Team Focus: Borussia MGladbach have Favre Fever

On February 14th people’s thoughts often lay elsewhere, however, for Borussia Monchengladbach it marked a year since Lucien Favre was appointed as head coach of The Foals since they sat rock bottom of the Bundesliga.

Just over twelve months on, Gladbach are in second place in the league and are just three points behind league-leaders Borussia Dortmund, who themselves are in exceptional form and look likely to make it two league titles in a row.

The 54-year-old replaced Michael Frontzeck just five games in to the ‘ruckrunde’ with Gladbach seven points from safety in the relegation zone.

The pragmatic Favre went ‘back-to-basics’ at Borussia-Park moving to a 4-4-2 formation from Frontzeck’s ailing 4-2-3-1 system, which left Gladbach woefully exposed at times in the Bundesliga. In the 22 matches before Favre was appointed, they picked up just 16 points and found themselves embroiled in a tight relegation battle.

It has been an absolutely remarkable turnaround from the Swiss coach who has averaged a win ratio of over 50% in his managerial career.

One player who has excelled since Favre’s arrival is the 22-year-old attacker Marco Reus, who has already agreed a lucrative move to Borussia Dortmund in the summer. After a fairly average spell under Frontzeck, Reus burst in to action under Favre and racked up a WhoScored rating of 7.15 last season.

Six of his 10 goals last campaign came in the 16 games under Favre and he also contributed with eight assists, a successful passing ratio of 74.1% and he individually won 3 man of the match awards.

This season he has moved into a central striker role from right-midfield and has created a lethal partnership in attack with Mike Hanke. Reus has featured 20 times this season in the Bundesliga, scoring 13 goals, creating five and winning an incredible eight man of the match awards. His WhoScored rating of 8.1 gives him the highest overall score in the German Bundesliga.

His strike-partner Hanke probably has more importance to the overall Gladbach side than Marco Reus, with the 28-year-old providing a great out-ball for Favre’s counter-attacking system. Hanke’s movement off the ball and in the channels is fantastic and he is a really interesting outside bet for a place in Germany’s Euro 2012 squad.

He has added five goals to his limited tally this season, with two assists and a WhoScored rating of 6.8, ranking him the 10th highest in the squad. Hanke’s general off the ball work goes fairly unnoticed at times with a 73.4% pass completion ratio from 708 attempts. On average, he makes 35 passes per match, 0.2 through balls and 1.2 key passes.

However, probably Favre’s best decision as Gladbach coach was handing young goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen the number one shirt. Favre was unconvinced by the likes of Logan Bailly and Christian Heimeroth who had been regulars under Frontzeck and showed great faith in ter Stegen who was just 18 last season.

It is not just the fact that ter Stegen is an absolutely exceptional shot-stopper but his importance to the Gladbach defensive system is crucial. With Gladbach playing a very compact defensive and midfield shape, the offside trap has been put to good use this season and the 19-year-old keeper has become a sweeper at times.

He has proven to be comfortable playing in such a role at Gladbach, showing his quality in the 3-1 win over FC Bayern at the start of the ‘ruckrunde’. To play the ‘sweeper’ of the offside trap requires impeccable concentration and decision-making, with one of ter Stegen’s styles in his WhoScored characteristics being that he likes to move off the line very quickly.

His WhoScored rating is 7.24 from 22 Bundesliga matches this season, and probably one of the most incredible statistics for a goalkeeper is his 71% pass completion from over 800 passes. Ter Stegen prefers to play the long pass - on average 13 times per game - to fit Gladbach’s quick transition from defence to attack. In the ‘ruckrunde’, ter Stegen has already secured three clean sheets from five matches.

For most of Favre’s reign the back-four has been a regular feature, with Tony Jantschke, Dante, Martin Stranzl and Filip Daems building an impressive backbone of the Gladbach side. Brazilian defender Dante has been the one that has attracted a lot of interest from other Bundesliga clubs - FC Bayern in particular - after an impressive 12 months under Favre.

The 28-year-old has made 21 starts this season and has won two man of the match awards, which have helped him reach a WhoScored rating of 7.17 for Gladbach. Defensively, he is a huge presence at the back with an average of 1.9 tackles, 2.7 interceptions and 4.3 clearances per game. However, he is also very adept on the floor with a pass completion ratio of 86.7% and an average of 63 passes per game.

The statistics don’t lie for Gladbach and Lucien Favre, with The Foals winning 20 matches from their 34 under the Swiss coach, drawing 6 and losing just 8. Their defensive improvement from the Frontzeck reign is incredible, conceding 56 goals in 16 games before Favre took over and since then, Gladbach have earned 14 clean sheets.

It has been a superb tenure so far for Favre and with the league championship still a possible target, they could go down in Gladbach history as one of the best.