Ex-head coach: Thomas Christiansen

[Promotion 2010]

Barney on Twitter

TC is very measured in his interviews and no copy and paste comments which I like don't get me I liked Monks tweets but TC has a aura #lufc

[Promotion 2010]

TC kan gamle kunster:


https://mobile.twitter.com/LUFC/status/887336916995145728/video/1

[Promotion 2010]

[stian]

TC kan gamle kunster:


https://mobile.twitter.com/LUFC/status/887336916995145728/video/1

Leken og god tone på treningsfeltet kan vi også notere

[Asbjørn]

Denne bloggen er allerede en måned gammel, men forteller bl.a. om hvordan Christiansen organiserte lagene sine på Kypros - og trekker frem keeperens viktige 'sweeper-rolle' i systemet hans...

http://www.footballwhispers.com/blog/profiling-new-leeds-head-coach-thomas-christiansen

[h.b]

Denne bloggen er allerede en måned gammel, men forteller bl.a. om hvordan Christiansen organiserte lagene sine på Kypros - og trekker frem keeperens viktige 'sweeper-rolle' i systemet hans...

http://www.footballwhispers.com/blog/profiling-new-leeds-head-coach-thomas-christiansen

Noe av det samme Guardiola gjør med City. Fikk en god sweeper, men en grusom en på strek

[Promotion 2010]

Profiling New Leeds Head Coach Thomas Christiansen

When the rumours first began to spread, they were met with the social media equivalent of shoulder shrugs and nervous looks. Finally, Leeds United’s next manager was being revealed. And yet, at the same time, the club’s next manager remained unknown.

Thomas Christiansen isn’t a name many English football fans recognise, and this is understandable. He spent his playing career in Denmark, Germany, Spain and Greece. He was a striker, but he was only truly prolific towards the back end of his career, during a spell with German club Bochum.

He retired from playing in 2006 before being appointed assistant manager by Al Jazira in the UAE seven years later. From there he went to Cyprus, where he had managerial spells with AEK Larnaca and APOEL Nicosia. Having left the latter in May this year, he has now succeeded Garry Monk in the Leeds hot-seat.

Earlier today, club chairman Andrea Radrizzani tweeted: “White smoke from [Elland Road]! Big day for [Leeds] fans. Thank you for the patience and support, our manager will be announced very soon.” Soon after, reports surfaced suggesting Christiansen was set to be confirmed as the club’s new head coach.

This was then made official with a statement on the club website that read: “Leeds United are delighted to announce that Thomas Christiansen Tarín has agreed to become the new head coach at Elland Road.”



Leeds managing director Angus Kinnear went on to state: “We wanted to appoint someone who can help us create a winning culture at the club and unite everyone connected with Leeds United, from the players to the supporters, ultimately taking the club back to where we all feel we belong.

“Thomas was…on our radar from the very early stages of the process and quickly established himself as the outstanding candidate. We are confident we have found a man with who can work with us to take the club to the next level.”

BARCELONA BACKGROUND

So many of Barcelona’s great players of the early 1990s went on to become managers at the top level, mainly thanks to the influence of a certain Johan Cruyff. The Dutch icon had a profound impact on the Catalan giants, leaving a legacy not only of great football but of enchanted pupils.

Pep Guardiola, Ronald Koeman, Eusebio and Michael Laudrup are four of the highest-profile disciples who went on to forge their own path in coaching. However, many others followed the same path without the same level of attention, perhaps because they weren’t quite so influential.

Christiansen joined Barcelona in 1991 and spent five years with the club. Most of that time was spent in the B team or out on loan, however he couldn’t help but be influenced by such an iconic manager. “With him (Cruyff) the football was something different,” the new Leeds boss said of his experience working in such close proximity to Cruyff.

CHRISTIANSEN’S RESULTS

At 44 years of age, Christiansen remains in the formative stages of his coaching career. He has, to date, only had two managerial spells (not including his latest post). However, both of those spells were successful.

AEK Larnaca finished the 2013/14 campaign in eighth place in the Cypriot First Division. Christiansen took the reins in April 2014, however, and guided them to greater heights. In his first full season in charge, they finished second, just three points behind APOEL. And in his second term they again finished second, albeit with an improved average points per game.

Two consecutive years of progress led to him being appointed manager of APOEL, the reigning champions. This job provided difficulty in the form of heftier expectations, but the Spaniard handled the pressure well, leading the club to another title success.

What was more impressive than this league title defence, however, was the fact Christiansen led the Cypriot side into the last 16 of the Europa League. And, far from being handed an easy route, this involved a historic victory over Olympiakos to win Group B, followed by a knockout stage win over Athletic Bilbao.

