When Niko Kovac joined Eintracht Frankfurt in March 2016, he took charge of a chaotic club. Eintracht were all over the place, both on and off the field and hadn’t even seen a glimpse of a defence since Armin Veh left the club in 2014. Kovac took charge of a shipwreck the size of Titanic, but the Berlin-born Croatian had a plan for the club as a whole.
Niko Kovac managed to end his first season at the club with some kind of a success. Eintracht Frankfurt managed to escape relegation by beating Nuremberg over two legs in the play-off after a horrible spring during which, Kovac himself had changed barely anything tactically. The team still played with four at the back, a so called Viererkette, and had many injuries. His choices were limited and the players he had to rely on were mainly the very injury prone Alexander Meier, a legend at the club, and Haris Seferovic, the Swiss striker who can’t seem to find the goal despite his attempts. He went into the summer with a clear plan. He knew what he wanted to do come August and he began to invest. However, due to Eintracht’s financial restrictions, he couldn’t sign whoever he wanted, nor could he actually sign anyone. He loaned a few players and managed to negotiate very small sums for rather unknown abilities. Omar Mascarell was signed from Real Madrid, and so was Jesus Vallejo. Branimir Hrgota joined the club from Borussia Mönchengladbach and Ante Rebic joined on loan from Fiorentina. While these were encouraging signs for a fan like myself, Eintracht still looked weak and most experts still tipped them to finish bottom or in vicinity of the play-off spot.
20 months after his appointment and Eintracht Frankfurt are at another level. As a fan, I can’t remember a time when Eintracht were this good and this reliable, but then again, I wasn’t even alive when they almost won the league in 1992. In this article, I will look at the tactics behind Niko Kovac’s rise to glory and how he has taken Eintracht from being relegation addicts to being one of the best away teams in Europe.
Fünferkette
Five at the back, that’s what it’s all been about. Germany has been involved in a defensive revolution as of late. Coaches like Peter Stöger (Köln and now Borussia Dortmund), Manuel Baum (FC Augsburg), Domenico Tedesco (Schalke), Hannes Wolf (VfB Stuttgart) and Julian Nagelsmann (Hoffenheim) have all started to prefer having a good defence rather than a good attack. A flexible defence with an idea going forward has been the plan for all of these. Niko Kovac has not been an exception to this new rule in Bundesliga. Many of these managers have also started to play with a 5-3-2, with dynamic wingbacks and one striker that drifts wide. At Eintracht Frankfurt, Niko Kovac started the 2016/2017 campaign with five at the back and hasn’t looked back since. Last season, it worked wonders most of the time. Eintracht were placed fourth in the league going into the winter break and through some astute defensive performances, Eintracht had become a team to fear, especially at home. Timothy Chandler and Bastian Oczipka on the flanks, both providing width, defensive stability and an ever-existing outlet proved vital for this new and hip system.
Eintracht under Kovac
Oczipka and Chandler were truly pivotal for Eintracht’s yesterseason and while the season ended on a low, with a lost cup final and a horrible Rückrunde where they only picked up two wins, the season as a whole and the tactics that went with it proved to be a step in the right direction for die Adler vom Mainhattan. Going into this season, the same idea was there. Five at the back with dynamic, but still defensively stable, wing backs who provide width, stability and can act as an outlet. When Bastian Oczipka left the club to join Tedesco’s Schalke, where he plays almost an identical role as he did at Frankfurt, Kovac knew the exact player type that needed investing in. Thus, Jetro Willems was brought in from PSV.
That brings us to this season and the wonders that have followed it. Eintracht Frankfurt sit at fourth, only one point from Bayer Leverkusen at second and have the best away record in Bundesliga. Kovac hasn’t changed much in his tactics, albeit a few minor tweaks here and there. I intend to explain those here.
Frankfurt have almost fielded the same 5-3-2 as last season. However, something has changed. Instead of fielding a defensive playmaker behind two more dynamic atttacking midfielders, like Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim, Kovac has turned the whole system into a more attacking one. The fans were last season able to witness several great performances from the Serbian central midfielder Mijat Gacinovic and that has changed Kovac’ mind. This season, instead of driving from deep with the ball at his feet, Mijat Gacinovic has two very capable defensive midfielders behind him in Kevin Prince Boateng and Omar Mascarell, who give the serbian much more space and time in front of the opponent’s defence. He can now receive the ball in the final third of the pitch and can deliver a killer pass to either one of the two strikers or to one of the inverted wing backs who tend to drift inside while the team is in possession. This move has led to a few goals and a plethora of chances for Eintracht this season.
