Since his first game with Hoffenheim in February 2016, managerial prodigy Julian
Nagelsmann has taken a team that were flirting with relegation as high as third in the table.
Until a loss to RB Leipzig in January, Nagelsmann’s side were the only unbeaten team in
Europe’s top five leagues and were on a 17 match run without defeat.
Nagelsmann, who will not turn 30 until July 2017, was on the books at Augsburg and 1860
Munich until his playing career was ended by a knee injury without making a senior
appearance – he returned to university and studied Business Administration and Sports
Science before returning to work at Augsburg under Thomas Tuchel.
While Nagelsmann has been widely quoted as saying that “30% of coaching is tactics,
70% social competence”, and has rightly received
plaudits for his man management and forging a
bond of togetherness at Hoffenheim, he’s a very astute tactician.
Generally, Hoffenheim play with three central defenders, two defensive wingers or wing-
backs, a holding midfielder, and four attacking players.
Their keeper, Oliver Baumann, is a solid base and has excellent distribution
when sweeping up behind the back three.
The attacking players set up as two central midfielders and two strikers, but what is
noticeable is how flexible this arrangement is.
Karim Demirbay and Nadiem Amiri or Lukas Rupp, the nominal centre mids, drift very
wide from their central positions, protected by the
stability of Hoffenheim’s back six, the energy of Sebastian Rudy, and the versatility
of Kevin Vogt.
Vogt was signed from FC Koln as a central midfielder and converted by Nagelsmann into
a centre back who can push up into the old centre
half role alongside Rudy if required, either when Hoffenheim switch to a back four, or
to prevent central overloads in the 3-1-4-2.
Defensively, Hoffenheim press hard, but unlike the teams of Ralf Rangnick, the coach who
has probably done more to spread the gospel of pressing in German football than any other,
Nagelsmann’s side do not actively court counter-attacking opportunities by turning
the ball over, and are happy to hold possession and
build a bit more slowly with less emphasis on
out-and-out verticality.
The team’s shape also allows for a pendulum effect defensively, so
that if the opponent attacks down Hoffenheim’s right, the players can swing across to build
up more resistance in the press, while withdrawing on the opposite side for stability.
In attack, Hoffenheim like to play directly through the centre using Rudy or Niklas Sule,
the centre back, to drive the ball forwards to
the strikers, who then lay it off.
Demirbay especially has licence to drift around and make things happen, and is an adept
dribbler who can collect the ball short from Rudy, or from a lay-off, and drive into space
with pace.
If these vertical passing channels are blocked, then the wing-backs offer lateral options
and against teams who sit deep, Hoffenheim will sometimes almost resemble a 3-3-4 or
even 3-1-6.
Nagelsmann collects data on when his players’ passing lines are blocked off and likes his
players to drop between the lines to open passing channels up, much like Guardiola’s
‘positional play’ style.
The keys are movement and the ability to find space in relation to
other players’ passing options, founded on a dynamic fluidity in positioning around
Rudy that affords the midfielder as many options
as possible.
With a solid back six and a creative front four, Nagelsmann has built a team that plays
attractive, successful football.
There are echoes of Brazil’s 2002 vintage, whose solid ,
defensive foundation using wing-backs allowed a creative trident to win games almost on
their own, and in Guardiola’s insistence on creating overloads between the lines.
Add to that a Ragnick-lite pressing style, tactically
intelligent players like Rudy, and a superb, cohesive
mentality, and you can see why Nagelsmann is so highly prized.
He blends an awareness of what has gone before with a brilliant understanding
of what his squad can do.
“I work like a baker”, said Nagelsmann once.
“I mix things up, put them in the oven, and see if I
like what comes out.”