German Bundesliga enthusiasts were treated to a midweek full of fantastic fixtures in the league’s first “Englischer Woche” (“English Week”) of the season. Such a pleasant occurrence remains rather rare; so much so that, in popular parlance, German football writers eventually couldn’t resist adopting the phrase to apply to the UEFA weeks. They sought to transfer the sheen to a wholly different event.
Watching seven German sides play in midweek competition may constitute a treat, but it’s still not as gratifying as watching all 18 square off in meaningful matches on a tight turnaround. A great deal can shift when so much is at stake in a very short timeframe. Clubs often find another level. High-scoring affairs and incredible finishes are the norm.
There were plenty of those on hand in the 16th round. Relegation-threatened FC Köln overcame a 0-2 deficit to defeat Eintracht Frankfurt 4-2. FC Bayern München scored two goals in the second half injury time to break away from SC Freiburg 3-1. FC Augsburg and FSV Mainz 05 ran away with their results, blasting by Fortuna Düsseldorf and SV Werder Bremen 3-0 and 5-0, respectively.
In the round’s marquee matchup, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig drew 3-3 in a thriller at Signal-Iduna-Park. Borussia Mönchengladbach was able to shake off their loss over the weekend and accrue three much-needed points by defeating SC Paderborn 07 2-0. As a result, the Foals draw even with Leipzig’s 34 points at the top of the table; the East Germans still retain the lead position based on goal differential.
With the final round of 2019 scheduled to kick off in less than 48 hours, it looks as if we’re all set for a fantastic finish to the calendar year.
Observational Aphorisms-Week 16
How did FSV Mainz 05 become a secure-looking club? It traces back to their crafty hiring of a quality manager all too hastily let go by the other “Karneval-verein.” No, I’m obviously not prepared to drop this point yet. FC Köln’s panicky release of Achim Beierlorzer remains the most insipid administrative move of the season. Beierlorzer retains fairly basic tactics for his new club. He still rolls out a simple 4-2-3-1 most weeks. That proved more than enough to dismantle SV Werder Bremen quickly in Tuesday’s 5-0 shellacking. When simple clicks early, smaller clubs accrue sufficient survival points.
The Köln board clearly overreacted and overcomplicated matters. That being duly noted, die Geißbocken are finally beginning to make up some ground. The 4-2 comeback win over Frankfurt hands Markus Gisdol’s club their second consecutive league win and goal differential lifts them -barely- above the relegation zone. I find myself at a loss in explaining the most recent win, mostly because my brain hasn’t yet had a chance to catch up with what my eyes have seen. Gisdol has recently called up two players, Ismail Jakobs and Jan Theilmann, from the youth ranks. The latter is only 17. Somehow both of them are thriving on the forward wings. We obviously need more evidence before broadcasting “phenom alerts,” but this is some start for the tyros.
Ambiguity with respect to a “phenom alert” also applies FC Bayern’s 18-year-old striker Joshua Zirkzee. After making his club debut in the Champion’s League last week, the Dutch international was brought on against Freiburg in the 90th in what appeared a deliberate move to eat up some clock. Inside of two minutes, Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry had him set up for his first Bundesliga goal in his debut league match. The kid still had to supply a cool finish, which he did with aplomb. This is some start for the youngster, who actually hasn’t scored yet in 11 starts for FC Bayern II in the German third division. What to make of this? Hans Dieter Flick apparently sees the raw talent and says to hell with the production numbers.
Like it or not, it’s time for the weekly Jürgen Klinsmann update. Hertha BSC’s 1-0 defeat of Bayer 04 Leverkusen keeps an overly-sensationalized story that should have faded back into obscurity already alive. Klinsi now has his own two-game winning streak. The new manager’s tactics weren’t all that radically different from the weekend’s encounter. Same formation with only one change: Per Ciljan Skjelbred over Vedad Ibisevic. It proved enough for a win over Peter Bosz’ once-again thoroughly confused Werkself. Looking ahead, it’s doubtful that the story of Klinsmann’s comeback will get pushed back to the back pages anytime soon. The transfer rumors are beginning to heat up. Can the capital club land big names like Mario Götze with their new big-name coach?
FC Schalke 04, without suspended keeper Alexander Nübel, couldn’t help but to concede a late goal against VfL Wolfsburg and miss a wonderful opportunity to climb to third in the table. Nübel earned a four-game suspension for one of the most flagrantly dirty keeper fouls you’re every likely to see in this past weekend’s fixture against Frankfurt. Youch. Even that damning still-frame photograph doesn’t accurately convey what a noxious challenge it was. With the Köngisblauen on the cusp of reclaiming their place in the top four, now really wasn’t the best time for Schalke’s backstop to unveil his Liu Kang flying-dragon-kick impersonation. His loss hurts them fierce… in a totally non-cool way.
