Who Is René Hake?
Go Ahead Eagles appointed René Hake in May of 2022 after he was dismissed as head coach of FC Utrecht only a couple of months prior.
He was tasked with leading the club back into the Eredivisie for the 2022/23 campaign, with the Dutch club winning promotion the season before after four seasons in the Eerste Divisie.
His first campaign was relatively successful, with Go Ahead Eagles finishing 11th, comfortably clear of the relegation zone.
However, the Dutch side have gone from strength to strength this season, with Go Ahead Eagles sixth at the time of writing and Hake on pace to lead them to their best Eredivisie campaign since the 1970s.
Hake is frequently compared to current Manchester United and former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag, with both managers sharing a similar football vision, as both came through the youth coaching ranks at Eredivisie side FC Twente.
This René Hake tactical analysis will take a look at the 52-year-old Dutchman’s tactics at Go Ahead Eagles, as well as René Hake style of play that he has been able to implement at the Dutch club.
René Hake Style Of Play & Preferred Formation
Starting with formations and style of play, Hake style of play does not really alternate between starting formations, with most formational switches occurring during the match as his side adjusts to the opposition’s tactics.
The image above shows the typical starting formations for Go Ahead Eagles this season under René Hake.
As we can see, the Dutchman typically prefers to start with a 4-2-3-1 while also utilising a 4-4-2 at times, a formation that the Dutch side typically shift into in defensive phases of play, but more on that later.
In regards to a defined style of play from René Hake at Go Ahead Eagles, the Dutchman wants his side to have defensive solidity first and foremost, with him expecting all ten outfield players to be involved and active in defensive phases of play.
This has started to bear fruit this season, with Go Ahead Eagles possessing the sixth-best defence in the Eredivisie regarding goals conceded.
In a more general overview, Hake is flexible when it comes to his full-on tactical approach, with the 52-year-old able to play possession-based football or more counterattacking and transitional football.
His Go Ahead Eagles side this season is more the latter, with the Dutch side averaging 44.6% possession per 90 minutes this season, the third lowest total in the Eredivisie.
As this tactical analysis progresses, we will take a more in-depth look at how René Hake’s side looks to play in different phases of play and tactical trends.
René Hake In possession principles & chance creation in the final third
First, we will look at some in-possession principles from René Hake and his Go Ahead Eagles side in the attacking phase of play.
From a statistical standpoint, the Dutch side have been having a very productive season in front of goal, with their 283 shots the fifth-highest total in the Eredivisie this season, with 45.6% shot on target percentage, good for the best in the Dutch top flight, highlighting their ability to get the majority of their shots on target.
Their 87 key passes are also suitable for fifth-best in the Eredivisie, showing the chance creation ability that the Dutch side are able to display on a consistent basis.
This graphic below shows where the majority of their chances come from, highlighting the attacking tendencies of Hake’s side.
The progressive pass map above shows these actions for Go Ahead Eagles in their last ten Eredivisie matches, with some trends beginning to show throughout this period of time.
As we can see, the majority of the Dutch side’s progressive passes into the penalty area have occurred from the wide channels, with both full-backs playing a large part in goals for the Dutch side this season.
Go Ahead Eagles starting left-back Bas Kuipers has four goals and four assists this season, while right-back Mats Deijl has chipped in with one goal and three assists.
This helps to illustrate the role these two play in attacks for the Dutch side, with chance creation in the wide areas something René Hake has put an emphasis on during his time in charge.
Looking to overload these wide areas and in the half, spaces are what the 52-year-old looks for his side to utilise to accomplish.
Also, the full-backs making overlapping or underlapping runs can be used as decoys, with these movements able to open up space in the central areas for the Dutch side to rotate the ball into.
The image above shows an example of this underlapping run by Deijl, which was able to open space for the ball to be played centrally by former Liverpool and Lazio player Bobby Adekanye.
The underlapping run by the full-back drags the PEC Zwolle defender with him, forcing the Zwolle midfielder to drop into the space vacated so Adekanye cannot take a touch inside and drive towards the penalty box.
The 25-year-old wide player does cut inside and drive centrally, but instead of dribbling towards the defender, plays a pass centrally to Evert Linthorst, with the 23-year-old able to drift into a pocket of space about 25 yards from goal, which opened up due to the opposition midfielder being forced to slide.
This allows Linthorst the time and space to pick a pass in behind the opposition backline, aiming for striker Victor Edvardsen.
The image above shows an example of how René Hake likes to utilise his full-backs in the attacking third.
As mentioned earlier in this tactical analysis, the majority of the chance creation for Go Ahead Eagles this season has come from the wide areas, with both the full-backs and wide midfielders looking to be heavily involved in these attacking moves.
This attacking phase of play from a recent match against Vitesse highlights this attacking tendency.
This quick attacking move began with a goal kick for Hake’s side, with the ball quickly finding its way out to Deijl in the near wide channel.
The Dutch full-back has plenty of space to drive into, which he does, creating somewhat of a triangle and an attacking overload against the Vitesse left-back and left-sided central defender.
This numerical advantage forces the Vitesse defenders to stay at home, allowing Deijl the time to pick his pass, with him playing Adekanye into the space out wide.
The 25-year-old then plays a first-time cross centrally to Edvardsen, with the Swedish striker unable to guide his header past the goalkeeper.
