Top 10 Young Football Managers (Part I)

7. Sami Hyypiä

Age: 39

Nationality: Finnish

Current club: Bayer Leverkusen

Expert Views: In his career as a player, Hyypia was known as a hard-nosed, no-nonsense defender. But even then there was always a sense that he was ready-made for a coaching role after he hung up his boots. In fact, as soon as he completed his training courses, Bayer Leverkusen offered him a position as assistant at the club.

And after seeing out the 2011-12 season as the club’s caretaker he, alongside Sascha Lewandowski, took over in a dual coaching role for the 2012-13 campaign. A year later, Leverkusen qualified directly for the Champions League after a tactically transformative and impressive season.

Despite his and Lewandowski’s dual roles at the club, it was Hyypia’s vision that shaped Leverkusen’s style and success. He transformed Leverkusen from a club without a true identity to one of the most dangerous and effective counter attacking teams in Germany.

His implementation of the 4-3-3 not only reinvented the team but also got the best out of several of their players. Under Hyypia, players previously criticized for failing to live up to expectations like Andre Schürrle or versatile yet underwhelming players like Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Reinartz, really thrived.

So how and what did Hyypia do? For one, instead of using Reinartz at center-back he put him alongside Lars Bender and Simon Rolfes in a three man midfield. With three players equally capable of holding the ball as they are doing defensive work, it created a platform for the three attackers and fullbacks to focus largely on attacking with pace.

Rolfes was responsible for covering the left and Bender on the right while Reinartz sat in front of, or slotted into the backline. Carvajal especially was a big revelation down the right, which is why Real Madrid have already activated their buyback clause. Alongside Castro in front of him they made up one of the best right sided pairings in the league and each helped get the best out of the other.

Similarly, Schürrle was relieved of the defensive duties he had last year and became the prime initiator of their counter attacks. As soon as the ball was won back in their defensive third, the ball was launched quickly forward to make best use of Schürrle’s speed. With overlapping fullbacks and Kiessling and Castro ready around the box, Leverkusen became renowned for putting together deadly and precise counter attacks.

The system catered to each players strengths and also got the best out of Kiessling who was free to drop back but also had the kind of service that a striker his type thrives on. They may be without Schürrle going into next season but the team’s development is far from over. And all under the watchful eye of the hard-nosed, no-nonsense Hyypia.