As Adi Hutter himself points out, his style of football suits the Premier League down to the ground.
“My big goal is the Premier League. (My agent and I) are working on that,” Hutter told Kicker recently.
“(The Premier League is) the most interesting league in the world. I could develop further there. I think my idea of football is very good in this league could fit, especially since there are many fast players.”
Roy Hodgson may have breathed fresh life into a squad asphyxiated by Patrick Vieira’s stupefying tactics. But the 75-year-old – Crystal Palace’s septuagenarian sticking plaster – will bid farewell to Selhurst Park again when his short-term contract expires at the end of the season.
Hutter, however, is the sort of forward-thinking, ambitious appointment capable of building on Hodgson’s Selhurst Park resurgence. As the 53-year-old explains, the fast-paced nature of English football is nigh-on ideal for a man renowned in Germany for his high-pressing, ‘aggressive’ approach.
“Adi Hutter is doing a sensational job,” former Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick once said of a man who guided Eintracht Frankfurt to the semi-finals of the Europa League.
“Frankfurt play aggressive football. They press high up the pitch. They’re solid at the back, too.”
Adi Hutter could become Crystal Palace’s next manager
The Bundesliga website, when profiling a man who spent a brief and admittedly-underwhelming spell at Borussia Monchengladbach in 2020/21, drew comparisons between Hutter’s preferred 3-4-2-1 formation and the wing-back system famously associated with Antonio Conte.
Interestingly, Crystal Palace have not utilised a three-man backline with any regularly at any point since returning to the Premier League a decade ago; Hodgson, Vieira, Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce all settling on a traditional, flat-back four.
Reports from Austrian publication Kurier claiming that Hutter is likely to take over the South London outfit, then, suggest that Crystal Palace supporters can look forward to an all-new, rather alien tactical set-up.
A new formation
Of the players currently at Palace’s disposal, Tyrick Mitchell and the industrious Jordan Ayew are perhaps best suited to the wing-back roles in Hutter’s system, though one suspects that – if he does take the job – this will be one area ripe for recruitment during the summer transfer window.
A physical yet technical three-man backline of Joachim Andersen, Chris Richards and Marc Guehi looks strong on paper. As does a midfield partnership of the aggressive Cheick Doucoure and the ball-carrying Naouirou Ahamada. Michael Olise and Ebere Eze could also thrive in roving ‘dual ten’ roles behind a single centre-forward; be it Odsonne Edouard, Jean-Philippe Mateta or a new, off-season arrival.
A lack of goals has been arguably Crystal Palace’s biggest problem this season. In 31 games, they have found the net just 31 times. Only West Ham, Everton, Southampton, Nottingham Forest and – strangely enough – Chelsea have scored fewer.
For far too long, a trip Selhurst Park has been prescribed as a cure for insomnia. Palace supporters will be thrilled to learn, then, that Hutter has a real track record when it comes to coaxing career-best performances out of the attacking talent at his disposal.
Andre Silva scored 28 in 32 Bundesliga games in 2020/21; the most scored by any Frankfurt player in top-flight history. Luka Jovic, Sebastien Haller, Ante Rebic and Filip Kostic netted 67 between them in 2018/19. Jovic has only hit double figures once since then, a £52 million move to Real Madrid going very badly wrong for the Serbian poacher.
When asked to compare Hutter and then-Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zindane, Jovic said; ‘They are both phenomenal coaches’.
Goals aplenty
Jovic communicate also to Hutter in English. Presuming then that he has a good grasp of the language, Hutter should be able to quickly get his ideas across to a new squad of talent at Crystal Palace.
In Edouard and Mateta, Palace have two centre-forwards who have scored goals at an impressive rate in the past. For Celtic and Mainz respectively. Hutter know Matetas from his time in the Bundesliga. Ditto former Stuttgart schemer Ahamada.
“Mainz pose a great aerial threat up front with Jean-Philippe Mateta,” Hutter explained back in 2018/19; a season in which the former Lyon hitman scored 14 Bundesliga goals.
Hutter also likes tricky, skilful forwards capable of playing between the lines. That bodes well for Eze, Olise and – if he was to sign a new deal – Wilfried Zaha. Do not be surprised to see Jesuran Rak-Sakyi play a part too.
Arguably Palace’s most exciting academy graduate since Zaha himself has 13 goals and eight assists this season on loan at London neighbours Charlton Athletic.
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