Adi Hutter

Adi Hutter
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Adolf Hutter



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Current Club/Country: Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Previous Clubs/Countries: Eintracht Frankfurt, BSC Young Boys, RB Salzburg, Grodig, SCR Altach.



Honours: Swiss League 2017/18. Austrian League 2014/15. Austrian Cup 2014/15. Austrian First League (second tier) 2012/13.





Adi Hutter is an interesting character, an Austrian who spent his entire playing career in his home country but was quick to move abroad when the chance came as a head coach. What is most interesting though is the style his teams' play. Or, more properly, the styles, as he has adapted the way of playing to each team he has been in charge of.



After a time working with Red Bull Salzburg's junior teams, he took over at a second tier side in Austria called Altach. There he used what was considered to be an old-fashioned style, similar to Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace side. A compact defence with a direct attack, looking to defend in depth and then catch teams on the break after they overcommit.



Despite finishing 3rd and then 2nd in his two full seasons there, just missing out on promotion, he moved on to another second-tier side, Grodig. Grodig are based in a small town and had no modern infrastructure to speak of, a small stadium, modest training facility and small staff. In fact they were seen as a team that would be battling relegation.



Instead Hutter took them up in his first season and then kept them afloat. To do so he altered his style once more, this time to more of a Burnley under Sean Dyche way of playing. They were very physical, had no interest in possession football and emphasised set pieces to get chances from. In fact he made them arguably the best at set pieces in the Austrian Bundesliga at the time.



After 3 months he had them sat in second place in the league, despite their games often being high-scoring affairs, with goals going in regularly at both ends. A far cry from the highly defensive Altach side he was in charge of. It was enough to finish 3rd and qualify for the Europa League.



He never got to take them into Europe as his former club RB Salzburg came calling, looking for a replacement for Roger Schmidt, who had created an exciting, attacking side before being poached by Bayer Leverkusen. While Grodig had qualified for the Europa League, RBS were in the Champions League, so his first attempt at Europe would be in the premier competition.



Unfortunately for Hutter, despite once more adapting his style, RBS's struggles at Champions League level continued and they failed to make the group stages. With RBS, Hutter went for a high-tempo 4-4-2, very attacking with a high-press, always looking to take the game to the opposition and it paid dividends from the first game, a 6-1 win over rivals Rapid Wien, until the end of the season. RBS ended with 99 goals and won the domestic double. They also got through the group stages of the Europa League. But Hutter was unhappy with key players, such as Sadio Mane, being sold against his wishes and left.



Young Boys were quick to step in, as they looked to break Basel's domination over the Swiss league. Basel had won 6 in a row at this point. Hutter brought a similar style with him from RBS, the high-intensity, high-press and high-tempo 4-4-2 was once again the way he chose to go. The lightning quick attacks were exciting to watch, plus he gradually integrated youngsters into the side, but his first two seasons saw Young Boys finish second, meaning Basel now had 8 in a row. It was third time lucky and Hutter finally won the Swiss league at the third time of asking to give Young Boys their first title in 32 years.



Next stop for Hutter was Eintracht Frankfurt, where he again made tweaks to the playing style. This time he dumped the 4-4-2 for a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2, with extremely attacking wing-backs and keeping the high-intensity, high-press and high-tempo. Despite being big outsiders at the start of the season, Hutter led Frankfurt to qualify for the Europa League, missing out on the Champions League by just one point. Though he will not be competing in Europe next season as he agreed to take over Borussia Moenchengladbach for next season, after Marco Rose moved to Dortmund.



So how do you sum up Hutter? He is a manager that is developing as he goes along, changing his style to suit the team at his disposal. He can integrate and develop young players. The 51 year old can also organise a defence, can work with set pieces to create chances and is able to improve the team, as well as achieving more than expected with them, in terms of results. The big question is, what way will his Moenchengladbach side play?



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Requested by Deependra