Fabian Hürzeler Tactics At FC St. Pauli 2022/2023: The 30-year-old American Coach Making Waves In Germany – Tactical Analysis

St. Pauli fans lived a brief dream under Timo Schultz.

The 2021/22 season was off to a flying start, and by January, they were sitting at the top of the 2. Bundesliga.

Without German first-division football in over a decade, the prospect of finally competing among the elite again drove the dream forward.

Coming back from the winter break, St. Pauli overcame UEFA Champions League regulars Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal with an unforgettable 2-1 victory.

It was at that point, when St. Pauli fans felt at the top of the world, that the dream began to die.

The second half of the season felt like a hangover from their early success, and Schultz’s men were unable to maintain their form.

They finished in fifth place without any sniff of promotion.

The hangover continued into this season, and until the World Cup, St. Pauli fans couldn’t wake up from a nightmare.

Enough was enough, and Schultz was relieved of his duties.

Fabian Hürzeler, who had been Schultz’s assistant for over two years, took over as the interim, and a few weeks later, he was appointed as the official head coach.

At the time, the American’s young age raised some alarm bells.

Seven games into his reign, the alarm bells are now going off for different reasons.

At the time of writing, St. Pauli have yet to lose a game under Hürzeler.

Already extremely familiar with the players, the now 30-year-old quickly organised the side back to winning ways.

Having played in Bayern Munich’s academy up until the second team, Fabian Hürzeler claims it’s in his DNA to dominate possession and dictate the game.

However, after years in Germany’s lower divisions, the American appreciates the importance of other phases and styles of play.

In this successful start, some of the key ideas behind Hürzeler’s tactics are becoming clear.

In this Fabian Hurzeler tactical analysis, we will take a look at some early trends in St. Pauli’s tactics under Fabian Hürzelers style of play.

With only seven games in charge, this analysis will explore how the 30-year-old has been able to guide St. Pauli back to winning ways instantly.

Fabian Hürzeler Style Of Play  Roles Over Shapes

The first significant change made by Hürzeler was in the structure.

Schultz went back and forth between a 4-1-3-2 and a 4-4-2 in the first few months of the season.

With wins becoming rare, a 5-3-2 was introduced.

The American manager had something else in mind, something more innovative.

St. Pauli have been playing with hybrid formations under Fabian.

In the seven matches so far, Wyscout has attached various formations to Hürzeler’s approach.

A 4-3-3 was named once, and other formations like 5-4-1, 3-4-2-1, 3-4-3, and even a 3-3-3-1 were also in the mix.

However, St. Pauli have been playing the exact same way in all of these matches.

Of course, there is an initial shape, two in fact.

However, the roles of each player have priority over maintaining any said shape.

The structure then becomes a system of roles and their movements rather than a defined shape.

As their possession develops, the structure remains, just not in a fixed shape; let’s break this down!

This initial shape, which can be thought of as a starting reference for the players, is a hybrid 4-3-3/3-4-3.

In the example below, we can clearly identify a 4-3-3.

The two centre-backs sit alongside each other while the fullbacks are out wide.

There is a defensive midfielder sitting behind two central midfielders and a clear front three.

However, in another instance identified below, we can clearly identify a 3-4-3.

This change in shape naturally happens throughout the match with the same players.

To do th