Safe to say that Weinzierl has now settled in: Schalke across all competitions since starting Bundesliga with five losses: WWDWWWDWWWWW
Important test for Klopp's Liverpool coming up. Whether they can keep the momentum going with Coutinho being set to be out 5-6 weeks with an ankle injury. A potential solution during this time would be rearranging the tactical set up, and integrating Divock Origi more into the primary squad. Klopp had much praise for him after their latest win over Sunderland.
http://www.squawka.com/news/how-jur...o-one-of-europes-most-complete-players/838193 How Jurgen Klopp has transformed Jordan Henderson into one of Europe’s most complete players Under Jurgen Klopp, Henderson has moulded into the focal point of Liverpool’s midfield. He is now the man his players look for in possession, and the one who looks to win it back for his team. He has completed 965 passes this season so far, 175 more than any other player in the Premier League. To put that into context, 175 passes is the same amount that Pedro has mustered all season. He also ranks second in the league for successful tackles with 38 at 46% Henderson only created one chance against Sunderland at Anfield last season compared with five on Saturday, and this is again demonstrative of the player he has become under Klopp, as he now averages 1.72 chances created per game compared to 1.26 last season. With the metrics for interceptions and tackles up from last season too, it seems clear that Klopp has taught Henderson that he can be far more effective by working hard for the team rather than trying to over-complicate his own impact.
Klopp making good use of Liverpool's academy. The Welsh lad, Woodburn could be his next prodigy. Jürgen Klopp on @BenWoodburn: "My first job is to make these players be their best. I am really happy for Ben." #LIVLEE pic.twitter.com/hK6WpnWljC— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 29, 2016
Nagelsmann's Hoffenheim can move into 3rd place in the standings today with a win over Köln, they're currently up 2-0.
Hoffenheim make it 13 games unbeaten in the Bundesliga this season. Remarkable work from 29-year-old Julian Nagelsmann and co. pic.twitter.com/GrL1ODUbSq— Squawka (@Squawka) December 3, 2016
24 - Thomas Tuchel (@BVB) is the 2nd coach after Ernst Happel to stay undefeated in the first 24 BL home games after taking charge. Start. pic.twitter.com/Kam9uDGzR3— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) December 3, 2016
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-thomas-tuchels-methods-for-borussia-dortmund Impressive Gladbach Win Vindicates Thomas Tuchel's Methods for Borussia Dortmund By Lars Pollmann, Featured Columnist Dec 4, 2016 Tuchel had been heavily criticised by large parts of the German media for an emotional outburst after the recent 2-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt, when the 43-year-old bemoaned in his post-match press conference a performance that "was deficient" and "merited no points." Local BVB reporter Matthias Dersch of Ruhr Nachrichten, among many others, felt Tuchel avoided fair criticism himself, deflecting blame to his team. Perhaps more importantly, Dortmund's head coach came under fire for his rotation policy. Does his constant tinkering with the team not hinder their jelling and becoming a cohesive unit? If Saturday's match against Gladbach is anything to go by, Tuchel will not change his methods. He again made four personnel changes and played a system Dortmund had never before used. It was precisely what his critics argued is a major reason behind an up-and-down season so far. Only this time, his changes worked to perfection, and the unusual formation was the key to not only the three points but also to a proper annihilation of a Gladbach side that had played better than the league table indicated ahead of the match. -------------------------------------------------------- With the wing-backs also providing width, Tuchel employed attackers Reus and Ousmane Dembele in the half-spaces, from where they terrorised Gladbach all game. With Aubameyang, the Germany international and the 19-year-old Frenchman formed a fluid attacking trident that was simply unstoppable. They produced countless dangerous moments and a number of scoring opportunities with interplays in short areas, shredding Gladbach's back three to pieces with surgical precision. "We needed to play fluently in offensive areas of the pitch," Tuchel explained in his press conference after the game. "Our three strikers achieved that spectacularly up front today. The other seven players had to remain incredibly compact."
