Adi Hütter's Eintracht Frankfurt 3-4-1-2

Adi Hütter Overview

In the 2018/19 season, Adi Hütter brought his high tempo attacking style of football to the Deutsche Bank Park propelling Frankfurt to European football. The Austrian manager has had to rebuild his squad, due to players leaving however, Frankfurt continues to compete and is currently on course to finish in the champions league places for the first time in the club’s history.

Hütter likes to play attacking football. Starting with patient buildup from the back followed by quick vertical progression into the final third. Frankfurt scores plenty of goals currently sitting third in terms of the total goals scored in the Bundesliga.

The season started slowly for Frankfurt as they only managed to win 2 of the opening 12 games. However, their season was transformed with 10 wins from their next 12 games, which included beating the champions and current leaders Bayern Munich.

In most of their games this season, Frankfurt has played with the 3-4-3 system and its variants throughout the season. In his three-at-the-back system, Hütter likes attacking wingbacks who provide width higher up the pitch. Therefore, the buildup shape often transitions from a 3-4-3 to a 3-2-5

The Austrian manager insists on creating width in the buildup. With the wingbacks pushed high the responsibility of creating width in the buildup falls to the outside centrebacks and midfield pivots. Usually, the centre-backs stretch horizontally to create the width while the pivots stay central to provide passing support.

This kind of positional freedom allows Frankfurt to counter different opponents and tactics in-game.it also helps Frankfurt to create numerical superiority against the opposition’s initial press. Outnumbering the opponent in key areas of the pitch is another important principle Hütter demands from his team when building up.

See the video below for more analysis, including player instructions etc.