Julian Nagelsmann
Julian Nagelsmann is a manager without form or clear guiding principles.His teams can be as punk rock as Jürgen Klopp sides, as intense with the press as Marco Bielsa side’s and can soak up pressure as well as any Jose Mourinho side.Nagelsmann sits at the apex of up and coming managers, aged just 35, despite having already managed Hoffenheim, RB Leipzig & Bayern Munich.
The conclusion of the 22/23 Bundesliga season ended with Bayern Munich lifting the Meisterschale for the 11th consecutive time, winning the title on goal difference ahead of Borussia Dortmund.This has been a difficult season for Die Roten.The club lost the goals of Robert Lewandowski to FC Barcelona during the summer transfer window and struggled to replace his efficiency in front of goal throughout.
Early during the season, Nagelsmann used a quartet of attacking prowess up front selecting from a group that included Jamal Musiala, Thomas Müller, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, Leroy Sane and Sadio Mané.
The movement was fluid, almost anti-positional in approach ,with players given license to interact however best they saw.Midway through the season ,Eric Choupo-Mouting was introduced to be the teams central striking option, pinning opposition centre backs and largely restricting his movement to the width of the penalty box.
After the World Cup break,Yan Sommer was purchased from Borussia Mönchengladbach to replace the injured Manuel Neuer who was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Sommer joined a list of arrivals from the summer that included the exciting Mathys Tel, Ryan Gravenberch and Matthijs De Ligt as well as full back Noussair Mazraoui.
Thomas Tuchel was appointed manager on the 25th of March 2023 overseeing an exit to SC Freiburg in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals in his second match in charge. Bayern played well during the first leg of a UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City only to lose 3–0 before drawing the reverse fixture 1–1 at the Allianz Arena.
Somehow, after losing 3–1 to RB Leipzig on the penultimate match day of the season and suffering a 3–1 defeat to Mainz 05,Thomas Tuchel has won his first Meisterschale against all odds. Oliver Khan and Hasan Salihamidžić, instrumental in bringing the former Chelsea manager to the club, were dismissed after the conclusion of the match versus FC Köln. Throughout this crazy, turbulent season,it is hard to find someone who has benefitted more from it all than Julian Nagelsmann.
Just shortly after the turn of the year during the 15/16 season, 28 year old Julian Nagelsmann was appointed manager at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim .The youngest ever manager in the Bundesliga was still studying for his coaching license at the time finished the campaign winning 7 out of the remaining 14 fixtures that season.
During this time Nagelsmann also showed the virtues elite European clubs look for in managers/head coaches .A charismatic diplomat able to work within the pre – existing structure at a club that includes sporting & technical directors, CEOs, club presidents and so forth.
A perfect example is his former sporting director at Hoffenheim mentioning how his only demand one summer window was getting more players who spoke German so he could use English less often.
In his two full seasons, he finished 4th and 3rd, earning Hoffenheim ,Champions League football for two years. It was the perfect resume for his next move.
Nagelsmann joined RB Leipzig in the summer of 2019. Leipzig is part of Red Bull GmbH, an Austrian private company that has been highly active in purchasing football clubs around the world.RB Leipzig won promotion in 4 out of 7 seasons and took their first Bundesliga season during 2016/17.
During Nagelsmanns first season at Leipzig,Christopher Nkunku, Ademola Lookman and Dani Olmo arrived for large fees.
Dani Olmo had the following to say reflecting on Nagelsmann,: “The boss contacted me personally, before my transfer in January 2020. And I have to say he is the one who convinced me to come to Germany. He is an intense, sometimes peculiar guy, haha! But a very intelligent, passionate person, and a great communicator too.
“To be honest, I’m not even sure what the best adjective would be to describe him…. He is Nagelsmann. Pure intensity, pure emotion. It’s like … whatever comes to him, he lets it out. And the most important thing is that you know what he wants.
His first full season at RB Leipzig ended with 66 points in the league and a 3rd place finish.His second season, ended with 65 points and a 2nd place finish. Dominik Szobozslai, Alexander Sørtloth and Hee-chan Hwang arrived to replace Timo Werner and Jean-Kévin Augustin who had both left for English clubs.
Whilst at RB Leipzig, he took them to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, shortly after his 33rd birthday.
He is currently the youngest manager to reach the final 4 of the competition, surpassing a record set by a 35 year old Didier Deschamps, who was the manager of AS Monaco during their run to the 2003/04 final where they played José Mourinho’s Porto side.
Nagelsmann signed a 5 year deal with Bayern Munich to become the head coach for the 20/21 season.He only lasted 18 months in the role but to say that his time at the club was a failure would be inaccurate.
During his first interview with Bayern, the Bavarian-born manager revealed he used to sleep in Bayern red sheets as a kid growing up and that he would start doing it again now that he was at the helm of his boyhood club.
He won the title by 8 points in his first season at the club with Marcel Sabitzer and Dayot Upamecano joining him from RB Leipzig.It should be noted that David Alaba, Javi Martinez and Jerome Boateng were allowed to leave the club on free transfers.
Three experienced players who could have proved destructive to the young manager’s way of operating.
Bayern Munich m makes club signings, rarely do managers get a say in who gets purchased. The signings during his tenure were largley down to the pairing of Hasan Salihamidžić (sporting director) and Marco Neppe (Technical director).
Nagelsmann’s time at Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig working within similiar pre-existing structures made his appointment a no brainer.
Tactical Identity
- Nagelsmann likes the use of half spaces.His use of Leroy Sané is the best indication of this.Making the pitch as narrow as possible and as wide as necessary (Minimum Width).
- Minimum width allows for better counter-pressing, control over the middle of the pitch by only having 1 player out in the width zones at a time.
- Nagelsmann enjoys diagonal ground passes through central areas and this doesn’t align with having players occupying both width zones.
- During his time at RB Leipzig,Szoboszlai plays many of these diagonal ground passes.He has a great ball striking technique and continues to display this under Marco Rose’s management.
- His Bayern side played a compact zonal marking system that seeks to cover spaces and block off passing lanes.
- He has took Hansi Flick’s 4–2–3–1 and made it into a 3–2–2–3 in possession and a 4–3–3 out of possession so it had better balance.
- At their best, his sides resemble a 3–1–6 shape which can lead to some very attractive football.