CHRISTIANSEN’S MENTALITY

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While he developed an impressive resume in Cyprus, Christiansen has yet to taste management in other countries. Thus, his appointment to the role of Leeds head coach could be seen as yet another step into the unknown for the 44-year-old.

However, while his background as a Barcelona player may encourage some to put him in a box with other former Blaugrana players-turned-coaches, he shows signs of having the adaptability required to succeed.

On their way to the Europa League last 16 last season, his APOEL side averaged just 47.4 per cent possession. They averaged just 278 short passes per game, which was the third-lowest in the competition proper. In addition, they hit 78 long balls per game, which was the sixth-highest average.

Finally, in terms of the zones through which their attacks came, only 21 per cent were through the middle â€" the seventh-lowest percentage in this particular area.

When asked about carrying on the methods he learned under Cruyff, Christiansen said: “I wanted to continue that at APOEL, but because of the players we had in the squad I had to find other systems, other solutions. Right now we’re playing a little bit different, but with the same mentality.”

CHRISTIANSEN’S TACTICS

Evidently, Christiansen is a pragmatist, something only backed up by the way his APOEL side played. Under his auspices, the Cypriot outfit were extremely well organised without possession, with their 24 league goals conceded a club-best in almost half a decade.

They tended to line up in a rough 4-2-3-1 system, though in the defensive phase this became a 4-4-2. The two wingers would tuck back into the midfield line and the attacking midfielder would move up to support the lone striker in pressing the opposition’s back line.



As shown above, the attacking midfielder (Efrem) and striker (Sotiriou) would retain good horizontal compactness, essentially allowing minimal space for passes to go between them, trying to force the opposition into long balls, sideways passes or turnovers.

If and when the opposition played through APOEL’s first line of pressure, intense man-oriented pressure was applied by the second line of four midfielders. Again, compactness was key, with players maintaining close distances to each other, as seen below.



To back up this intense pressure applied by the midfielders, Christian’s back four would push up to hold a line just below the halfway line. This is illustrated in the below still.



When APOEL had the ball, they would show one characteristic of many Cruyff-disciple-led sides, with the goalkeeper â€" former Barcelona youth teamer Urko Pardo â€" supporting the build-up. This is seen in the below graphic, where he comes well out of his own penalty area to be involved and help orchestrate possession.



The pushing up of the goalkeeper was important to Christiansen’s style of play with the Cypriot champions, as he clearly wanted to open the field up as much as possible when his side had possession.

With this in mind, the ‘keeper would take up a high position, and the two centre-backs would pull wide. This would in turn allow the two full-backs to push high down each flank, while the two wingers moved infield onto the same forward line as the striker. From there, the front three would take turns moving deep to offer a viable forward pass to their team-mates.

One of the central midfielders, often Vinicius, would offer a safeguard to the centre-backs in possession, dropping deep â€" sometimes between them, sometimes to the side â€" to give them a short-distance, low-risk pass. From there, the ball would often be moved forward vertically.



HOW CHRISTIANSEN’S LEEDS MIGHT LINE UP

Whether or not Christiansen is successful at Leeds depends not simply on his coaching expertise and tactics, but on his man-management style and the quality of the summer transfer business conducted by the club. The latter two aspects are at present unknown or undecided.

However, on the basis of his approach to teambuilding and the tactics seen in his successful APOEL side, he may look to continue the same rough 4-2-3-1 shape used by Monk last season, albeit with slightly more emphasis on retaining effective possession.

Here’s how Christiansen’s Leeds could line up:


http://www.footballwhispers.com/blog/profiling-new-leeds-head-coach-thomas-christiansen

LIKE FOOTBALL WHISPERS ON FACEBOOK!

[Promotion 2010]

TC tenker mye sweeper som keeper og da passer nok tyskeren best!!!

[B_Ød]

Er i Agia Marina,  og snakket med en av the locals i går. Han var Aten-fan, og kunne fortelle at de hadde vært ute etter TC foran denne sesongen. Om det er bra eller ikke, vet ikke jeg, men Aten skal hvertfall spille kvalikk til CL..

[Nørgaard]

Hvis man går ind på Hays twitter kan man se klip fra Leeds trænings. Meget Barca like. TC vil gerne have et teknisk stærkt hold med short passing. Ser godt ud.

[Asbjørn]

Fra YEP, om spillestilen:

Christiansen was a striker in his time, the Bundesliga’s joint top scorer at Vfl Bochum, and United forward Kemar Roofe said: “I like his philosophy a lot.
 
