Julian Nagelsmann, at only 35 one of the youngest managers around, has been a breath of fresh air within German football. He mixes a youthful, confident personality with intelligent, progressive ideas and a brilliant, tactical mind.
Back in England, Tottenham’s last three appointments have followed a very worrying pattern. Older, more pragmatic managers have been favoured by a club with a desire for immediate success.
As shown by the evidence, it did not work. Not in the slightest! The squad needed to be developed before it could achieve success, and it needed a manager who had the ability to do that and the patience to work with the squad while it was developing.
Our last ‘successful’ manager was Poch, and interestingly he is of a similar profile to Nagelsmann. We don’t have the ability to spend money like City, Chelsea or United, and therefore we can’t hope for a ‘quick fix’.
We need a manager who is prepared to stick it out for the long-term and build the team gradually – one who can develop players and squeeze every last drop of talent out of them, at the same time instilling an attractive style of play.
However, this is a lot easier said than done and it will take a special person. There are not many coaches who could do this, but I believe Nagelsmann is one but he will not be on the market for long.
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This is why this opportunity is so perfect, and if we miss out on it then we risk being left with a coach that doesn’t tick all the right boxes.
I believe Tottenham fans will be happy with this approach – they have shown they will back a manager while he is developing a squad, as was the case when Poch was the boss.
Indeed most Tottenham fans would welcome him back. The important thing is that the fans can see there is a plan in place, and a desire to play attractive football.
What has he shown that makes him such an attractive option?
Nagelsmann began his career at Hoffenheim in 2016, with many doubting that such a young manager had what it took to compete at the elite level. He soon proved them wrong, with his innovative tactical ideas and ability to adapt to different opponents.
He led Hoffenheim to back-to-back Champions League qualification finishes in his first two years at the club. In his third season there was a slight drop-off, but that did not stop him from getting a big move to RB Leipzig ahead of the 19/20 season.
In his two seasons at RB Leipzig, he finished 3rd and then 2nd in the Bundesliga, whilst also reaching the semi-finals of the champions league.
He impressed so much that Real Madrid have been keeping an eye on him for some time, before he was picked up by Bayern ahead of the 21/22 season (Athletic).
At Bayern, the performances of Nagelsmann’s team were largely very impressive. If you look at this season, they have won every Champions league game including dominating PSG over two legs, and are still favourites to win the title in Germany despite a slight wobble in form.
In the summer, they lost arguably their best player in Lewandowski and have been playing the majority of this season with Choupo-Moting up top. Whilst he has played at a decent level, he has not reached anywhere near the heights of Lewandowski (few can).
Because of this, Nagelsmann has had to explore lots of different options to remain such a potent attacking threat. If you look at the two legs against PSG, he went with a 4-2-3-1 formation in the first leg and a 3-4-2-1 in the second leg.
I watched both of these games, and Bayern dominated each game and never looked like they would be heading out of the competition.
The players looked comfortable in both formations, and it was clear that the tactical understanding of the squad was top-drawer.
Nagelsmann experiments a lot with individuals too, trying to find the best area of the pitch for certain players to operate in. As an example of this, Musiala has become one of the key players during the Nagelsmann era, yet he has not been played in the same position often.
He has played in the false nine role, out wide, centrally behind the striker and even in a midfield three. It seems to be not so much about the position that an individual player is best suited to, or the formation that the team are playing, but more about where he can put each player against a particular opposition team to best use their attributes and to win the game.
If you look at Conte, he is stuck in his ways with three at the back and his style focuses more on the one system and players fitting into this, rather than finding a solution for the squad at his disposal to get the best out of them.
When was the last time that Conte put out a surprise line-up, or made an impressive tactical tweak to win a game? No, I can’t remember either.
Nagelsmann is one of the best at developing players and that is something that we are crying out for. He works excellently with young players: witness the praise he received for his involvement with the academy at Bayern (Bavarianfootball).
What are the areas for concern?
His time at Bayern Munich ended prematurely. There were a few off-the-field issues that I believe led to his sacking, rather than anything to do with performances on the field.
The first issue was with Manuel Neuer and their goalkeeping coach, Toni Tapalovic. Tapalovic had been with Bayern since 2011 and had coached Neuer throughout his career. When he was sacked, Neuer gave an explosive interview, slating the club for the decision.
