New manager Jan Siewert could prove the ideal candidate to get the Huddersfield Town playing more attacking football.
He arrives in England with a history of intense offensive play in German and will be tasked with transforming Huddersfield Town’s fortunes.
They sit bottom of the Premier League table with, their 11 points 10 away from safety.
If Siewert achieves his mission then we could see some of the Terriers’ cheaper options present themselves as viable budget enablers between now and the end of the season, but there is certainly a long way to go.
We’ve read up on the former Borussia Dortmund coach to see what impact he could have at the John Smith’s Stadium.
What is his career history?
It must be said that Siewert has not had much experience of managing first teams at a high level, but is well-respected in Germany for the work he achieved at youth level.
He retired from playing professional football in his country’s lower leagues in 2009, landing his first coaching role in 2013. That was with the German Football Association where he was assistant manager to Christian Wuck with the Under 18s, before doing some work with the Under 17s.
After two years Siewert landed his first managerial job with Rot-Weiss Essen in the fourth tier, before becoming the assistant to Gertjan Verbeek at Vfl Bochum in the Bundesliga in 2016. After working with their Under-19s, he was brought in to manage Borussia Dortmund II, who operate in the fourth tier.
Arriving at Huddersfield this week, Siewert is now the Premier League’s youngest manager, aged just 36. While it may appear like a left-field appointment, with some criticism of the decision to avoid more tried and tested English candidates, the German has been on the club’s radar for some time.
He explained in his first press conference as Huddersfield boss that contact had been made by the Terriers two years ago when he was working at Bochum. Siewert, then 34, was lined-up as a potential replacement for predecessor David Wagner if he was offered a position at a bigger club that he couldn’t refuse. That line of communication has remained intact ever since, making his appointment relatively seamless both for the club and Siewert himself.
“We stayed in touch since I worked at Bochum. I did my work there and, until my contract was up with the club, I did my work there full time. We were in touch and I followed what was happening here in Huddersfield. It was really fascinating for me. This is a special club and that is the reason I decided to sign for Huddersfield Town.” – Jan Siewert
What is the view from Germany?
Just as Wagner was when he joined Huddersfield in 2015, Siewert comes to England as a relative unknown. Thankfully, Huddersfield’s local newspaper the Examiner spoke to Sascha Klaverkamp, a journalist at Dortmund newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten to report how he is viewed in his own country.
“Jan Siewert is a young coach, he has worked in Dortmund for one-and-a-half years now with the second team. His style is an attacking style of football. It is not the style of Jurgen Klopp, who also came from Dortmund and played an attacking style here before doing the same in Liverpool. Siewert is a coach who likes to form young players, develop talent and work with young players. Before he moved to Dortmund, he worked in Bochum, which is a city 20 or 30 kilometres away, where he worked with a young squad. Before that, he worked for the German Football Association also with young players, so he is the man who develops and improves young players.” – Sascha Klaverkamp
What is his style of play?
Siewert has been a proponent of a fluid 4-3-3 formation, with a focus on attack and the use of exciting wingers.
That could make for a refreshing change from the 3-5-2 and 3-5-1-1 systems played under Wagner this season before recent experiments with 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-2-1.
Whether Siewert is able to use his preferred formation remains to be seen, with him leaving his options open in his first press conference. While stressing the importance of his ideas, he also admitted he needs time to assess the squad before he can confirm his favoured tactics will work with the group.
“We are in a certain situation at the moment and the team is in a certain situation at the moment, so first of all, I have to understand the players. Then we can do everything, but the most important thing is that my style is my style. We can talk flowery about everything, but the most important thing is to work it out with the players. They are important. Then we will see and the people will see this is our football.” – Jan Siewert
With his success in working at youth level, we could also see some of the younger players in Huddersfield’s squad given a chance to play.
What effect could Siewert have on FPL?
Front-three
If Siewert does play with a front three, it could see Steve Mounié (£5.8m) or Laurent Depoitre (£5.1m) given much more support than they have had so far in 2018/19.
The pair has just one goal between them in the first 23 Gameweeks, while Huddersfield’s top scorer in the Premier League is centre-back Matthias ‘Zanka’ Jorgensen (£4.4m) on three.
However, whether Siewert has the right personnel to play with attacking wingers effectively remains to be seen. Only Everton (523) have attempted more crosses than Huddersfield (510) so far this season, but the Terriers rank 10th for their completion rate (23.7%). Furthermore, only four teams have recorded fewer key passes than the West Yorkshire side in 2018/19 (183).
