Tuchel vs. Schmidt: Which Bundesliga tactician can usurp Guardiola’s crown?

 

With Pep Guardiola leaving the Bundesliga in May, the crown for ‘best tactician in Germany’ will be vacated and waiting to be claimed. 

The two front runners, no doubt, go head to head this weekend as Thomas Tuchel’s Borussia Dortmund side have a short trip ahead of them to take on Roger Schmidt’s Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena.

Carlo Ancelotti will succeed Guardiola at Bayern and be judged on his work in Munich, but there are already managers in Germany’s top flight just waiting for recognition.

The Italian will, naturally, be one of the finest coached in the Bundesliga next season; his CV is unparalleled in the country and speaks for itself, though he is more of a man manager than a man of meticulous tactics and systems. Superb at letting his players feel good and fielding balanced teams, Ancelotti comes across as more of a philosopher in the dressing room than a scientist on the training ground.

Schmidt and Tuchel are certainly men who work on every detail in training, but that may well be all they share. Two super tacticians, their differing philosophies are what makes the Sunday’s game so intriguing.

Making a real name for himself with Red Bull Salzburg, where he took over in 2012. His first season at the club saw him finish second in the Austrian Bundesliga, but his side swept everything before them in his second campaign to win the title by 18 points, scoring a huge 110 goals in 36 games. Familiar names like Kevin Kampl and Sadio Mané earned a lot of the credit, and the team even went to the last 16 of the Europa League, where they narrowly lost to Champions League regulars FC Basel. The most stunning and Schmidt-like performance came against AFC Ajax, with the Austrians winning 3-0 in Amsterdam (with all three goals scored in the first half).

Playing an incredibly high and intense press, Schmidt’s side really caught the eye. They beat Bayern Munich in a winter friendly, and he earned the job at Bayer Leverkusen, where he has implemented the same style of play.

Essentially playing a 4-2-4, if we were to label it, opposition sides are given no time in possession and are forced to play long balls. Any fifty-fifty challenges are won by Schmidt’s men, who are always so organised they are positioned perfectly for counterpressing situations. On the ball they rush forward at lightning speed, which inspires fear at its best but leads to profligacy at its worst.

When the pressing doesn’t come off, the high line of the defence is easily exposed and the space in behind them is exploited. Likewise, the gung-ho approach doesn’t always serve Leverkusen well on the ball, with chances wasted and more finesse needed to break down stubborn opponents.
Nonetheless, Schmidt’s career as a coach is still relatively young and he has shown an ability to teach his players a style which can stifle and unsettle the very best teams: this season alone Barcelona and Bayern Munich have been made to look somewhat limited and fortunate to come away with good results when facing Bayer.

Around 70km to the northeast of Leverkusen, Thomas Tuchel is making an impression as he implements his philosophy at Dortmund. Playing something much closer to a 4-3-3 than 4-2-3-1, Tuchel preaches like the student of Guardiola that he is. He seems to value nothing more than the concept of universality, and looks to control games with the ball, rather than forcing turnovers.

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It’s a valuable and measured approach, and one that has served Dortmund very well so far this season. The athletic and offensive fullbacks stretch the pitch, giving the magic midfielders at Tuchel’s disposal as much space as possible to work in. The positioning of these players is rigid and fluid at the same time, a testament to the tactics and training of the head coach as well as how much mutual respect there is between him and his squad.

Already rated the best young coach in Germany when at FSV Mainz 05, Tuchel has already gone some way to underlining those credentials in his first truly big job. Dortmund are playing some of the best football in Europe, impressing everyone during the first half of the season and most recently brushing aside Portuguese giants Porto in the first leg of a Europa League last 32 tie. The season has been an impressive one, but there are still flaws to iron out.

Both Tuchel and ex-BVB boss Jürgen Klopp managed at Mainz.

Throughout the Hinrunde, BVB lit up the pitch when going forward. A sight to behold, the Black and Yellows were dangerous but equally porous at the back. Whether there were too many men committed to attacks or not enough organisation in the counterpressing remains to be seen, as Dortmund aren’t really playing the same anymore.

Sure, the defence is tighter, but the attack is not as treacherous as it was from August through to December. 

 

Opposition sides have learnt to isolate Sokratis on the ball, to sit off a little and remain compact in their own third while applying some pressure in the middle third. Possibly without Ilkay Gündogan this weekend, it could be about to get worse.

Over the last month, Tuchel’s Dortmund have stumbled. However they have not yet come unstuck.
Back in September, an out-of-form Leverkusen were humbled 3-0 at the Westfalenstadion, but now could be the perfect time for revenge.

Bayer have rediscovered their form, their rhythm and their compactness. Ingolstadt, Hertha BSC and Hannover have all put Dortmund on the ropes before being overpowered; but could Leverkusen finish them off?

Tuchel has shown himself to be something of a Klopp antithesis at BVB, whereas Roger Schmidt’s teams attempt to play like the bespectacled Liverpool boss has pumped caffeine into the blood stream of a starting 11.

Both men want their sides to control, but Tuchel hopes to control the ball with possession while Schmidt’s teams hope to control what the opposition can do with their intense pressing game. Two very talented head coaches, two polar opposite philosophies, two princes to Pep Guardiola’s king. Who will be the next great innovator of Bundesliga tactics?

CREDIT:http://www.squawka.com/news/tuchel-vs-schmidt-which-bundesliga-tactician-can-usurp-guardiolas-crown/602379