“As an attacking player we’re getting a lot of controlled freedom to pass the ball and play football. There’s no long balls and no trying to feed off seconds all the time. The way he wants to play, we’ll be in control of games.”

[Torpe-do]

Fra YEP, om spillestilen:

Christiansen was a striker in his time, the Bundesliga’s joint top scorer at Vfl Bochum, and United forward Kemar Roofe said: “I like his philosophy a lot.
 
“As an attacking player we’re getting a lot of controlled freedom to pass the ball and play football. There’s no long balls and no trying to feed off seconds all the time. The way he wants to play, we’ll be in control of games.”

Hvordan tror folk denne stilen vil passe Wood?

[Eriksen55]

Fra YEP, om spillestilen:

Christiansen was a striker in his time, the Bundesliga’s joint top scorer at Vfl Bochum, and United forward Kemar Roofe said: “I like his philosophy a lot.
 
“As an attacking player we’re getting a lot of controlled freedom to pass the ball and play football. There’s no long balls and no trying to feed off seconds all the time. The way he wants to play, we’ll be in control of games.”

Hvordan tror folk denne stilen vil passe Wood?

Han er vel avhengig av servering. Hvis han får baller og flere medspillere på løp inn i boksen så vil han være dødelig 

[Kato]

Så langt har TC gitt et godt inntrykk. Eneste jeg har å pirke på er unødvendig bruk av Bellusci i to kamper. Men det var vel ikke voldsomt med alternativer.

[Jon R]

Så langt har TC gitt et godt inntrykk. Eneste jeg har å pirke på er unødvendig bruk av Bellusci i to kamper. Men det var vel ikke voldsomt med alternativer.

Synes det er et positivt trekk at han gav B en sjanse. Dernest at han handllet raskt når det skar seg. Vitner om både raushet og handlekraft.

[Jon R]

Hvis man går ind på Hays twitter kan man se klip fra Leeds trænings. Meget Barca like. TC vil gerne have et teknisk stærkt hold med short passing. Ser godt ud.

Her ligger min største skepsis til TC. Frykter vi blir for omstendelige med en slik filosofi.

[Leedsfan]

Hvis man går ind på Hays twitter kan man se klip fra Leeds trænings. Meget Barca like. TC vil gerne have et teknisk stærkt hold med short passing. Ser godt ud.

Her ligger min største skepsis til TC. Frykter vi blir for omstendelige med en slik filosofi.

Så absolutt ikke slik ut i dag! Artig å se konturene av hurtig pasningsspill og plassbytter!

[Annesj]

Absolutt ikke omstendelige nei. Meget direkte å kvikke. Lovende!

[Jon R]

Hvis man går ind på Hays twitter kan man se klip fra Leeds trænings. Meget Barca like. TC vil gerne have et teknisk stærkt hold med short passing. Ser godt ud.

Her ligger min største skepsis til TC. Frykter vi blir for omstendelige med en slik filosofi.

Så absolutt ikke slik ut i dag! Artig å se konturene av hurtig pasningsspill og plassbytter!

Jeg så ikke kampen men det jeg leser i kamprapportene er meget oppløftende. Allikevel, pre-season er pre-season.

[Leedsfan]

Hvis man går ind på Hays twitter kan man se klip fra Leeds trænings. Meget Barca like. TC vil gerne have et teknisk stærkt hold med short passing. Ser godt ud.

Her ligger min største skepsis til TC. Frykter vi blir for omstendelige med en slik filosofi.

Så absolutt ikke slik ut i dag! Artig å se konturene av hurtig pasningsspill og plassbytter!

Jeg så ikke kampen men det jeg leser i kamprapportene er meget oppløftende. Allikevel, pre-season er pre-season.

Few pointers from yesterday...

4-2-3-1, high press, regular switch of play, high # of chances created, high defensive line, sweeper/keeper.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jon R]

Hvis man går ind på Hays twitter kan man se klip fra Leeds trænings. Meget Barca like. TC vil gerne have et teknisk stærkt hold med short passing. Ser godt ud.

Her ligger min største skepsis til TC. Frykter vi blir for omstendelige med en slik filosofi.

Så absolutt ikke slik ut i dag! Artig å se konturene av hurtig pasningsspill og plassbytter!

Jeg så ikke kampen men det jeg leser i kamprapportene er meget oppløftende. Allikevel, pre-season er pre-season.

Few pointers from yesterday...

4-2-3-1, high press, regular switch of play, high # of chances created, high defensive line, sweeper/keeper.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ja det høres lovende ut. Blir jækla spennende å se om vi får det til i Championship. Der vi vil møte lag som spiller høyt og rett på mål og som vil forsøke å utnytte sårbarheten til lag som står høyt. Blir også spennende å se om vi snart får se en variant av 3-5-2 som plan B..

