Where to start with Matthias Jaissle, Newcastle United’s new head coach?February 2022 is as good a time as any. Jaissle, then 34, had just guided Red Bull Salzburg to the Champions League knockout stage for the first time in their history. Bayern Munich were on the horizon in the next round and, while that would end in heavy defeat, Jaissle and his players would still finish the season by winning the Austrian Bundesliga and the OFB Cup, a domestic double.But that was all still to come when, during an interview with Der Standard, he was asked what Matthias Jaissle the player, a highly regarded, modern centre-back whose career was wrecked by injury, would have made of Matthias Jaissle the coach.“I think they would have got along quite well,” he replied. “As a coach, I always try to put myself in the players’ shoes and to understand what’s important to them. And I try to maintain a clear approach both on and off the pitch. With me, you quickly know where you stand. Communication is really important to all my dealings with the lads. That’s what I appreciated as a player, too.”Jaissle’s coaching lineage is impressive. He played for Thomas Tuchel as a teenager in Stuttgart’s youth teams. Then for Ralf Rangnick as a senior professional at Hoffenheim. After knee and Achilles injuries forced Jaissle into retirement in his mid-20s, Rangnick absorbed him into the Red Bull network, where he undertook a coaching internship, got his break as Sebastian Hoeness’ assistant with Leipzig’s U16 team, and was hot-housed among the dozen or so excellent coaches who have emerged from that network in the years since.Asked for their memories of Jaissle at that time in his life, Leipzig employees — from across the coaching staff and other departments — remember a “humble”, “focused” and “hard-working” person who “wanted to absorb everything in the environment”.What kind of coach is Mattias Jaissle?Sebastian Stafford-Bloor and moreTactically, most understand what that means. Jaissle wants quick, ambitious use of the ball, a high, feverish press and maximum physical commitment in every phase. In attacking positions, he wants playmakers who use instinct and imagination to create opportunities, rather than relying on pre-designed, mechanical phases. Togetherness and teamwork matter, but not to the exclusion of individuality.Among those who worked with him or under him at youth or senior level, Jaissle is described as an excellent man-manager who gives his players and staff agency. On the touchline, the 38-year-old is loud, abrasive and burns with main character energy. That’s deceptive, though; his Newcastle will be a collaborative project.Zlatko Junuzovic is a former Austrian international midfielder who spent four years at Salzburg and played for Jaissle during the final season of his career, when Junuzovic was a 34-year-old veteran within a young squad that included Karim Adeyemi (20), Noah Okafor (22), Benjamin Sesko (19) and Brenden Aaronson (21).“He was still relatively young as a coach when he joined us — he’s actually six months younger than me,” Junuzovic tells The Athletic, “but you could already tell that he had a clear plan and good body language.“He brings a winning mentality and isn’t afraid to make tough decisions. He’s communicative and tries to explain his decisions to the players in a straightforward way. He’s now gained a lot of experience, having won the Asian Champions League twice, and he’s worked with big-name players, which shows he can handle them just as well as young ones.”That is a Rangnick quality. Being clear and definitive, having complete conviction in a strategy, and fostering team unity across different generations. Jaissle has said in previous interviews that forthright coaching helped him when he was a player and it’s for good reason that he has tried to replicate that trait.The agent of a player who worked with Jaissle at a young age explains more. “He doesn’t treat young players just as young players,” the agent says. “Some coaches divide their squad into leaders and talents and behave differently (towards them). But he speaks to young players with respect and holds them accountable for their standards. Just like he does with the older ones. That makes them responsible on the pitch, but also off it as well and that’s really important at a young age.”Among all the people The Athletic spoke to about Jaissle’s coaching, each one made reference to his capacity to build successful teams while also nurturing the individual players within them.