Christoph Baumgartner – Hoffenheim’s prodigious attacking midfielder
Christoph Baumgartner is a highly intelligent human being as in Austria, he jumped from the sixth grade to the eighth grade, not just to pursue his career but because of his ability in the classroom. As a youngster at St. Polten, with all of the top Austrian clubs interested in acquiring his services, he sought the advice of his elder brother, Dominik who is also a footballer. He also polled the advice of Florian Grillitsch who was in the same academy side as his brother and made the trek from St. Polten to Hoffenheim before deciding to join his fellow Austrian in Sinsheim.
Baumgartner is a natural central attacking midfielder but does not believe he is a classic playmaker due his willingness to participate in the defensive phase of the game. Julian Nagelsmann tracked his progression while the Austrian played with the Hoffenheim U19s, giving him regular advice while also proving critical in the youngster earning a professional contract just six months after joining the club. The 20-year-old is used to playing against players much older than him as he did not only skip a class at school but also competed in higher age-groups at Austrian youth level.
“Playmaker, because my strengths are on the offensive and I want to take over the game. Not "classic" because today everyone has to work defensively,” said Baumgartner in an interview with Kurier at the beginning of 2018.
Baumgartner has always been held in high esteem within the Austrian youth setup as former youth coach, Andreas Heraf described the youngster as ‘the best that he has ever worked with’. The 20-year-old participated in a Hoffenheim U19 side that won their league title as well as making it to the latter stages of the UEFA Youth League as those experiences gave the Austrian adequate preparation for first-team football. Baumgartner made his debut in the second half of last season against Werder Bremen as a 19-year-old. He immediately began drifting in between the lines to receive the ball, pulling off some mercurial tricks that look to have broken the ankle of Kevin Mohwald.
He proved his immense ability at receiving the ball in tight spaces as well as a dribbler in between the lines as he twisted and turned to win a penalty for Hoffenheim. In Hoffenheim’s final game of the season against Mainz, which the team needed to qualify for the Europa League, Baumgartner showed immaturity in earning the first red card of his career as his side ultimately lost the tie. Despite all of the goodwill he earned at Austrian youth level, it was dumbfounding that he did not earn a starting role at last year’s Under 21 European Championships. He was the second youngest player at the tournament and Head Coach, Werner Gregoritsch described him as ‘the most complete player with the greatest game intelligence’. However, in a team stacked with attacking talent like Xaver Schlager and Hannes Wolf, the 61-year-old manager went with a more conservative approach as the midfielder rarely featured, even after an injury to Wolf.
He returned to Hoffenheim for pre-season hoping to earn a starting role under new coach Alfred Schreuder as the Dutchman and his new coaching staff gave him an opportunity to impress in a game against Verona. Baumgartner immediately moved to his favoured position in the ten space, showing for the ball as Hoffenheim’s back three looked to work passes for him into the pockets. He had an instance where he received a pass in the left half-space to weave past a glut of lunging limbs to work a shot for Dennis Geiger.
The Austrian earned a start at home to the team he debuted against in Werder Bremen as Hoffenheim worked early balls in between the lines for Ihlas Bebou and Baumgartner to provide layoffs. Baumgartner then received a pass in between the lines from Sebastian Rudy which he laid off to Pavel Kaderabek in the wide areas. The outing would be one of the 20-year-old’s few outings with the Sinsheim-based club despite Schreuder’s side struggling to create opportunities and longing for a creative force in the ten space. He started the last game before the winter break at home to Borussia Dortmund, although he played as a left winger rather than an attacking midfielder.
His job was to hold possession and wait for his overlapping fullback in Robert Skov while dropping into the deeper and more central areas to establish connections for the home side. Playing him in the wide areas without a highly-placed fullback greatly limited his influence of the game by receiving the ball in the pockets and working connections to create scoring opportunities. Baumgartner did make some layoffs and work some dummy moves to progress play, but he was a passenger.
Baumgartner is an attacking midfielder who can control games if his team work passing angles to him in between the lines as he is undeterred by tight spaces as his ability to receive the ball and swivel is highly developed. He has a low centre of gravity which allows him to change direction at pace as when he is in the ten space, he can draw markers, beating one or two before laying a pass onto a teammate. His first touch and balance are exquisite as he also thrives at making dovetailing late runs into the box behind the striker. It will be interesting to see if Schreuder will play him in a more central role with the departures of Kevin Vogt and Lukas Rupp in the transfer window.
"Baumi is an extremely talented player with a strong technique and a good sense for spaces in the offensive game. As a result, he constantly develops solutions in tight game situations and is also dangerous for goals. He is a player with great potential who will also need and will get time,” said Hoffenheim Technical Director, Alexander Rosen when signing him to a new contract till 2023 on his 20th birthday.
Baumgartner has been highly regarded at youth level in Austria as well as in Sinsheim as he will need to make inroads into Schrueder’s starting lineup in the second half of the season. Baumgartner will also need to maintain his fitness as the second-half of the season could be pivotal in gaining the trust of the coaching staff and his teammates. Academically and athletically, he has always been an overachiever, it will be intriguing to see if he can continue on the same path moving forward.
