Chennaiyin FC named former Bayer Leverkusen player Thomas Brdaric as the new head coach ahead of the ninth season of Indian Super League.
Our 𝓝𝓪𝓪𝔂𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓷 is here!
Willkommen, Thomas 💙
PS: Watch till the end. Thank us later 😉#AllInForChennaiyin #VanakkamThomas pic.twitter.com/B57UV4ZdoL
— Chennaiyin FC 🏆🏆 (@ChennaiyinFC) June 14, 2022
In his playing life, Thomas Brdaric was a forward. Before retiring at Hannover 96 in 2008, the German played for prominent German clubs like as Köln, Bayer Leverkusen, and VfL Wolfsburg. In his career, the German scored over 100 goals for his team.
His most memorable moment as a player came when he walked onto the pitch for Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League final. Real Madrid, on the other hand, trounced them 3-1. Brdaric also made eight appearances for the Croatian national team, scoring his only goal against Iran in 2004.
Thomas joined 1. FC Union Solingen as a coach shortly after retirement. He was sacked soon after and went to work as a technical director for FC Dinamo Minsk in Belarus and then FC Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan. Brdaric returned to Germany after both stints and joined TSG Neustrelitz. He guided them to the Regionalliga Nordost title in 2013–14, however he was knocked out in the promotion playoff.
Following his time at Neustrelitz, the German went on to coach Wolfsburg’s reserve squad. He won 19 of the 34 league games he played for Wolfsburg-II. Mateusz Klich, a current Leeds United midfielder, was a Wolfsburg-II player who developed under Brdaric.
In Albania, Thomas Brdaric most recently coached KF Vllaznia Shkodr. He dominated his debut match with the club, winning 7-0. In Albania, he led the club to a title-winning season, qualifying them for the UEFA Conference League qualifiers. His club, however, was unable to defeat AEL Limassol in the Conference League’s second round of qualifying. On March 14th of this year, he quit the Albanian club.
Throughout his playing and coaching careers, Thomas Brdaric has proven to be a versatile player. Brdaric, who is a forward himself, is very attack-minded, which shows in his playing style. He usually plays in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but he twerks it now and then to surprise his opponents. More crucially, every squad Brdaric has been a part of has averaged more than two goals per match over the course of a season.
Another area in which the strategist has excelled is youth management and development. He aims to keep his squad youthful, hence he prefers to have a large number of young players in his squad.
According to Chennaiyin FC’s current recruitment plan, the former ISL champions are also interested in developing young players into stars. As a result, they’re a fantastic complement for one another.
As a result, under the German’s guidance, Chennaiyin is anticipated to play a much more offensive style of football this season. The Marina Machans have recently struggled on the offensive side of the game, so the signing makes more sense.