[Promotion 2010]

[oivindh]

Hvilken spillestil legge TC opp til? Håper på en mer  direkte spillestil i år enn den tversover-stilen til Monk.

[Promotion 2010]

Hvilken spillestil legge TC opp til? Håper på en mer  direkte spillestil i år enn den tversover-stilen til Monk.

Ifølge Championship Norge vil det bli forsvarsbasert, men svært kjedelige kamper!

I Preseason har det vært myr tversover, men med mye fart fremover når vi først kommer!!!

[Promotion 2010]

In his first month in charge, Radrizzani bought back the club's Elland Road ground and appointed Dane Thomas Christiansen, 44, to replace Garry Monk, who left to take over at Middlesbrough.

Christiansen has never managed outside of Cyprus but Radrizzani believes the former Spain international is the right man for the job.

"I'm very confident in him otherwise I wouldn't have hired him," Radrizzani said. "We went through a lot of interviews and we found him as a young, emerging coach who he has done very well in the last couple of years

"He had good experience as a player and he knows his football. We have similar ideas about playing offensive and trying to win games."

[Promotion 2010]

EXCLUSIVE: 'I hope they will recognise my name with the good performances of Leeds' - Thomas Christiansen tells talkSPORT

Alasdair Hooper
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Thomas Christiansen hopes he can be a success at Leeds United


New Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen hopes success at Elland Road will mean people soon recognise his name.

The Danish-born former Spain international was appointed as Garry Monk’s successor in June, by new owner Andrea Radrizzani, but was a relatively unknown individual on these shores.

Christiansen arrived after a successful three-year stint coaching in Cyprus and, while he admits it is fair to say no one had heard of him, he is optimistic he can change that in the near future.

“I am very excited. It’s a big opportunity for me to come to a big club like Leeds and also the challenge to come to the Championship â€" one of the toughest leagues in the world that will be very exciting ,” the former APOEL and AEK Larnaca manager told Jim White on talkSPORT.

“It’s normal that no one knew the name but I hope that they will recognise my name now with the good performances of Leeds but it’s hard work that we have to do.

“It’s a tough competition with a lot of teams who can mix into the top six so we have to be prepared, we have to do good work and all work in the same direction.”

Despite having a slightly left-field coaching CV, Christiansen believes his experiences in Cyprus will stand him in good stead.

The 44-year-old spent two years at AEK Larnaka, who he led to consecutive best-ever runner-up league finishes, and a year at APOEL, where he won the title and reached the last-16 of the Europa League for the first time in their history.

And Christiansen thinks his ability to survive, in a notoriously impatient league, is an asset although he admits Leeds United will be a totally different situation.

“The Cypriot football â€" they have passion but they don’t have patience,” Christiansen said.

“They want the win before you even start the game and if you lose two games in a row you are out.

“But I managed in my three years to survive, making history in all the clubs where I worked.

“But, of course Leeds, you cannot compare that to anyone and the support of the fans will be one more player for us.”

After a tumultuous few years of ownership under ‘Manager Eater’ Massimo Cellino optimism is high with Radrizzani now at the helm of the clib.

Christiansen believes there is no pressure, with the Italian businessman in town to oversee the season’s opener, but admits that if ‘good guy’ Radrizzani feels the need to fire him he will do so.

“There’s no pressure. I know him â€" he’s a good guy,” explained Christiansen.

“But he has to run his business, he has to keep this going and try to do the best and if he believes that the best is to sack the coach then he will do it.

“There’s no mercy, perhaps he will have a little bit more patience â€" it depends on the situation.”

[Rudi G.]

Hay:

Christiansen is letting the players decide on the club captain for this season. "Someone they respect." Will be revealed on Sunday. #lufc

[auren]

Hay:

Christiansen is letting the players decide on the club captain for this season. "Someone they respect." Will be revealed on Sunday. #lufc

Helt riktig måte å gjøre på! Kudos til TC!

auren

[Annesj]

Hay:

Christiansen is letting the players decide on the club captain for this season. "Someone they respect." Will be revealed on Sunday. #lufc

Helt riktig måte å gjøre på! Kudos til TC!

auren

Enig! 

[Kontakinte]

Hay:

Christiansen is letting the players decide on the club captain for this season. "Someone they respect." Will be revealed on Sunday. #lufc

Helt riktig måte å gjøre på! Kudos til TC!

auren

Både ja og nei , rykter sier Cooper eller Wood. I min verden skal en som ikke er fast på laget IKKE være kaptein. Har heller ikke sansen for angripere som kaptein.