Explosive Dino Toppmoler Tactic
Dino Toppmoller is the son of Klaus Toppmoller, the great former striker of FC Kaiserslautern, scoring 108 goals in 204 appearances.
Dino Toppmoler was born in November 1980 and his name was chosen after the great goalkeeper Dino Zoff.
He started his playing career in 1997 with SV Rivenich, as a youth player and racked up more than 10 teams during his senior career. Playing more than 100 matches.
He started his managerial career with SV Mehring and moved up the managerial ladder, becoming even the assistant manager of Julian Nagelsmann at RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich.
In June 2023 he was appointed as manager of Eintracht Frankfurt, but until this point, his greatest achievement, in my opinion, was leading F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg to the UEFA Europa League group stage for the first time in their history, in the 2018-2019 season.
F91 Dudelange finished the group stage with one point following a draw in their last game against Real Betis. This feat made history in Luxembourg's football history, as Dudelange were not just the first team to have ever qualified in the group stages of any European competition, but they also managed to obtain a point.
His time at Eintracht Frankfurt, however, helped him get to the next level, making a name for himself in the German football.
The team finished the season in 6th place, and they even were Bayern Munchen’s kryptonite a couple of times.
This season, Eintracht Frankfurt already earned more points than last season and is fighting for a Champions League spot finish in the league. They may be far from the league title, but this may go down as one of the best finishes in the league in the past 10 seasons.
In Europe, Eintracht play against Tottenham in the quarter finals of the Europa League, after dismantling Francesco Farioli’s Ajax Amsterdam – 6-2 on aggregate.
In terms of tactics, Eintracht Frankfurt are very expansive and dynamic. I watched a few games, and I couldn’t pin on single formation or setup on the team. They are very fluid on the ball and adapt easily to their opponents.
Sure, on paper, Dino Toppmoller seems to setup the team in a 4-2-3-1 formation. But that 4-2-3-1 formation rapidly becomes a 4-2-4 in attack, even a 3-5-2 at times.
Having versatile players, especially in defence, helps. As often, Arthur Theate goes up in attack when the team is in possession, pushing Bahoya inside, creating a 3-3-4 or a 3-2-5 setup sometimes.
I tried to replicate this tactic in the game but I have to warn you, it is very difficult to do it. I went with a 4-2-4 formation from the start, but the roles help this setup become a 4-2-3-1 if needed.
A sweeper keeper on defend duty in goal. Kevin Trapp is not very eccentric, but he is there to help his team with a passing option if needed.
The back four is made of two wing backs on support and two central defenders on defend. The wing backs are on support to keep the balance of the formation. As with an attacking duty, they would fly forward often.
I asked them to start with a narrow positioning, to help with the possession game when the game is restarted from our own box.
But they are free to go up the pitch whenever the game moments allow them to.
The two central midfielders are a box-to-box midfielder and a central midfielder on attack. These two players may be assigned different role pairings. I found that these two work best for the tactic at hand.
No special player instructions for them.
The wingers are two wingers on support duty. I could have gone for inside forwards; however, I noticed that the Eintracht Frankfurt wingers often start wide with the ball and either attack the flank or cut inside. In the game, the inside forwards often just cut inside or play in the half spaces.
For this reason, I chose these roles, and I asked the players to cut inside with the ball.
And the strikers are a deep lying forward on support and an advanced forward. The deep lying forward is thought to be the link between midfield and attack, while the advanced forward has to press the defenders and pin them back as much as possible.
No special player instructions for them.
As mentality, I chose positive.
In possession, fairly narrow attacking width and play out of defence. Shorter passing directness and a slightly higher tempo. Work the ball into the box, as Eintracht Frankfurt seem to overload the opposition’s box often. And play for set-pieces.
In transition, counter-press, counter and distribute the ball as the goalkeeper chooses to.
Out of possession, a mid block and a standard defensive line. I noticed that Eintracht Frankfurt don’t sit too high up when out of possession. They wait for the opposition to make their move and meet them half way.
This helps the team play efficiently on the counter, having fast attackers.
And trigger press slightly more often.
In my building a nation save, in Turkey, I started the season managing Istanbul Basaksehir but ended the season managing Adana Demirspor.
I took over them when they were 10th in the league and slowly, we climbed the table, finishing in the 5th position.
But, more importantly, we won the Turkish Cup.
The results are on par with what I expected them to be for the season in my save. But the tactic is very dynamic in the match engine and seems to confuse the opposition teams at times.
This may not be the best recreation of Dino Toppmoller’s tactic at Eintracht Frankfurt, but I am glad I finally got to do it. As Dino Toppmoller, in my opinion, has all the needed qualities to become one of the best German football managers in history and I hope he is going to become one someday.