Pressing
Another key aspect of Kovac’ system is the effective pressing. It isn’t at all unique for the Croatian, it’s more or less become a template for all post-Klopp managers in German football, but it’s still a prominent tactic at Eintracht. It can be observed in all parts of the pitch. A good example was to be found against Freiburg at home last weekend. Freiburg’s central defender Robin Koch was in possession of the ball. Instantly, winger-turned-striker Ante Rebic was there to press him while Koch’s choices were limited by some very directed marking. Rebic’ striking partner Sebastien Haller quickly positioned himself between Koch and the other centre back who was lined up as the next receiver of the ball. To further minimize Koch’s prospects of playing the ball forward in a constructive manner, both Mijat Gacinovic and Kevin Prince Boateng started to work together to press Koch and cover any possibility he had of a pass. Koch had to take the ball forward himself and managed to do just that, until he was stopped by Mascarell in the middle of the pitch. Mascarell won back the ball and used his magnificent right foot to ping the ball forward in an attempt to counter. This counter attack ended in a shot on goal and a corner kick for die Adler.
It’s very simple, but highly effective. Frankfurt’s pressing has undergone some minor changes since last season as well. By using summer signing Sebastien Haller as the main striker with Ante Rebic, Eintracht have two strikers who can press and cover with ease. Rebic is the tenacious one who keeps on running, while Haller uses his cleverness to cover any possibility of a pass. However, Eintracht’s wing backs have also been much more able to press than last season. Eintracht use the pendulum principle while pressing an opponent. This is used by both Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim and Tedesco’s Schalke. I aim to explain this manouvre in the next chapter.
Pendulum principle
When using a 5-3-2, pressing an opponent might seem stale and odd. Due to the positioning of the players and the often more defensive approach, pressing might be a case of the attackers pressing the opponent’s central defenders or something alike. However, in Kovac’ Eintracht, every player on the pitch participate in the pressing. For example, let’s say that the opponent’s winger or wing back has the ball on the left flank, Eintracht’s right flank that is. This means that the right wing back, American international Timothy Chandler, goes up to press the player in possession of the ball. This creates a rather big hole behind him, which the opponents could exploit with ease. To counter this, the right centre back covers that space and the central defender follows and so on. This forms a back line of four behind the wing back that presses. It’s like a pendulum which swings back and forth, hence minimizing the possibility of space exploitation. While the pendulum swings, the right sided central midfielder also drifts out to press the opponent, while Mijat Gacinovic in his attacking role also covers any possibility of a pass. While the player in possession of the ball becomes closed, all other players on the pitch starts to mark and cover. Minimizing space exploitation and covering any passing possibilities has therefore become the way forward for Kovac and his Eagles from Mainhattan.
Pendulum principle if the ball is in possession of the opponent’s LB
The Libero
The final thing I’d like to discuss and develop is the role of the libero. Eintracht’s system is through the use of a modern libero much like Nagelsmann’s Hoffenheim. At Eintracht, the quick and strong Argentinian David Abraham is deployed as a libero. He covers the space behind the centre backs, which allows them to push up. The usage of a libero in this system is perfect for another reason, however. David Abraham possesses a great right foot. As a ball-playing central defender he has the ability to place long balls and to be a big part of the build-up. Abraham’s role at Eintracht is therefore pivotal. He uses his speed and strength to dispossess any physically imposing attacker, while still possessing the calm nature needed to be able to distribute threatening balls and instigate attacks. This practically means that he tends to move forward with the ball, thus becoming a defensive midfielder behind Mascarell and Boateng. Through his ability, Abraham has become the perfect player for this role and for Kovac’ system and he is one of the key players in this highly successful outfit.
Taking a team like Eintracht Frankfurt as they were in March 2016 to one cup final, one cup quarter final and to proper stability in the crazy Bundesliga is impressive. Niko Kovac keeps on improving however, keeps on building and keeps on performing with his machine. Kovac’ career as a player was full of glory. However, we might see him reach even further as a coach. There are many promising signs and his love for the game and his knowledge has built something beautiful at Mainhattan. While it’s still early, most fans are full of hope for the future. Kovac has brought hope where there was none, he has brought light where there was only darkness. He has given the fans something to enjoy in a club where only the shadows in the dust had time to listen. This beautiful creation of his, this 5-3-2 with dynamic wing backs, might just be part of a defensive revelation in Germany. Albeit, it could also be the beginng of something bigger, it could just be the beginning of a new era for Eintracht Frankfurt.
Tacticomotion 