Luke's Football blog

Oliver Glasner is leaving Frankfurt at the end of the season after guiding them to a European trophy a year earlier.

His contract was up next year, but a 10-game winless run saw Frankfurt part company with him as they slipped from second to ninth in the table with three games to go.

He is wanted by Tottenham at the moment, with Daniel Levy seeing him as the replacement for Antonio Conte, who was sacked back in March after losing the dressing room.

He is a good upcoming manager, having taken Wolfsburg to a top 4 spot in Champions League football and also leading Lask to promotion and 4th and 2nd spots, respectively, in the Austrian league. He has experience and know-how, which has seen him linked with top moves.

Style of Play

Glasner likes to switch between a back 3 or back 4, but his main formation that he plays and has shown to be working is 3-4-2-1.

This allows him to have two attacking wingbacks bombing forward in possession while having two centre midfielders play deep to cover if they get counter-attacked, which allows the defence to have more protection.

The 3 at the back allows them to build out from the back with the wing back sitting high up, adding a 3+2 buildup structure in their own half.

He likes to have a sole number 9 who plays as the vocal point of his attack. With Wolfsburg, he had Weghorst playing in that role, and now Kolo Muani takes up that role, and he’s having a prolific season, scoring 14 and assisting 10 goals for Frankfurt.

The two attacking midfielders also help the attack work centrally, while the wingbacks cover the left and right flanks. Kamada and Gotze play as two number 10s in the system, which helps support the attack and provides more star power with the clinical Kolo Muani.

This is what it looks like in the game, as the fullbacks are high up the pitch while the players in the centre are forming a diamond shape to put pressure on the Sporting Lisbon midfield.

The three centre backs are building up the play, which is what he likes to set up with, as they pass it onto the full backs, who bomb up the pitch and stay high up, adding more width to the attack.

Kolo Muani is also tucked just in behind one of the centre backs, holding the shape and dragging one of the centre backs out of their defensive line to create space for him to run in behind.

Linked With Premier League Moves

He is free in the summer, which has seen him linked with the Chelsea and Tottenham vacancies as they are both looking for managers to take them back to where they need to be.

I feel he would be a good fit for the Chelsea position, as his style of play suits the side so much. Reece James and Ben Chilwell would benefit massively from his system, as they like to play as attacking wingbacks and would add the creative spark that has been missing from the Chelsea side this season.

If he were to take the Chelsea vacancy, the first thing he would have to do is sign a lone nine, as they have lacked one as Aubameyang hasn’t been on form and is rumoured to be out the door in the summer, possibly, and Havertz plays better as a 10 behind the striker.

They have the players to play his style, which makes his job a bit easier if he does take it, but it looks certain Pochettino will take the reigns as he’s close to signing a contract for them.

Tottenham are another club that has been interested in the 48-year-old after getting rid of Conte in March, and again, like I said for Chelsea, he would be a good fit for the club.

Under Conte, they played the same formation, which is key as the players would have a good understanding of it. The only downside is that the three at the back are quite weak, and it would be hard to build up from the back.

Kane would benefit the most from this system as Glasner gets his 9’s fired, as it shows with Kolo Muani and Weghorst becoming unstoppable under his management, and if he takes the Spurs job, he would have one of the best 9’s in world football who can score goals for fun, as he’s currently having one of his best seasons of his career in a poor Spurs team, notching in 28 goals in the Premier League this season.

If I were Glasner and I had a choice between the two teams, it would be Chelsea, as their project seems more fun and they have an owner who’s willing to break the bank to bring in players that Oliver might want to bring in to play his system, while Levy is a bit tight and wouldn’t be willing to spend big bucks on players.

Where I Reckon He’ll End Up Next

I can see him being the new Borussia Monchengladbach manager, replacing departing manager Daniel Farke, as I feel it would be a sensible move to stay in Germany.

It would be a bit of a side step in his career, but I feel more experience in the German leagues before taking a Premier League job would be good for his career, as he’s not done as well as he could’ve done for Frankfurt, which led to them both parting ways with each other.

His career is still on the rise, and those experiences at Frankfurt will do him a lot of good, as he won them a European Cup and took them to the round of 16 of the Champions League, making it a promising CV for him.