David Wagner and Huddersfield ready to beat Pep Guardiola's Manchester City at their own pressing game

The former Dortmund reserve team manager has taken an 'unfashionable' team and turned them into a troublesome opponent for any side

David Wagner's infectious personality and faultless work ethic has rejuvenated Huddersfield's fortunes

(Getty)

David Wagner ran down the touchline once again when Huddersfield Town scored a late winning goal against Rotherham, but this time he stopped short of jumping on his players. Just days after exuberant celebrations had spilled over in another Yorkshire derby with Leeds, perhaps there was a momentary pause for thought.

Yet Wagner had much to cheer. Huddersfield’s latest comeback victory put them top of the form table in the Championship, with six league wins from their last seven and promotion hopes growing ahead of an FA Cup tie against Manchester City on Saturday. Remarkably, they are third in the division and only trail leaders Newcastle United by five points.

For a side that were struggling to stay in the second tier when Wagner replaced Chris Powell in November 2015, the transformation has been rapid. “He’s basically the German messiah of West Yorkshire,” says James Chisem of the Huddersfield Town Supporters’ Association, and it easy to see why the former Borussia Dortmund reserves coach is so revered.

The change came almost immediately. While Town actually slipped a position between Wagner’s appointment and the end of last season – finishing 19th – his impact was swift. After his first home match, a 2-0 defeat to Middlesbrough, the team were given a standing ovation because of their increased energy, pressing and confidence in possession, despite the result.

His tactical approach, one that inevitably draws comparisons to Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, has continued to prove successful ever since. Wagner, Klopp’s great friend and godfather to one of his children, has crafted a side so adept at the gegenpress that opponents are wilting in its face. Late goals have been a particular penchant, as teams succumb to the relentless ardour at the last.

No surprise, then, that Wolfsburg came calling in December. The only shock was that Wagner turned down the opportunity to manage the Bundesliga club in favour of continuing his “journey” with the Terriers.

But watch the 45-year-old on a matchday and it is easy to see his deep affection for Huddersfield. The former United States international, who studied biology and sports science at Darmstadt University after his playing career, is fully ensconced in the culture of a club that supporters believe has been deemed “unfashionable” in the past, by football as a whole and also former managers.

There may yet be a touchline ban for the confrontation with Garry Monk, the Leeds manager – given that Wagner was also a tad overzealous with his celebrations against Derby earlier in the season – but his enthusiasm has seeped into a squad oozing with an evident élan.

“Our style changed from minute one,” says Mark Hudson, the Town captain, of Wagner’s appointment in 2015. “We knew what identity we were going to have. He broke it down to blocks of how we were going to play; how we were going to pass it out from the back, the high press and when to push up the pitch. He broke it down in segments but you couldn’t do it without a good fitness base, so that was key. He was an unknown from our part, and it was a brave appointment by the chairman [Dean Hoyle].

Our style changed from minute one. We knew what identity we were going to have.

Mark Hudson

“He’s very hands on and very detailed, we work in the classroom and with video clips but without filling us with too much information in one go. He did it through bullet points and we worked through them. He was very good at getting his ideas across and it is testament to the players who took it onboard as well.

“He’s very charismatic, he speaks very well and is very knowledgeable. That came across straight away. He’s a great character to have around and he leads by example. He’s very thorough in his work. You can see his enthusiasm on the touchline. You want to work for him. It shows the passion and desire to win, that filters down to the players.”

Wagner has fostered a formidable team spirit at the Kirklees Stadium

(Getty)

While change was immediate, the full effects of Wagner’s composition of speed, power and technique are only truly being felt now. With a full and gruelling pre-season undertaken last summer, Town started the season with a bang and there is hope that they will not fade away as they did at the back end of the previous campaign.

At that stage Wagner did not have a squad entirely suited to the German’s high-octane ways, and this season there have been some stellar additions. The loan signings Elias Kachunga, Izzy Brown and Aaron Mooy (ineligible to face parent club City this weekend) have been particularly influential.

However, it is not only Wagner’s approach on the pitch that has won fans over. His charisma off it has also rubbed off and while the touchline fervour may grate opposition supporters (just ask those at Leeds) it is difficult not to warm to a man who provides great entertainment value.

The Cup tie against City represents an opportunity for Wagner to test himself against Pep Guardiola’s improving side. There are more important things in sight than a Cup run this year, though, as Huddersfield seek to meet such big teams on a more regular basis.

Chisem adds: “We have been referred to as ‘unfashionable Huddersfield’ in the past. But David Wagner obviously saw something different. A post-industrial northern town, we don’t mind finishing 19th in the table but you’ve got to give it a go.

“That’s the key thing and that’s what the whole gegenpressing thing is all about. It’s not necessarily about having the best players but it’s about having the best team and system. David Wagner says ‘we’re not dreamers, we’re hard workers’ and I think that plays into people’s sense of themselves in Huddersfield.”