Sebastian Hoeneß: Squares and Diamonds | OneFootball

The Early Days

Hoeneß’s playing career began with Stuttgart but traversed Sinsheim (Hoffenheim) and Berlin (Hertha). After an injury-riddled nine-years the Munich-born attacking midfielder called time on the pitch in 2010 and stayed in the capital to take charge of Hertha 03 Zehlendorf’s u19 side. In 2012, Hoeneß experienced relegation after his side finished second from bottom.

Fast forward two years. RB Leipzig was next, where he went on to manage at various youth levels. In the 16/17 season, with Leipzig coming into global prominence, Hoeness steered his u17 side to a comfortable second-place finish, scoring three or more goals in 13/26 league games. Leipzig mostly deployed a 4-2-2-2, a shape that was starting to become a hallmark of a Hoeneß team.

The next step was to Bayern Munich u19s in 2017. In his first season in Bavaria, Bayern never fell below 5th place but squandered first place on the final day against Hoffenheim after a 3-0 defeat against FC Augsburg. The following season, Bayern fell to fourth after losing multiple squad members to the first team.

Climbing the Pyramid

With the departure of Bayern Munich II coach Holger Seitz, who had guided the side to the Dritte Liga, Hoeneß was handed the reins. Bayern II was the only reserve team in the league, and expectations needed taming despite fielding talents like Josip Stanišić, Joshua Zirkzee and Jamal Musiala.

Bayern got off to a poor start, taking twenty-four points from the first twenty games. They needed eleven attempts before logging a clean sheet. Many of these numbers derive from Hoeneß’s typical high-pressure style of play. He often employs a holding six alongside a deep-lying playmaker, with a roaming number 10 and two flying wide midfielders. This left Bayern with four players to defend transitions.

After matchweek 22, Bayern began to experiment with a 4-4-2 diamond that had largely gone out of fashion across Europe. The change in shape allowed more control over central areas of the pitch and an invitation for the fullbacks to push forward. The result: a league title via twelve wins, with only eighteen goals conceded in sixteen games.

Bundesliga Berth

In 2020, Hoeneß’s modernistic style of play attracted the attention of TSG Hoffenheim. Upon stepping into the manager’s seat he inherited a team in mixed form and decided not to make too many adjustments. He kept the three-man defense deployed by his predecessor, Alfred Schreuder.

Hoeneß’s side would be tested in Matchday two. The mighty Bayern Munich were taking the short trip to Sinsheim, fresh off winning the Champions League in their all-domineering style. Hoffe used the 5-3-2 and clinically exposed  Bayern’s fullbacks’ attacking positions while stretching the centre-backs apart,  creating space to exploit. The 4-1 result ended Bayern’s thirty-two unbeaten game run (1 draw) and gave the world a blueprint to beat them.

Problems in Back

Hoffenheim however, ran into defensive issues, needing seventeen games to keep their first domestic clean sheet. The lack of control in Hoffenheim’s system and the demands of the wing-backs left the centre-backs exposed. Teams exploited the vacated gaps to overload one side of the defense or use long balls to combat Hoffenheim’s high line. In the 20/21 season, Hoffenheim had the second-worst disciplinary record, receiving 63 yellow cards, indicative of an overexposed defence.

Despite improving their eleventh-placed finish by two places and three points, the Sinsenheimer finished the season conceding 60 goals (fifth worst in the league). Hoffenheim and Hoeneß parted ways. Hoffenheim had secured European football in each season between the 16/17-19/20, barring 18/19 prior to Hoeneß’s arrival.

A New Challenge

Eleven months passed, and about an hour south of Hoffenheim, Hoeneß found himself in another job. This was a markedly different situation from the former: a relegation battle. Taking the reins in Stuttgart, Hoeneß was thrown into the fire with the side sitting rock bottom. As Stuttgart’s fourth manager of the season, he was given seven league games to drag them out of the mire. Using a 3-4-2-1 shape, they won three and drew three, dragging themselves to sixteenth place, sufficient for a relegation playoff between themselves and Hamburg. The Swabians came out 6-3 winners, enough for the decision-makers to permanently appoint their former youth player.

Flying High

A new season brought about old tactics. Back to his trusted 4-2-2-2, Stuttgart’s high-octane possession-based style was something of a unicorn to the Bundesliga eye. Many opposing managers scratched their heads trying to solve the puzzle Stuttgart presented. A season average of 60.3% possession was the third best in the Bundesliga. Stuttgart also leveraged a number of useful partnerships within the team: left-sided pair Maximilian Mittelstädt and Chris Führich, central lynchpins Angelo Stiller and Atakan Karazor and striker partnership Deniz Undav and Serhou Guirassy.

Much of Stuttgart’s play goes down the left channel. Führich bypasses players, reaches the edge of the box to cut inside and shoot, leaving ample space for Mittelstädt. With 18.6 average accurate long balls per game, you can say having two robust strikers is becoming useful again. Undav and Guirassy were adept at playing off each other while giving the wide men time and space in behind defences. The two beating hearts of the team are the central midfielders, a classic pairing of an enforcer: Karazor and the ball player: Stiller. The pair is responsible for winning second balls and clogging up the centre of the pitch to protect the first press. Due to the tiresome style of play, there are occasions when the centre of the pitch becomes very open. The recovery pace of Hiroki Ito and the high starting position of keeper Alexander Nübel however acted as a deterrent for such situations.

Stuttgart’s 23/24 second-place finish is their best finish since they won the Bundesliga in 06/07 and it seems like the golden age is set to continue unless Sebastian Hoeneß is tempted elsewhere.