoke side and will be a key player for us as well. He will be the player that makes the difference for us at the Euro's in 2016.

Central Midfield

A lot of people will probably question my choice to play David Alaba here, but he is naturally a Central Midfielder and I see it as his best position despite Bayern using him as a left back, and he being one of the best left backs in the world. Also featuring in Central Midfield will be Julian Baumgartlinger from Leverkusen. He is also a top Central Midfielder but could lose his spot to Louis Schuab in the future as he looks like a world class prospect.

Left Midfield

Here is somewhere we need a replacement for, and quickly. Our best Left Midfielder is Andreas Ivanschitz who is currently a top Left Midfielder, but at the age of 32, I don't know if he will be able to make it to the 2018 World Cup and is someone will be look to find a replacement for.

Striker

Austria don't really have an out and out Striker, which could be a problem for us. However our main contender for Striker come the Euro 2016 will be Marcel Sabitzer. But Austria do currently have a lot of choices for Striker, with Hinterseer, Schopf, Gregoritsch and Harnik all capable of playing Striker as well, it's going to make my choice of Striker a difficult one when the Euro's kick off in 2016.

Austria have a good squad and should be an interesting watch at the Euros! Good luck mate!

OllieM13 - Thanks mate, I aim to do saves no one does.

mgriffin2012 - Thanks mate, I actually think Austria could be a dark horse in the Euro's in real life and in game.

Good luck!

Justice - Thank you mate

Henry sends message to fans to be safe before Austria vs Russia

'Please be safe with tonight's game vs Russia. Football should be a game of passion, not needless violence. Russia have been known to be violent with previous games, so please do not get involved in it and keep you and your families safe.

Russia have been known to be violent during their international teams matches, in which they storm stands and cause violence before games. It is thought that if the violence continues, Russia will have to play their games behind closed doors or even worse, could be disqualified from the competition.

Henry confirms 23 man squad for Russia and Sweden games

Goalkeepers: Cican Stankovic, Heniz Lindner, Ramazan Ozcan

Defenders: Kevin Wimmer, David Alaba, Aleksander Dragovic, Christian Fuchs, Michael Madl, Martin Hinteregger, Gyorgy Garics, Florian Klein

Midfielders: Julian Baumgartlinger, Stefan Ilsanker, Zlatko Junuzovic, Valentino Lazaro, Andreas Ivanschitz, Louis Schaub, Martin Harnik, Marco Arnautovic, Alessandro Schopf

Forwards: Marcel Sabitzer, Michael Gregoritsch, Lucas Hinterseer

Your starting 11 vs Russia #DerNationalTeam



Austria are lining up a very strong side against the Russians who will be a tough opponent. With star players like Alaba, Dragovic and Arnautovic on the pitch, Austria may just edge this one.

There could also be potential first caps for Schuab, Schopf and Gregoritsch who all appear on the bench today.