Matthias Jaissle: The Red Bull Tactician Set for Newcastle

Jaissle played for Hoffenheim before transitioning into coaching, with spells at academy level and in Denmark before joining Red Bull Salzburg. He took the top job at Salzburg in summer 2021, winning back-to-back Austrian doubles and developing talent including Karim Adeyemi and Benjamin Sesko whilst competing in the Champions League.

He departed for Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli in 2023, where he has remained for the past three years and won the Saudi Super Cup. According to Sky Sports, his approach is rooted firmly in the Red Bull philosophy—high pressing, direct play and movement off the ball.

However, Jaissle has shown tactical flexibility. At Salzburg he favoured a narrow 4-4-2 with inverted wingers, a Ralf Rangnick staple. In Saudi Arabia, he shifted to a 4-2-3-1, occasionally building into 3-2-5 or 2-3-5 structures, formations now standard across the Premier League.

Speaking to Sky Sports in 2023, he emphasised principles over rigid 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," he explained. He also predicted football would increasingly favour "all-rounders"—defenders who attack, attackers who defend, and goalkeepers comfortable on the ball.

Jaissle anticipated the Premier League's growing physicality and set-piece focus, warning that "only the most professional players will survive at the top, top level."