Anton Stach — Germany’s defensive midfielder?

Welcome. In Germany, there is currently a big debate about the “6er”/holding midfielder/ holding 6/defensive midfielder or whatever you want to call this position. In particular, the debate centers around the German National Team and Bayern Munich. Both teams have their defensive issues and concede too many chances and goals. German media and also Thomas Tuchel (with his interest in João Palhinha) seem to agree that a more defensive midfielder next to Kimmich/Gündogan will be the solution.

With this in the back of our heads, let’s take an in-depth look at Anton Stach.

The Basics

Stach is 25, 194 cm tall and plays for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. After his youth career he started out in Germany’s 4th tier and played for SSV Jedeloh II and VFL Wolfsburg II before moving to Greuther Fürth in 2020. After one season he transfered to FSV Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga where he played for 2 years. At the start of this season he got a move to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.

He had his “break-out-season” at Greuther Fürth where he played as the deepest midfielder in a 4-diamond-2 formation which put a lot of value on possession.

At Mainz his role changed. Mainz played with a 5–3–2 or a 5–2–3 with a focus on quick transitions and vertical play. At times he played as defensive midfielder but more often he played as a more advanced central midfielder as you can see below.

Hoffenheim plays a 3–5–2. So far he has played as the deepest midfielder but also as a more advanced central midfielder.

Different teams, different data

The videos above hint at different roles for Fürth and Mainz. The data can confirm that. All data is per90 and taken from fbref.

While the amount of progressive passes at Mainz and Fürth is similar, Stach had far less progressive passes received, a higher pass completion% and higher overall progressive distance through passing at Fürth. Due to his deeper midfield role at Fürth, Stach was able to progress the ball more while at Mainz he was often the recipient of progressive actions.

Other data underlines the difference in roles and tasks between Fürth and Mainz. At Mainz he had very few switches of play but a higher amount of shot-creating actions while it was vice versa at Fürth.

And looking at the distribution of his touches we can see a far higher amount in the final third at Mainz compared to a much higher amount of touches in the defensive and middle third at Fürth.

Now I haven’t lost a word about Stach’s data at Hoffenheim yet. First, the sample size is very low and he has played games as defensive midfielder and games as a more advanced central midfielder. Often dependent on the availability of Florian Grillitsch who typically plays as the deepest midfielder if he is available.
However, early signs from the data indicate that Stach takes up a more defensive role again with morr responsibility in progression while still getting a similar amount of final third touches and shot-creating actions.

He ecxels at

stopping transition moments and counter-attacks. This is a highly-valuable quality in today’s fast-paced games. With his size and long legs he has the ability to track runners and engage with a slide tackle or use of his body to win the ball back. Below are two excellent examples of tracking down runners and winning the ball with a well-timed tackle. Both against players (Leweling and Frimpong) with impressive top speeds up to 35–36 km/h.

Also, Stach does a great job at winning possession in situations where opponents dribble towards him or he is running shoulder to shoulder with an opponent. In these situations he uses his body well to unbalance his opponents to gain an advantage and take the ball away.

Another big defensive quality from him are interceptions. Throughout his four seasons in professional football from 2020/2021–2023/2024 he is ranked in the 97th, 99th, 97th, and 99th percentile among midfielders in his league. Below you can see why.

Stach is an aerially dominant player. One one hand, his heigt combined with good timing and high jumping power gives him the upper hand in most aerial duels. On the other hand, he uses his body well to get into a better position than his opponent befoe the ball arrives. Again looking at his 4 seasons in professional football, Stach has been in the 95th percentile for total aerial duels won while being in the 93rd, 99th, 99th and 76th percentile for success %.

In possession, Stach is reliable at switching play and circulating the ball. His long diagonal passes are accurate and he also plays great line-breaking passes into the feet of attacking players.

He stays calm under pressure and usually manages to retain possession. There are flashes where he can break pressure from opponents but usually he choses the safe option. Stach finds the right moments to support his teammates in order to release pressure.

Stach has long and powerful strides which he uses to carry the ball forward in open space. He has the rare ability to win a ball in his own third and carry it forward himself into the final third.

Needs to work on

his behavior in duels. Specifically, when opponents have his back turned towards him. Stach likes to speculate on the movement from opponents and can easily be dribbled past. He also tends to dive in at times and is prone to be beaten by quick changes of directions because he doesn’t slow down enough before the opponent gets the ball. Here are a few negative examples of this behavior with the exception of the bottom right one. Here he shows how good he can be by easily holding his ground to Victor Boniface.

Additionally, Stach needs to learn how to control the rythm of a game. Most likely due to his time at Mainz he tends to play vertical in many moments instead of slowing things down at times. When playing as a defensive midfielder, he needs to work on holding his position more as he tends to drift forward quickly.
While Stach’s passing execution is on a high level, there are many situations where he doesn’t recognize opportunites to switch play or play forward because of poor body orientation. He doesn’t open up his body enough when receiving horizontal passes. Hence, he is not aware of better passing opportunities. In the video on the left hips facing towards the goal would allow him to play a faster pass and recognize the incoming opponent. In the video on the right hips facing towards goal would give him the chance to play to the centre and break lines.

Development, Potential and ideal position

Stach is a very good Bundesliga player. How good he will be depends on the position/role he will play. If he plays as a central midfielder who will drive forward and play a more advanced role, he will stay a very good midfielder. If he plays as a defensive midfielder, he has all the physical and technical tools to be an outstanding player. Looking back to his time at Fürth it’s clearly visible that he had traits to be an outstanding defensive midfielder.

It’s unfortunate that Mainz used him in a different role which didn’t accelerate his development. However, with a few improvements, like his behavior in duels or tendency to advance forward, which are all easily coachable, Stach can be Germany’s best defensive midfielder. I can see him as Germany’s solution as the defensive part next to Kimmich/Gündogan. He is a Declan Rice/João Palhinha in training.

The key for this development will be detailed coaching and the role he plays a Hoffenheim. Ideally, he needs to play instead of Florian Grillitsch as the deepest midfielder and not next to him.