With Braunschweig's loss to Union Berlin today, Hannes Wolf's Stuttgart side have now moved into possession of first place in the 2.BL table.
Wolf is being attentive to details. Despite Stuttgart's commanding 4-0 win over Erzgebirge Aue, he still has a fair share of criticism for his players. Primarily on the topics of possession should have been higher, opponent's chances should have been less, and that his team be more clinical to solidify this victory even sooner. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...wolf_dinge-die-wir-anders-loesen-muessen.html
http://www.squawka.com/news/philipp...hard-on-passing-to-please-jurgen-klopp/847523 Philippe Coutinho: Liverpool players work hard on passing to please Jurgen Klopp Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho believes that Jurgen Klopp has helped him tap into his “perfect mental state” as a creative player this season. Coutinho is currently out injured until the New Year with an ankle ligament injury but has had, by far, the best start to a season of his entire career. The Brazilian attacker has scored six goals in 12 matches and has already scored five goals in the Premier League, which is just three fewer than he managed all last season. Coutinho has been in incredible form and it appears he knows he owes it to Jurgen Klopp, who has helped him develop the “perfect mental state” for a creative player. “Confidence is a huge factor out on the pitch. I think it comes through repeated quality training, which gives you belief in your ability as well as… transfer your work… onto the pitch,” he told FourFourTwo. “Attacking midfielders need to play with happiness. By that I mean dribbling at pace and making things happen. If you repeat that every day, then you will tap into the perfect mental state to be creative.” The Brazilian has also revealed that types of passing moves Klopp has his players work on during training in order to work on their movement in the final third. “We work really hard on our passing game, because our manager likes this type of playing style,” Coutinho said. “Something we practise a lot is playing three short passes and then switching the play with a longer pass. We often repeat that routine. “One of the reasons we do this is so that the forwards can try to escape their markers and then open up spaces on the pitch very quickly.”
Relevant article as Niko Kovac is a former player who was born and developed in Germany. He also just signed a contract extension to remain as head coach of Eintracht Frankfurt until 2019. Eintracht Frankfurt’s turnaround shows importance of players buying into a manager’s system http://bundesligafanatic.com/eintra...nce-of-players-buying-into-a-managers-system/
Kicker's analysis on Nagelsmann and Kovac, the two rising coaches. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...und-nagelsmann_vom-abgrund-an-die-spitze.html
http://fussballstadt.com/eintracht-vs-hoffenheim-tactical-battle/ Eintracht vs Hoffenheim – The Tactical Battle Eintracht vs Hoffenheim was the duel between two of the biggest surprise teams of the Bundesliga on matchday 14: fifth placed Eintracht Frankfurt was entertaining fourth placed 1899 Hoffenheim. The consensus before the match was that the game would be decided from the side-lines, as Eintracht’s head coach, Niko Kovac, and Hoffenheim’s head coach, Julian Nagelsmann, are considered two of the most talented coaches in the league. In fact, going into the game, Kovac had a victory percentage of 50%, with a point average of 1.68, a goal for average of 1.14, and a goal against average of 1.05. Nagelsmann on the other hand entered the game with a victory percentage of 48.1%, a point average of 1.78, a goal for average of 1.7, and a goal against average of 1.41. From the get go, these statistics highlight the fundamental differences in the playing philosophy of the two coaches. While Kovac has a defence first mentality, Nagelsmann prefers his teams to play more offensive minded football. Nagelsmann is known in Germany to come up with ever changing training plans that do not focus on teaching automatism, but rather on ever changing game forms. Nagelsmann believes that this form of practice encourages individuality and improvisation on game day, which allows players to make the right decisions even in high-pressure situations. Nagelsmann’s preference for complex practices has meant that Hoffenheim have focused their recruitment on German speaking players with Bundesliga experience. Kovac is known for his high pressure and tempo training regimes, which emphasize small spaces in order to simulate match day tempo. But the coach also believes in the transparent-professional, using specialists to determine practice intensity, which has reduced the number of injuries in the squad. This latter element has been key, as Eintracht have one of the smallest budgets in the league, which allowed them mainly to sign non-German players from smaller leagues, or talents from bigger clubs on loan. Tactically there are also some differences. Both coaches prefer to play with three men in the back, but Kovac’s system looks like a 5-4-1 defensively, which turns into a 3-4-3 system when Eintracht go on the attack with just one natural forward in Alex Meier, who on paper was supported on the wings by Haris Seferović, and Marco Fabián. Hoffenheim, under Tuchel, line up in a 3-5-2 system, which turns into a 5-3-2 system when Hoffenheim defends. In this system, Nagelsmann uses two natural forwards in Sandro Wagner, and Andrej Kramarić. The two wingers, Jeremy Toljan, and Pavel Kadeřábek are supposed to act both as left-backs to support the defence, and also as attacking wingers to join the attack when Hoffenheim goes forward.
