"In Monaco they still talk about it today": former player gives intimate insights into the work of BVB coach Niko Kovac

Lukas Hradecky and Fredi Bobic, his former companions at Eintracht Frankfurt, have revealed background details in kicker on the working methods of BVB coach Niko Kovac.

Kovac has built an outstanding record at Dortmund, averaging 2.03 points per match after 79 games in charge. Borussia, who boasted the Bundesliga's best defence last season on their way to a comfortable runners-up finish, now sit top of the table with a perfect record after four matchdays.

His methods have certainly evolved over the years, but the core of his football has stayed the same across spells at Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg and AS Monaco. The 54-year-old demands defensive discipline and relentless work rate from every player on the pitch.

Lukas Hradecky knows that better than most. The goalkeeper looked back on their time together on the Main, where he made 90 competitive appearances under Kovac between 2015 and 2018 and won the DFB Cup with the Croat eight years ago.

"I'm really not a fan of the exercise bike, but we quickly noticed how our fitness improved," Hradecky said about the early days under Kovac. "Stamina was one of the biggest issues for him right from the start. You could then see that immediately in the matches on the pitch."

"That is no coincidence": Lukas Hradecky praises BVB coach Niko Kovac

Now under contract with Kovac's former club in Monaco, the Finn added: "Stabilising the defence was very important to him, and we also became significantly better there after a few weeks. It is no wonder that Dortmund are currently among the clubs with the fewest goals conceded. You really see that with every one of his clubs; people in Monaco still talk about it to this day when the subject turns to him. That is no coincidence. He is simply clever enough to know that this is exactly what wins matches."

Hradecky also picked out Kovac's way of speaking to the team, while stressing that players have no choice but to buy into his approach. "His conviction as a motivator, his ability to take a team and a club with him, that was already his greatest strength in Frankfurt," said the 36-year-old. "He said: We will stay up if you do it the way I tell you and follow me. In the end, he was right."

Kovac took charge of the Hessians at the beginning of March 2016 with the club in 16th place and picked up 12 points from the remaining matches. Frankfurt stayed 16th but avoided relegation thanks to an emotional 1-0 away win in the play-off at 1. FC Nuremberg. They then finished 11th and eighth in the following seasons, sparking the rise that led Eintracht to major success in recent years, with the Europa League triumph in 2022 the high point.

Niko Kovac is said to have recently met with anthropologists

Fredi Bobic, Eintracht's former sporting director, also praised Kovac's work with the squad, shaped by a mix of strictness and calm. According to kicker, the current BVB coach is recently said to have met with anthropologists "on his own initiative" so he could communicate his messages to players in different ways, tailored to their cultural backgrounds.

"What impressed me is that he keeps finding new ways, informing himself and letting himself be inspired," said Bobic, now sporting director at Legia Warsaw. "I remember that back then in Frankfurt he brought nutritionists on board and changed the food. That was almost too much; in the end it felt as if the players were given only grasses and no meat any more, and an Argentine like David Abraham became a little aggressive (laughs)."

Kovac will get his first real answers over how sustainable BVB's strong start is in the coming weeks. Dortmund have seven matches scheduled in October alone, starting with next Friday evening's home game against Werder Bremen on the fifth Bundesliga matchday.

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