Dávid Hancko: Slovakia’s modern defender made for the European elite
Arne Slot won't be the only person from Feyenoord making the jump to the European elite. Sooner rather than later, Dávid Hancko will follow—he's made for it.
This article is the fourth instalment of xG Files’ ‘EuroFiles’ series for the upcoming European Championship, profiling 24 players from the qualified nations with expert opinions from journalists, writers, editors, and media guides from each respective nation.
The first three parts are already out, and you can find them here. This article focuses on Feyenoord and Slovakia’s defender, who idolised Beckham and is rumoured to follow Arne Slot to Liverpool. There's a reason why.
In an era of the game where the emphasis on and off the ball is as prominent as ever, the expansion of positions and the roles that distinguish them are so evident.
Goalkeepers aren’t just goalkeepers anymore; strikers aren’t just striking. Manuel Neuer has perfected the ‘sweeper keeper’ role, while there aren’t many better false nines than Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku (caveat: when fit). As unorthodox yet modern defenders go, look no further than Slovakia’s Dávid Hancko.
“His big ability is a universality for the national team; he plays at left-back, while in Feyenoord, he’s a centre-back,” said Slovakian journalist Lukas Vrablik.
Hancko’s role in a Feyenoord side that won their first league title in six years in the 2022/23 season and followed up with a Dutch Cup and a second-place finish this season is particularly intriguing.
Possessing a typical defender’s build with a stocky 6ft2 frame, whether at full-back or at the heart of the defence, where he mainly operates, much of Hancko’s work is done away from his box rather than around it. In fact, a more active presence nearer the opposition half than his own—averaging more touches (55.8) in the middle third than the defensive (35.5) according to Fbref (at the time of writing)—is a trend dating back to his time at Sparta Prague.
Green Bar Scouting, as Scoutedfbl has coined it, isn’t advocated, but a glance at Hancko’s Fbref profile tells you all you need to know.
Playing for Feyenoord, a team that averages 61.8 possessions—only behind PSV (62.8) in the Eredivisie—the quantity and, to an extent, quality of a player’s on-ball actions are usually going to be greater with more of the ball.
Nonetheless, at the international level for Slovakia, where Hancko plays exclusively at left back, the proactive nature and quality remain.
In Slovakia’s tightly contested qualifier against Luxembourg, the quality of Hancko would split the sides and all but ensure qualification for Euro 2024.
Hancko, highlighted on the left by the white circle, tends to pick up a position like this in the opposition half for Slovakia. Once receiving the ball in a triangle-like sequence, his teammate behind begins to make an overlapping run to support him…
However, given the space afforded to him, Hancko gears to whip a cross immediately upon receiving the pass in a David Beckham-esque style—a player Hancko idolised when growing up studying his technical execution—and it's clear to see in his crossing technique.
Hancko’s cross picks out an unmarked Dávid Ďuriš at the back post, and his finish does the rest.
The fact that Hancko isn't even in the image anymore shows the angle and depth at which he crossed the ball.
Milan Škriniar, Slovakia’s captain and most well-known player, anchors the Slovak defence, allowing for a player of Hancko’s technical quality to shuffle out wide.
“[When] Tomas Hubocan retired, there was a kind [of] gap at the left-back position, and Hancko was great to step in. Hubocan was a former centre-back, so he was very defensively minded at left-back. Hancko brought something new as he also tried to attack.” Vrablik added, “He was very down-to-earth, so Slovakian fans really like him.”
Given his severe injury—a broken leg in his youth—Hancko wasn’t guaranteed to make it as a professional, let alone to the level he has established.
Born in Prievidza, a central-western city in Slovakia, it was further north in Žilina where his career would launch, attending the club’s Champions League game with his father three years before joining at 15.
“The most important part was in Žilina, which is great in developing players,” stated Vrablik.
“Also, they set out to promote those younger ones in senior football, with their team repeatedly [being] one of the youngest on the continent.
It’s important that coaches like Adrian Gula gave him a lot of freedom and wanted young boys to play for results, but it wasn’t a pragmatic football at every cost. So that helped him a lot—he could create.”
In the summer of 2018, Serie A outfit Fiorentina came calling. For Fiorentina, Hancko was one of the many youth players in technical director Pantaleo Corvino's ambitious youth drive, which included Alban Lafont, Christian Nørgaard, and Dušan Vlahović. For Hancko, it was as ambitious as it was irresistible.
The Slovak’s brief time in Italy would be curtailed by the judgment of one. Most in Florence were seemingly enamoured by the promise of Hancko bar then manager Stefano Pioli, who valued Cristiano Biraghi above any other option. That season, Hancko made more appearances for Slovakia (7) than Fiorentina (5) before departing to Czech side Sparta Prague, leaving those of La Viola with the present what-if thought of a centre-back partnership of Hancko and Nikola Milenković.
“His development a bit slowed down during the time at Fiorentina, where he didn’t really break through. That meant a transfer to Sparta, which was in a sense a step back, but he was really great there, and it turned out it was the best transfer he could make,” said Vrablik.
Two seasons in Prague playing closer to home would be beneficial from a development standpoint—gradually making himself an international regular and playing European football—putting himself firmly back on the radar of European clubs, particularly Feyenoord’s Arne Slot.
After the Conference League final defeat to Roma in 2022, Tyrell Malacia and, specifically, centre-back Marcos Senesi, would leave for the Premier League, resulting in a system change that prioritised the importance of having defenders who were comfortable out wide and full-backs equally adept at playing inside—Lutsharel Geertruida being the prime example and Hancko being the next.
No Feyenoord player spent more time on the pitch (4,047 mins) than Hancko, who started all 45 games across all competitions in the 22/23 season.
A similar durable run continued the following season, with only Geertruida playing more minutes (2,855) than Hancko’s (2,854)—the latter’s (+8.7) plus/minus net per 90 is only bettered by Geertruida (+14.1), illustrating the two’s on-pitch impact throughout the season.
“He’s one of the best players in [the] Eredivisie and on the radar for a lot of clubs,” Vrablik said.
“I think he has everything that a modern CB should have—from passing to heading and duels—so he could be a valuable asset to every big club.”
Naturally, with the confirmation of Slot to Liverpool, the Merseyside club has been touted as a potential destination for Hancko to make the elite step up. So have Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle.
Being a left-footed defender comes with value in today’s market, but having the skill(set) and growing portfolio that Hancko has makes him an alluring proposition for any contending team, and the upcoming Euro 2024 is the stage to show so.