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How will Terzić set up Borussia Dortmund? He never coached a professional team himself and talked very little about his tactical ideas. But he worked with Klopp, Tuchel, Wolf, Bilic and Favre. What does this mean for #BVB?
When asked about his idols as a youth coach at #BVB he mentioned Klopp and Tuchel. This is an influence he shares with a few young dortmund coaches who learned their trade under these head coaches and made the next step into professional football (Wagner, Farke, Siewert, Wolf).
Terzic worked closely with Hannes Wolf as a Dortmund youth coach. Wolf is famous for his tactical flexibility and possession oriented football, which often lack defensive solidity. One of his strength is the detailed scouting of his opponents. Also one of Terzić's strength.
7 years ago he joined Slaven Bilić to become assistant coach at Besiktas. Together they had a very successful time in Istanbul and beat Liverpool and Tottenham in the Europa League.
2 years later they moved to West Ham. In the following years West Ham played some of the most beautiful styles of football and deservedly finished 7th in the Premier League. Bilić got the Hammers to defend as a team and attack as a team.
West Ham mostly played in a 4-2-3-1 with two defensive DMs, very attacking fullbacks to cover width and three narrow attackers behind a lone striker. West Ham tried to play out of the back, favoured a short-passing game and progress the ball though the center. But they always..
.. had a very vertical approach. This lead to the term "Rock'n'Roll" football. This shouldn't be confused with "Heavy Metal" football! While Bilić certainly uses a more aggressive press than Favre, he favored a compact middle block and never went full Gegenpress like Klopp.
The double defensive midfield is something which is very characteristic of Bilić. But occasionally he played a 3-4-3 and a 4-1-2-3, which allowed Payet time and space to take control as an inverted playmaker/inside forward. But mostly he relied on this defensive block.
Something we know very well. When Terzic joined Borussia Dortmund to become Favre's assistant coach many thought that he was appointed to implement the Dortmund DNA into the coaching team. However, in some ways the style he learned with Bilić is similar to Favre's football idea
While Bilić's philosophy is clearly much more aggressive, vertical and "rock'n'roll" (I love that term), he shares a few ideas with Favre. The obvious one is the double defensive midfield. Something which could mean that Witsel/Delaney and Can will see the most playing time.
Another similarity is the narrow attacking shape. Reyna and Sancho are well suited to cut inside, but we have seen that our fullbacks prefer to cut inside as well. If that is something Favre preferred or which comes naturally for someone like Guerreiro remains to be seen.
What all the coaches Terzić worked with have in common is that they preferred a game that is focused on a smart build-up play, patience and a clean passing game, but also verticality and the ability to use counter attacks.
What will be interesting is how Terzić wants to progress the ball. While Favre wants to see a patient link-up in the wide areas, Bilić wants his team to progress the ball through the middle (which then frees up the fullbacks).
It would be interesting to see how a midfield of Delaney and Can would handle such an important role in build-up play. Another difference is the way they want to press the opponent. Bilić's press is extreme. While his line of engagement isn't very high the defensive line is.
This is where Terzić comes in. Of course he isn't a copy of the head coaches he worked with. We will see how he finds his own solution to the problems the squad has against team that sit deep and teams that mirror our shape and press man-to-man.
In the end we shouldn't expect to much of a change from a unexperienced coach who is appointed mid-season. But if we know anything about his philosophy it is from analyzing the people he worked with.
tldr: While Terzic was Favre's assistant coach, he hopefully also learned from Slaven Bilić. While the static of Bilić's teams was similar to Favre's 4-2-3-1, the way his team played was much more aggressive, vertical and robust. #BVB
Thanks for all the support. If I knew that this would get so much recognition, I would have checked for spelling errors.
