Željko Buvač ( sr-cyrl, Жељко Бувач; born 13 September 1961) is a Bosnian

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who is the sporting director of

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

. He is the former assistant manager of

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, a role he took in 2015 but left in April 2018. Former Liverpool manager

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

labelled Buvač as "the brain" in his coaching team, while describing himself as "the heart" and the second assistant coach, Peter Krawietz, as "the eye". Buvač has been credited with developing the high-speed attacking style that brought success at

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

Playing career

Buvač was born in Omarska,"A" national team
at

Football Association of Republika Srpska The Football Association of Republika Srpska ( / ''Fudbalski savez Republike Srpske'', ''FSRS'') is the official football association of the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It organizes the national cup, the domestic league ...

official website, Retrieved 26 May 2015

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

within Yugoslavia to ethnic Serb parents. He played for

FK Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian Serb professional association football, football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Republika ...

in the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

. While playing for Borac, in 1988, he won the

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup (; ; , ), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup (; , and between 1947 and 1991 as the Marshal Tito Cup (; ; ; ), was one of two major association football, football competitions in Socialist Federal Re ...

. In 1991, he moved to Germany and played with Rot-Weiß Erfurt and

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

in the 2. Bundesliga. From 1995 to 1998, Buvač played for

SC Neukirchen The SC Neukirchen is a German association football club from the city of Neukirchen, Hesse. History The actual foundation date of the club is shrouded in mystery but the club decided in 1945 that 1899 seemed the most likely year. The local gy ...

, where he ended his playing career in 1998 at the age of 37.

Managerial career

After retiring, Buvač became a manager. He finished his playing career with

in 1998, and he took charge of the club soon after hanging up his boots. In 2001, after three seasons at Neukirchen, he became assistant manager of another of his former clubs,

, where he joined friend, former teammate, and Mainz manager

. During his seven years at the club they achieved promotion to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

, and later earned European qualification. In 2008, he moved with Klopp to become assistant manager at

. Described by Klopp as his "right hand", Buvač helped lead Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga wins in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, as well as the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

, the

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, and their second appearance in a Champions League final in

. In 2013, while still at Dortmund, Buvač also became the head coach of the Republika Srpska official football team. In October 2015, he joined newly appointed manager Klopp and took up the role of assistant manager at

club

. On 30 April 2018, Liverpool announced that Buvač was to take a leave of absence for the rest of the 2017–18 season for personal reasons. It was later announced that he had left the club permanently. Both Buvač and Klopp said their relationship had changed. On 1 February 2020, Buvač was appointed sporting director by the Russian club

. On 14 December 2021, he extended his contract with Dynamo until the summer of 2024. On 1 March 2024, the contract was extended until June 2026.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Borac Banja Luka *

: 1987–88

Manager

As assistant manager

Mainz 05 * 2. Bundesliga promotion: 2003–04 Borussia Dortmund *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2011–12 *

: 2011–12 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

runner-up: 2012–13 Liverpool *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 2015–16 *

runner-up: 2017–18 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

runner-up: 2015–16

References

External links

Željko Buvač
at Soccerway {{DEFAULTSORT:Buvac, Zeljko 1961 births Living people People from Prijedor Footballers from Banja Luka Region Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers FK Rudar Prijedor players FK Borac Banja Luka players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt players Yugoslav First League players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Germany Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers 1. FSV Mainz 05 non-playing staff Borussia Dortmund non-playing staff Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in England Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate football managers in West Germany Expatriate football managers in Germany Expatriate football managers in England