As this section has been able to show, a lot of René Hake’s attacking principles in the final third involve the use of width to create chances, with either the advancing full-backs or wide players hugging the touchlines key to this.
It is common to see overloads created in the wide areas, usually with the full-backs driving forward to facilitate.
It has proven very successful so far this season, with Go Ahead Eagles boasting a top-five number in the Eredivisie in both key passes and expected goals (xG).
Looking to be compact and disciplined defensively rather than aggressive
From a more defensive standpoint, René Hake’s Go Ahead Eagles side are a compact and disciplined defensive unit, with them not a particularly aggressive side in this phase of play.
In fact, they possess one of the lowest PPDA totals in the Eredivisie this season (13.57), while also holding the lowest challenge intensity as well (4.7).
This shows Hake’s defensive tactics of looking to stay compact and stay in a more rigid defensive shape, and it has shown good results so far this season.
They have only conceded 29 goals this season, the fifth-best total in the Dutch top flight.
However, they have faced the fourth-highest number of shots this season, but their 99 blocked shots are the second-highest in the Eredivisie, highlighting their ability to get in front of shots and put their bodies on the line to keep the ball out of the net.
The data viz graphic shown above highlights the shots against that René Hake’s side have faced this season in the Eredivisie.
As we can see, while they have given up a lot of shots from inside the penalty area, they have also forced their opponents into quite a large amount of shots from distance.
This is due to the rigid and compact defensive shape, with Hake’s side looking to frustrate opposition sides and force them into shots from distance.
The image above shows a defensive phase of play for Go Ahead Eagles from their recent league match against PEC Zwolle, which shows the defensive shape they tend to switch into when the opposition are in possession.
As we can see, the formation tends to switch into a bit of a 4-4-2, with the two wide players (Adekanye and Jakob Breum) tending to play slightly more advanced of the double pivot of Linthorst and Xander Blomme.
What this defensive shape looks to do is force the opposition to play long, with any chance of central progression on the ground blocked by the positioning of the Go Ahead Eagles players in their defensive shape.
Another option is for opposition defenders to play the ball wide, which is what the PEC Zwolle defender does in this example.
However, even when the ball is essentially locked to one side, Hake’s side still stays disciplined, with the full-back not releasing to pressure the ball receiver.
This job is instead left for Breum, with the Danish wide player responsible for putting pressure on the player out wide.
This comes back to Hake’s tactical philosophy and idea that every player on the pitch should play their part defensively, with every outfield player required to have an excellent defensive work rate.
Breum’s ability to pressure the player out wide allows the defensive shape of Go Ahead Eagles to stay intact, with the rest of the midfield sliding to cover the gaps and preventing dangerous pockets of space from opening up in the central areas.
A similar picture is prevalent in this defensive phase of play from an Eredivisie match against Sparta Rotterdam.
However, the shape is slightly different this time, with the out-of-possession shape looking like a 4-3-3.
Still, the same principles are prevalent, with the narrow and compact defensive shape from Go Ahead Eagles preventing any opportunity of central progression between the lines for Sparta Rotterdam.
Though the Sparta Rotterdam attacking player looks to drop into the space between the lines, the central progression is still blocked, forcing the centre-back to go long into the wide channel, with the ball easily recovered by the Go Ahead Eagles defence.
As this example is again able to show, the compact and disciplined defensive shape for René Hake’s side looks to deny the opposition’s central progression, forcing them either into the wide channels or long into the heart of the Go Ahead Eagles’ defence.
However, this does not mean that Go Ahead Eagles will not look to press in certain defensive moments.
As mentioned earlier in this tactical analysis, Hake is known to be tactically flexible, so it is common to see the Dutch coach switch things up during a match.
This phase of play above against Sparta Rotterdam shows an excellent example of this occurring.
Sparta Rotterdam are looking to build out from the back, with the ball played from the goalkeeper to the left-sided centre-back.
Central striker Victor Edvardsen is already positioned high, with his starting position on the edge of the opposition’s six-yard box.
At the same time, the attacking midfield three, Breum, Willum Willumsson and Adekanye, start high as well, with all three positioned on the edge of the 18-yard box.
When the opposition look to attempt to build out from the back, this initiates a press from Go Ahead Eagles, with Edvardsen able to angle his run to force the centre-back to play the ball to his only viable option, the full-back.
This pass frees Adekanye to engage, with the other two attacking midfielders sliding over to cover and the deeper-lying double pivot moving higher to help lock the ball into this zone.
The ensuing result was a turnover forced by the Dutch side, with them able to quickly transition to goal and score the opening goal of the match.
This demonstrates the flexibility from Hake’s side, which also displays an aggressive, high-pressing ability in certain moments of play.
As this section has been able to show, René Hake has turned Go Ahead Eagles into a quality defensive side as well, with his tactics based on defensive solidity and staying compact and narrow to eliminate central progression from the opposition while also at times displaying a bit of high pressing nous as well.
Conclusion
As this René Hake tactical analysis and tactics piece has shown, René Hake has transformed the fortunes of Go Ahead Eagles since his appointment in May of 2022.
The 52-year-old Dutchman has the Eredivisie side flying this campaign, with them on course to have their best league finish since the 1970s, with the dream of European football next season looking more and more likely every passing matchday.
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