There were very strong rumours that the main reason for his sacking was a falling out with Nagelsmann, and it’s likely this would have caused a big stir in the dressing room, especially as Neuer is club captain (DailyMail).
Another issue arose when Nagelsmann was fined over 50,000 euros and forced to publicly apologise for unsportsmanlike conduct towards a referee (APnews).
I believe these off-the-field issues had such an effect at Bayern Munich because they have a reputation to uphold, for being a ‘classy’ club, and they would not have been okay with being dragged down and risking reputational damage.
Issues like this are not something they have a history of and maybe they felt as though it was the safer option to get rid of Nagelsmann.
What players currently in the squad would be best suited to his style and who should be worried?
Whilst Nagelsmann likes to adapt and change formations and the roles of players from match to match, his identity and philosophy stay consistent.
During his time at Bayern Munich, his team had an average of 64.7% ball possession, while before that his Leipzig team enjoyed an average of 58% (Sofascore).
He likes his team to maintain possession, and uses the ‘gegen-press’, with his teams pressing high, when out of possession.
His Leipzig team in particular was known for their energy and aggressiveness. He plays with his backline high up the pitch, similar to how we played under Poch, with an emphasis on overlapping full-backs.
Players that thrived under him were Angelino, the LWB/LB from his time at Leipzig, Joshua Kimmich at Bayern, who excelled as a high-energy central midfielder, as well as Upamencano and Konate at Leipzig, who were two tall, fast, strong and athletic centre-halves. Timo Werner also had an excellent spell while under him at Leipzig.
The main players that I believe should be most excited by the prospect of working under him would be Udogie and Porro, who will both shine next season. Also, I believe that Son, after his poor form this season, would see his role change dramatically under Nagelsmann.
But the two that I am most excited to see develop with Nagelsmann in charge are Kulusevski and Romero. With Nagelsmann’s desire to see his fullbacks to push on, his wide attackers often look to drift infield and play just off the striker.
It is a role that I believe Kulusevski will thrive in, similar to the role we have seen Bernardo Silva play at Manchester City, and the outcome could make Kulu unplayable.
Romero would be a monster under Nagelsmann, with the recovery pace and aggression to allow him to thrive. Bissouma would also be excited to play in a more possession-based team, as would Bentancur.
With Nagelsmann in charge, it would be more of a squad game, due to his constant player rotation. Therefore, no players who add something of value should lack game-time, hopefully avoiding any more Djed Spence-type situations.
However, there are some players at the Spurs who I believe would need to be moved on. Eric Dier is not a player who can play in a back two or three on the halfway line, as he does not have the necessary recovery pace or awareness, so he would really struggle to see game time and I believe that, if Nagelsann were to take over now, a player like Davinson Sanchez would get more minutes than Dier.
Ben Davies does not suit the profile of fullback that Nagelsmann is looking for, and neither do Perisic or Emerson. If Nagelsmann were to come in, I think we would see Perisic revert to his old role, as a winger/inside forward, similar to the role he plays for Croatia.
I think our midfield would be fine, but the lack of a creative midfielder could be a problem going forward. For me, this was the main problem under Conte.
Our squad has some fantastic players and, whilst it is lacking defensively, I felt there was so much more that could be achieved with the current group of players if we had focused on recruiting a creative man at the centre.
Key signings
The main personnel needed are a centre-half, goalkeeper, full-back (where we need more depth) and creative midfielder.
We need at least two new central defenders, to play alongside Romero, preferably one marquee signing and one young prospect who is nevertheless ready to step in if needed.
A creative midfielder is also a necessity to offer a different option in our attack, which would really come to the fore under Nagelsmann, with his ability to change the formation and use the whole squad.
I would go all out for James Maddison this summer. A player that I would like to see given another go at Spurs is Reguilon, who I think could fill in well as an option under Nagelsmann.
Ideally, Nagelsmann would come in immediately so he could assess the squad before the summer, but unfortunately, it looks as though we will have to wait until the end of the season for our chance, by which time Real Madrid and other clubs are likely to be sniffing around.
We face a huge challenge to get him in, but if we do, I think it could be a very exciting appointment.
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