http://www.bundesliga.com/en/news/Bundesliga/blmd15v-how-have-hoffenheim-stayed-unbeaten-427234.jsp How have Hoffenheim stayed unbeaten? "We have a plan for every match situation," explains defender Niklas Süle. "It's an incredibly flexible system. We can switch easily between three, four and five at the back during a game. We're more unpredictable to play against this season, which is one of our big strengths." Nagelsmann has certainly kept his opponents guessing. Having abandoned a 4-3-3 system fairly early on in the campaign, he has experimented with any number of variations on a three- or five-man defence, which only 1. FC Köln have managed to get the better of – in the DFB Cup. By his own admission, though, Hoffenheim's transformation has as much to do with man-management as any tactical revolution. He once described coaching as "30 per cent tactics and 70 percent psychology" – and his ability to get the most out of players considered past their best has been a hallmark of his tenure. --------------------------------------------------- Beyond their individual talents, Hoffenheim's unbeaten streak has been built on their collective strength and a newfound sense of determination. Nowhere was this better displayed than in the astonishing 4-4 draw with 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Matchday 2. Trailing 4-1 at half-time, Nagelsmann's charges battled back after Mainz were reduced to 10 men, and even came close to snatching the unlikeliest of victories in the dying minutes. "From his first day in charge, Julian boosted our self-belief," Süle points out. "He'll speak to you honestly and directly about anything. He told us, 'It can't get much worse, guys. I want to see you playing good football.' It's great to have that level of trust, when you have your backs to the wall. It started paying off straight away."
Dirk Schuster is dismissed by Augsburg after reportedly not being in agreement with management on the club's direction and the way that FCA wants to play football. Manuel Baum takes over as interim coach, along with their U19 coach, Alexander Frankenberg who moves up as co-trainer. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...er-fc-augsburg-stellt-dirk-schuster-frei.html
Nagelsmann is certainly looking forward to seize the opportunity and is aiming for victory against Tuchel's Dortmund. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...mann_heiss-bin-ich-schon-ihn-zu-schlagen.html
David Wagner is mentioned as the favorite candidate for Wolfsburg's coaching role. His Huddersfield Town AFC club is currently 4th place in the English Championship. http://www.transfermarkt.de/bericht...rit-auf-bdquo-wolfe-quot-job/view/news/258540
Lots of discussion about Dieter Hecking as a possible replacement for Andre Schubert at Mönchengladbach. http://www.rp-online.de/sport/fussb...e-silhouette-von-dieter-hecking-aid-1.6475352
Franco Foda has reportedly turned down the job offer to be head coach of Karlsuher SC. Reason being the short period of time given to him for making a decision. His Sturm Graz team is currently 3rd place in the Austrian Bundesliga, and within 3 points of top spot in the standings. http://www.ligainsider.de/franco-foda_7659/absage-an-den-karlsruher-sc-167412/