At 53, Niko Kovac looks younger than he should. Kovac has spent decades at the heart of football. But a six-month break away from the game, including spending time with his wife and daughter at their Salzburg home, has done him a world of good.
Kovac was a formidable defensive midfielder for German giants — including Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich — while captaining Croatia at two World Cups. He then coached his nation to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, before spells with Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern and then Monaco in Ligue 1. His last job was with Wolfsburg, ending in May.
Over coffee at a hotel overlooking Munich city centre, Kovac begins with the night Eintracht won their first trophy in 30 years. Today, Eintracht are just two years removed from winning the Europa League. But in March 2016, Kovac inherited a drifting team which finished 16th. They had to survive a relegation play-off against Nurnberg.
By May 2018, they were facing a Bayern side that ruled Germany in the DFB Pokal final. Kovac’s Frankfurt were beaten 4-1 by Bayern just weeks before. But he had a curveball to throw.
He gambled with a change to his usual 3-5-2 formation: “I noticed how often they had problems against a 4-3-3 and when teams were able to double or even triple-mark their wingers.
“We were a huge underdog — so we decided on that change in formation. Bayern’s strength was clear: it was those wingers. So, we played Jonathan de Guzman, Makoto Hasebe and Omar Mascarell in midfield — two holding players out of three — to help the defence and the full-backs on either side.
“Up front, we had two quick forwards, Marius Wolf and Ante Rebic, either side of Kevin-Prince Boateng. We knew we were faster than them, so it was our game plan to play on the counter. And it worked.”
Kovac’s players had just 23 per cent possession at the Olympiastadion, and eight shots to Bayern’s 22. But they won 3-1 — and lifted the trophy.
Kovac celebrating with his Frankfurt players after winning the DFB Pokal (Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images)
Their third goal was scored on a breakaway courtesy of Mijat Gacinovic. His staff and substitutes had broken away in celebration, almost chasing Gacinovic down the touchline. “I just remember thinking, ‘Don’t pass too early, don’t pass too early, take it as far as you can’. Then Ante Rebic was hugging me and telling me, ‘He’s going to score, he’s going to score’.
“And the whole atmosphere in the stadium… It was such an amazing feeling.”
Kovac was born and raised in Berlin. His mother and father moved to Germany in the 1970s as Gastarbeiter — guest workers — chasing opportunity but facing challenges.
“My parents came over from Yugoslavia without knowing any German. They moved from a small village to a big city. It was a culture shock.
“I had to assimilate and adapt in a way that has contributed to who I am as a person. It’s made me someone who is always trying to fit in. This is my character now, too. I can be very strong, too, when I need to be.”
Kovac feels he benefited enormously from Berlin’s diversity. “I mixed with all sorts of people. Turks, Arabs, Greeks… It gave me a bigger view of the world and to understand how people of different cultures and religions think.
“We didn’t have much money and we didn’t have everything we wanted. But it was a nice time. I miss it. We had different toys: going outside, playing football, playing in playgrounds.”
Those playgrounds helped to build one of the toughest, most competitive holding midfielders of that generation. He won the Bundesliga and Pokal double with Bayern in 2003. His coaching success in the Pokal final convinced Bayern that he was the right successor to Jupp Heynckes.
Kovac spent 15 months at Allianz Arena, winning the Bundesliga and Pokal in his first season. After losing his job in November 2019 following a 5-1 defeat by Eintracht, he moved to Monaco in 2020, taking them to a Coupe de France final in 2021. And in 2022, he returned to Germany and Wolfsburg, finishing eighth in his first season, before suffering a tougher second.
Kovac is known for creating hard-working teams that are resilient without the ball. He demands defensive discipline within a rigid structure. And he preaches quick, effective counter-attacking that can be truly devastating.
“Players need to understand that their success is linked with the team,” he tells The Athletic. “Everything is connected. You need time to explain it, but you have to be strict about that.”
Kovac can be strict, particularly when his red lines are crossed. Omar Marmoush is the Bundesliga’s form player and is prolific at Frankfurt. When the two were together at Wolfsburg, however, Kovac — unimpressed with the player’s overall contribution — substituted Marmoush after bringing him on during a win over Bochum in April 2023.
Marmoush worked with Kovac at Wolfsburg (Oliver Hardt/Getty Images)
Marmoush’s pride was hurt and he was upset, but working for the team was one of Kovac’s non-negotiables. “He has to learn from it,” Kovac said in the press conference after the game.
Kovac’s experiences mean he has his own beliefs on what allows a coach to succeed. Eintracht worked because it was a collaborative effort — between him, sporting director Fredi Bobic and Bruno Hubner, the board member for sport.
“The three of us were really close. I was actually team-mates with Fredi when I played for Hertha BSC and we shared a room in the academy.
“Bruno was in our circle and the three of us were responsible for decision-making. We had a rule: if we wanted to buy or loan someone, it had to be a 3-0 decision between us. It meant we were always going in the same direction.”
Unity matters elsewhere, too.
“As a coach, you must be supported and protected by board members. Because if you’re not, the players will try to use that to their advantage.