Wagner largely preferred to allow wing-backs such as Chris Löwe (£4.4m), Erik Durm (£4.4m), Florent Hadergjonaj (£4.4m) to provide the width, his options further up the pitch a little uninspiring.
Adama Diakhaby (£4.5m) and Isaac Mbenza (£5.9m) are both capable of playing on either flank but neither has registered more than 560 minutes this season. The former could also play up front, as he did against Manchester City.
The latter and Elias Kachunga (£4.8m) have both been involved in the last few Gameweeks. Mbenza has started two of the last three in either wide or central positions, while Kachunga has featured from the beginning in every league match since Gameweek 21.
Alex Pritchard (£4.8m) has predominantly been used as a central player for Huddersfield but could be used either wide left or right. That might be the only way he could fit into Siewert’s 4-3-3 if he chooses to go with that formation, as he is more of an attacking midfield than one who could sit in a midfield trio.
Jason Puncheon (£4.2m) looks likely to remain in the central midfield trio, having played there since arriving on loan from Crystal Palace. He could theoretically be used as one of the wide players in the 4-3-3 but at the age of 32, he may not be able to offer the same level of pace as he used to.
Abdelhamid Sabiri (£4.3m) could also be an option on the left but has been missing with a shoulder injury since early December. He might be back in the fold in early February though.
Meanwhile, Rajiv van La Parra (Middlesbrough), Collin Quaner (Ipswich), and Ramadan Sobhi (Al Ahly) have all gone out on loan as they were considered surplus to requirements.
Crucially, those nine candidates for a place on the flanks of a Siewert front-three combine for a total of just one assist this season, showing that there is certainly plenty of hard work to be done.
Alternatively, wing-backs Löwe, Hadergjonaj and Durm are theoretically capable of playing further up the pitch, and their experience of providing width could see Siewert take the bold decision of deploying one of them on the flanks of attacking midfield. Given their prices, that would certainly be worthy of note for Fantasy managers. Outside of Mounié (four), Löwe is Huddersfield’s top assister this season with two.
Central midfield
If Siewert does implement his favoured 4-3-3 system at Huddersfield, it will be interesting to see who is handed a place in central midfield.
As already explained, Puncheon is sure to be a candidate having started his first two league matches in Yorkshire since arriving from Palace.
However, Phillip Billing (£4.5m), out through injury against Manchester City, and Jonathan Hogg (£4.4m) have largely been mainstays this season and one of them might have to miss out in order to accommodate Aaron Mooy (£5.1m) when he returns.
The Australian has stepped up his recovery from a knee injury in recent days, taking part in a group training session on the John Smith’s Stadium pitch after the defeat to Manchester City on Sunday. While Pritchard is not particularly suited to a traditional central midfield role, preferring instead to play further forward, Mooy’s contributions both offensively and defensively make him an ideal candidate to do well in a 4-3-3 system.
Juninho Bacuna (£4.2m) may also be in the equation having started against the defending champions, although he has not had much game-time this season, while the industrious Danny Williams (£4.5m) is hopeful of a return before the end of the season.
Defence
Wagner’s recent switch to a back-four may make a transition to a 4-3-3 system fairly easy for the defenders currently at Huddersfield.
As the club captain Christopher Schindler (£4.3m) should remain the first name on the team-sheet, although who is paired with could be up for debate.
Zanka has largely played alongside him this season, but he was named on the bench by Mark Hudson against Manchester City, with Terence Kongolo (£4.3m) preferred instead.
Löwe and Tommy Smith (£4.4m) were named as the full-backs, although there is plenty of competition here too with Durm and Hadergjonaj also available.
Conclusion
As when any new manager joins a Premier League, we would advise waiting before seriously considering any of their assets.
Given the form Huddersfield have been in recently, picking up just one point from their last 10 Premier League matches, that rings especially true.
Siewert clearly has plenty of work to do, with some even suggesting he has been brought in to help prepare for next season where they will be rebuilding from the Championship.
It is not until Gameweek 27 that their fixtures are particularly encouraging either, with Everton (home), Chelsea (away) and Arsenal (home) their next three opponents.
The Toffees are not exactly at their best right now so we could see a spirited performance at the John Smith’s Stadium in Gameweek 24, but those Gameweek 25 and 26 matches look particularly challenging.
However, a trip to Newcastle in Gameweek 27 looks slightly more appealing, before Wolves (home), Brighton (away), Bournemouth (home), West Ham (away) and Crystal Palace (away) after that.
It will be these fixtures that will truly demonstrate whether Fantasy managers can trust Huddersfield as Siewert will have had time to bed in changes and the matches themselves look more like the kind they will be targetting for points.
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