What’s up with Eintracht Frankfurt? Since beating Bayern 5-1 in the 10th round, die Adler have earned one draw and lost five league games. Their shock defeat of the German giants led to the dismissal of Niko Kovac. Similarly, their 2-1 upset defeat of Arsenal in Round 5 of the Europa League turned out to be the final nail in Unai Emery’s coffin. They lost the other two matches in the second half of the Europa League group stages. It would appear they can only win against heavily favored opposition when the other club’s coach is in danger of getting fired. Sadly, this isn’t good enough.
There’s time yet to discuss two clubs in absolute freefall. SV Werder Bremen has now lost three consecutive matches by a combined 1-12 scoreline. That’s still nowhere near as bad as Fortuna Düsseldorf, winless in five games on the spin by a composite 1-15 score. Excepting the 1-1 draw against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 13th round, the Flingeraner have been shut out in four of their last five Bundesliga fixtures. It’s understandable that Bayern, Leipzig, Dortmund dispatched them 4-0, 5-0, and 3-0. Surely they could have managed something better against FC Augsburg this round.
If Friedhelm Funkel maintains any semblance of a soul, he needs to give Zack Steffen the weekend off. No more nightmares for the poor American.
Weekly Tactical Focus-Prelude to the Arms Race
If you happened to miss the Dortmund-Leipzig six-goal shootout, you not only missed out on a cracking football match, but also a closer look at the two clubs one expects to be the most active in the coming transfer window. The race for the title still remains open. Bayern cannot be discounted and Borussia Mönchengladbach possesses enough talent to realize the dream.
The ability of these two organizations to stay in the hunt shall largely be contingent on their ability to properly augment/whittle their rosters in the exciting weeks ahead. Most of the talk in German footballing circles presently centers around RB Salzburg’s attacking midfielder Erling Haaland. The 18-year-old Norwegian international will be the window’s most sought-after commodity. He’s been linked with both clubs, already visiting Dortmund and expected to enter talks with Leipzig by next week.
Irrespective of which club lands him, one foresees the final decision setting off an arms race between these two. We’ll take a look at the latest tactics on display from both in order to engage in a little early speculation.
Lineup—Borussia Dortmund— (3-5-2)
The BVB’s return to winning ways correlates strongly with Lucien Favre’s recent changes to his basic tactical construct. He’s switched to a back-three and pushed Jadon Sancho and Thorgan Hazard to full pressure attacking position. What continues to elude him is some sort of consistency in the midfield plan.
Heinous defensive meltdowns persist behind the second axis. Leipzig didn’t truly score three goals in Tuesday’s encounter as they were gifted them. Timo Werner’s 47th-minute tally came courtesy of keeper Roman Bürki recklessly charging out of the net in a horrible miscommunication with the backline. Werner had his brace six minutes later after Julian Brandt played a backpass that neither Raphael Guerreiro nor any of the defenders were in the vicinity of.
In the 78th minute, it was Guerreiro’s turn to totally screw up a diagonal to unreliably positioned teammates. Three critical turnovers negated all the attractive offensive spark that this approach generates. Favre can’t afford to wait for Paco Alcacer, Thomas Delaney, and Axel Witsel to return from injury and reintegrate. He needs to overall his central midfield now. Hence, he needs Haaland more than his counterpart.
With rumors swirling that he’s actively trying to shop the likes of Mario Götze, Julian Weigl, and even Jadon Sancho, it’s clear that the Swiss manager is prepared to make space for the new arrival all throughout the lineup. Whether or not this shall work as an effective pitch to the young star remains to be seen.
At first glance, it would appear that Julian Nagelsmann’s tactics are a bit more nuanced. It may also seem that the Leipzig manager is so stacked in attack that he’s less prepared to overextend himself in pursuit of Haaland. I’m not buying this. Here’s why:
Lineup—RB Leipzig—67th minute (4-2-2-2)
Don’t let Nagelsmann fool you. Although he’s employed a variety of formations, he always reverts to his preferred constellation at a certain point in the match. In this case, we only saw it for approximately 20 minutes in an encounter he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to get a firm handle on. We saw it nonetheless.
The 4-2-2-2 serves as his bread and butter. Sometimes Diego Demme works central in a five-back set. On other occasions, Yussuf Poulsen or Emil Forsberg work alongside Werner in a triplicate-striker system. He also moves Marcel Sabitzer around a great deal depending on which of the two strikers he’d better accentuate. Lukas Klostermann and Marcel Halstenberg push inward sometimes in a thinly-veiled ploy to keep the opponents guessing.
It all comes back down to this wide approach with heavy cycling on the second and third axis. This is how they spring Werner on quick transitions. Nagelsmann may not need Haaland as much as Favre does, but he can’t necessarily afford to have his rival snatch him up. Moreover, inserting Haaland into Konrad Laimer or Diego Demme’s position would indirectly provide him another center-back, affording him a chance to perhaps sell Dayot Umpamecano whilst his value is sky-high.
Expect bold moves from both these teams shortly after the new year. Neither coach will be afraid to pull the trigger on deals that will net them some serious criticism. They’ll be willing to take their chances in the most wide-open league in years.