“If someone isn’t playing and he wants to complain, they need to do that to the coach, so that he can explain. But, if a player is going to an agent, who then talks directly to someone above, it means that there isn’t a good relationship between the board and the coach.
“There must be the trust to say, ‘Hey, talk to the coach about it’. If you don’t do that, it means you’re not protecting your coach.”
Bayern was tough. Kovac learned a lot from working with a squad full of stars. He found it difficult to balance the demands for playing time and handle the dynamics of a powerful dressing room. The same issue flummoxed Carlo Ancelotti. Every coach has had to contend with it.
What is the secret to controlling powerful players and keeping them happy? “Giovanni Trapattoni was one of my coaches and he once said me, ‘Niko, you need players in the dressing room who are managing the dressing room. If you try to control everything — especially at the biggest clubs, where the biggest players are — it becomes impossible’. He also talked about how everybody must understand their role in the group: OK, you know your role on the pitch, but you must also know your social role in the group.”
Kovac’s thoughts have also changed since his playing days. “Players today need much more information. You need to convince them so that it’s clear what they should do with the ball and without the ball – they must understand why you’re asking them.
“If you just order them to do something, they’ll say, ‘Why should I?’
“As a player, I was like that — I was always asking myself that question and wondering why the coach was expecting that of me. Not what, but why?
“But it was a different time. Our coaches back then had more authority. It was, ‘Don’t ask, just do it – I know best. I know exactly how and why’.”
Kovac as Bayern manager (Daniel Roland/AFP via Getty Images)
Understanding that probably explains why Kovac has been such an effective developer of players. Benoit Badiashile, Sofiane Diop and Aurelien Tchouameni all played for him at Monaco. Luka Jovic first played under Kovac at Frankfurt. Sebastien Haller, who would later play for West Ham United, Ajax and Borussia Dortmund, moved to the Bundesliga under Kovac’s watch.
That success continued at Wolfsburg, where Felix Nmecha and Micky Van de Ven were set on a path to big transfers. The pair adapted their positions, as did Tchouameni at Monaco.
And that’s an area where persuasiveness really matters, Kovac says. “I had a lot of conversations with Aurelien about his role and (when he moved deeper) he would say, ‘Coach, I must do more attacking football, I must be more box to box’.
“I explained to him that as a former No 6, I understood how he felt. Because when I started, I was a right winger, then I played right full-back, then an eight, and I finished as a six. I could draw on arguments I had with my own coaches in the past.
“Yes, there was arguing and it took time. But in the end, the result was Real Madrid. At the time, Aurelien was the world’s best ball-stealer — you could tell from the data — and that’s the reason he cost €80million.”
Nmecha made a similar adaption at Wolfsburg and he is now emerging as a force in the role for Borussia Dortmund and Germany.
“That (transition) is not easy,” Kovac says. “Because when you spent your whole career as a young player as an eight or a 10 — assisting, scoring — and then you have to drop back, that’s not easy to develop the right understandings. As a six, you have to be very disciplined. You have to organise. Sometimes, you have to step back; you can’t overrun your team-mates.
“It takes time for players to believe they can do it. At the same time, outsiders are criticising them, telling them that they can’t play that new role. ‘You can’t play a six; you can’t do this; you’re more of a full-back; you’re more of an eight, a 10 …’
“It’s difficult.”
Van de Ven is another example. He was a full-back when he moved to Germany for just under €4m in 2021. Two years later — after a year under Kovac — he left for Tottenham as a €50m centre-back.
What is the key to understanding when it’s the right time to ask a player to occupy an unfamiliar position? “I think it’s about understanding what the trend is in football,” Kovac says, “I have a lot to compare it to.
“When we started with Micky, I wanted a centre-back who could play with his left foot. We were lacking in that position and Robbie (Kovac’s younger brother and assistant manager), who is a former centre-back, said, ‘Niko, I’m sure he can do it’.
“Dutch players are so well educated with the ball, and his passing range and passing speed were fantastic. His physical speed was amazing. I’d never seen a player so incredibly fast.
Kovac with Van de Ven (Martin Rose/Getty Images)
“When I spoke with him, I told him that he could be a top centre-back and that I believed that he could make the European Championship in 2024 (with the Netherlands). I was always sure of that, and I told him so at the beginning of the season. And as a player, it’s something you like to hear. It’s motivational and supportive.”
Kovac does not hide behind a veil when describing his work. He is open about the fine print — and wishes there was more understanding about his profession. “I would like it if journalists saw what we do during the week and the kind of work that goes into that. Not just the work on the pitch with the players, but off the pitch too — how you prepare everything, how you make sense of your own thoughts and how you tell players when they’re not playing.”
Throughout the conversation, Kovac keeps coming back to the humanity of the job. “My point of view is always that I want to give the players every bit of information they need. Because if they don’t get all of it, I end up blaming myself. That’s what it’s like during and after games. You’re asking yourself: Did you do everything right?
“But people only ever see the result.”
(Top photo: Oliver Hardt/Getty Images)
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