Former Hudderfield and Schalke boss David Wagner has been mentioned as a potential replacement for Phillip Cocu in the Derby dugout. But what would the German bring to Pride Park? We spoke with Dan from the Huddersfield podcast And He Takes That Chance to find out all about him.
What style did Huddersfield play under David Wagner? Did he have a Plan B? If so, what was it?
Style of Play – Plan A
High Press – Press was usually started from the forward then backed up by the 3 behind. Much like Liverpool play now. Usually a high line at the top of the field to ‘push’ the opposition wide in deep areas then pounce.
Formation on paper was usually 4-2-3-1, but in game this moved to be more of a 3-5-1-1 as 1 of the 2 CMs usually dropped to make a back 3, and the 2 full backs pushed higher up the pitch to almost play as wingers. Main aim was to get the ball wide. Full backs pushed on and the 2 wide men in the ‘3’ used to tuck in to allow this to happen. Central man in the ‘3’ played deeper and almost as a ‘quarterback’ to play the ball through to the wide men.
Style of Play – Plan B
Wasn’t often needed as Plan A was so successful. However he wasn’t afraid to make changes in games if not working. Few times when up against teams that stifled out usually short, quick passing style by playing a ‘low block’ he would change and put a ‘big man’ up top and go longer. Sometimes it was a Centre Half that went up and it worked on a few occasions, Rochdale in the cup being one where the pitch was bad so we couldn’t play on the ground, he noticed it and put Michael Hefele (a Centre Half) up front and he scored twice!
What is David Wagner like as a coach?
Very technical. Imposed a simple but effective style of play. Was not a great deal of flamboyance in the side but from 1 to 11 everyone was in sync all the time and knew their remit within the team. He was never phased by bring the ‘little’ team and used it a motivational factor and built up lesser quality players to make up a team that could perform way better than the sum of its parts
Phillip Cocu was often criticized for his reserved approach to the game. Does David Wagner have an out-going personality?
Studious is a word that would spring to mind, obviously a very intelligent man who has studied the game and tactical side in depth, you can see that in the way he plays. On a match day though he changed, once the whistle went he was fully involved, edge of his technical area offering encouragement, few times after goals he was on the pitch celebrating with the players. Last minute winner vs Leeds being an example as he did a ‘Mourinho’ and ran the length of the field to join the pile of players at the corner flag celebrating.
Derby have a lot of young players, how does Wagner develop youngsters?
Developed them well. In his time at Town he pushed the ability of the young players on way more than anyone thought possible. Tommy Smith went from being a fringe player at right back to club captain and stand out player under Wagner. He also brought in young loan players from Premier League clubs and integrated them alongside more experienced pros and you could the ability getting better week on week
How was David Wagner in the transfer market? Did he make good signings? Did he waste money?
In 2016/17 (Championship promotion season) Wagner brought in cheap players across the side, a lot of unknowns and nobody had a clue how they would work out. He was clever though as he bought a lot that he knew he could work with and mold rather than a ‘ready-made’ player and the results speak for themselves. He utilized loans very well too. Total spend that season as around £4m, for around 10 players which ended in promotion so a very good return on the investment.
The 2017/18 season was similar. Although spent around £50m a chunk of that was making some loans permanent signings, and moving up the Premier League a lot of investment was needed to compete, but the £50m was stretched across around nine players so not massive amount spent on individuals. Again he looked for players he could mold into his style and ultimately make better which proved its worth as we stayed up
2018/19 seemed to move away from the previous mantra of looking for players to develop and we made some big money signings that never really worked out. There are various opinions as to who was actually responsible for the recruitment that summer (personally I think it had been taken away from Wagner but others will tell you otherwise!) and we signed a lot of flops and wasted a fair amount of money and had a really poor season which lead to Wagner leaving the club.
What happened with Wagner at Hudderfield? Was Premier League relegation solely attributed to him?
A lot went on behind the scenes at Town that season, and I think it was a culmination of a lot of things that came together against us that needed up with the relegation. As above, we didn’t recruit well. The chairman (who worked VERY closely with Wagner) was seriously ill and was away from the club for long periods which didn’t help. I think the club got a little bit ahead of itself and suffered massively from ‘second season’ syndrome. We had a bad start in terms of fixtures and lost the first few games and never really recovered, the rot set in and we couldn’t get out of it. I think Wagner had us punching above our weight for two seasons and suffered a bit of a burn out. I got the impression he was being taken away for media things too often and it took him away from coaching which he didn’t like and he was probably trying to do too much and keep hold of too many tasks for himself. Very sad as a lot of people say that season has tarnished his reputation at Town and also in wider football but there was a lot more against him that just what was happening on the field.
Derby recently brought back Steve McClaren to serve as "Technical Advisor," did Wagner work with a technical director/director of football at Huddersfield? If not, do you think he could adapt to working with someone else?
Seemed very close with his coaching staff, he brought his own people in with him who he worked with before at Dortmund and they all had a great relationship and that fed down to everyone else not only in the squad, but at the Club. When Wagner arrived it almost changed overnight and the feeling of togetherness was unbelievable at times, literally everyone on the same page which is rare for a football club.
Derby are currently bottom of the Championship, do you think David Wagner would be able to turn The Rams' fortunes around?
He will 100% give it his best shot. Looking at Derby squad there are some good players in there, maybe lost their way a little bit but Wagner will come in and look to change that straight away, and if a similar impact as at Town it will be clear to see from match one. Results may not come immediately, as finesses needed to implement the style takes time to build up but if they don’t, stick with it and him and eventually fortunes will change.