The antepenultimate round of the 2019/20 German Bundesliga campaign concluded on Wednesday. Official confirmation of two forgone conclusions accompanied the results. With a 1-0 win over SV Werder Bremen in the rain soaked Weserstadion, FC Bayern München secured their eighth consecutive, and 30th overall, league title. SC Paderborn 07 became the first club to become officially relegated after falling to 0-1 to FC Union Berlin.
Two surprising score lines affect the relegation race. FSV Mainz 05 pulled off a shock 2-0 upset of giants Borussia Dortmund. The win carries the Pfälzer five points clear of the drop. Had Fortuna Düsseldorf not pulled off an amazing last-minute comeback to draw RB Leipzig 2-2, the Nullfünfter might have joined FC Köln and FC Augsburg in virtually assured safety. As it stands now, Bremen and Düsseldorf must fight for the relegation playoff spot. There remains a slim chance that Mainz could still be dragged down.
With England and Spain now joining Germany, Portugal, and Austria with successful restarts of their own football leagues, the beautiful game once again flowers on the European continent. Its another wonderful week to be a football fan.
Observational Aphorisms- Week 32
Plenty of intriguing developments to get to, but why don’t we start with dessert? UEFA delivered a satisfying sweet confection to football fans all across the globe today with the release of detailed plans to conclude the 2019/20 Champions League and Europa League at neutral site tournaments. Those clubs who did not conclude the second-leg of their current rounds will make up original site fixtures beginning on August 5. The Champions League will then conclude, picking up on the quarterfinals, in a tournament in Lisbon from August 12-23.
And the Europa League? To the delight of Germans everywhere, it’s coming to the Bundesrepublik. Four sites in Nordrhein-Westfalen have been selected. Gelsenkirchen, Duisburg, and Düsseldorf will host matches from August 10 before the final in Köln on August 21. But wait, there’s more. The decision on whether or not to let a limited number of fans in has been deferred. Not explicitly ruled out, it might be possible. Season ticket holders for Schalke 04, MSV Duisburg, and the F95 may be able to gain access. Those are some truly deserving fan bases. The Schalke supporters in particular could really use it. Perhaps the club could get to work drafting them a friendlier letter.
Sadly, it was also confirmed today that the DFB-Pokal final on July 4 in Berlin will take place without any spectators. Speculation that the FA might utilize the match to test out limited capacity plans turned out to be unfounded. To be honest, it did feel a bit premature. It also didn’t make a great deal of sense. Why undertake such an experiment in one of the most meaningful matches of the German football calendar? There’s a place for testing out some of the reduced capacity plans and hygiene concepts. Try it out in friendlies first. Leverkusen’s levied proposal was pretty thin.
Okay. I can’t hold it in any longer. Those of us following the Bundesliga on the FOX/Sky broadcast feed have been subjected to a new technological tool that happens to be as useless as it is inherently aggravating. In what I hope isn’t a malevolently evil omen of what we can expect from Amazon’s new visually-enhanced coverage of the Bundesliga, the company’s AWS division has put together a graphic to track the average positions of the 22 pitch players.
You might think that tactics heads would appreciate such an innovation. I’ll concede it could have its uses. However, the manner in which they use it now is just embarrassing. They throw it up there 10minutes into each match. A basic animation reveals -surprise, surprise- that most of the outfield players are gravitating toward central midfield. Wow. Congratulations. A global audience now knows what football lovers don’t really care to admit: The early stages of a football match can be a boring midfield slog.
I should emphasize that I’m not categorically opposed to all the novel techie stuff making its way into the game. I like a good read on the next generation statistics and advanced metrics. With respect to any conversation revolving around xG calculations, you can count me in. I find it fascinating. Heat maps are somewhat useful for tactical analysis, especially when one can’t quite ascertain a particular player’s role. Those of us purists who adamantly insist that tactics must be tracked with the naked eye still remain grateful for the fact that we can follow overhead cams on our phones.
Sorry, but a comprehensive average player position map just doesn’t tell me anything useful about a team’s shape or plan. It’s nothing more than a muddled mess of crowded numbers and lines. One misses the story of a match if one focuses on where the players are trotting. Why? Because, as the previous sentence deliberately makes evident, they’re trotting. They’re not always involved in the play. They’re tracking developments from afar, often from a neutral midfield position. Moreover, there’s no way a tool like this can help one detect adjustments to the strategy. What use is the average position when plans shift on the fly?
At the end of the day, all these toys don’t hold a candle to a solid minute-by-minute writer. Football fans know that the invasion of the graphics sometimes leaves one tempted to turn the broadcast off and follow the ticker feed. That’s actually what I ended up doing for FSV Mainz’ shock 2-0 defeat of Borussia Dortmund. A bunch of bells and whistles weren’t conveying the story. By contrast, I got the full lowdown of Lucien Favre’s switch from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-3-1-2 and eventually a 4-3-3 in a flailing and failing effort to get some of the league’s best players into gear against one of the worst teams. The BVB manager is totally fired within a couple of days. The paperwork has already been filed.
Julian Nagelsmann won’t be fired anytime soon, but more evidence that the young wizard might be slightly overrated has surfaced since the return from the break. Leipzig blew their third lead in the seven matches since play resumed. The German Red Bulls have now settled for harsh draws with Hertha, Paderborn, and Fortuna Düsseldorf. There’s plenty of blame to spread around, but I think a lot comes down to Nagelsmann’s inability to find a consistent plan for Dani Olmo. One could even make the case that the attacking midfielder never really was a good fit for the ingrained system. This is what happens when clubs make showboat signings aimed to send a message rather than truly improve their squads.
The 1-2 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt extends Schalke’s winless run to 14 straight fixtures. Speaking of managers in no danger of getting fired, David Wagner’s vote of confidence still holds. Wagner might want to think about re-signing outright. Who in their right mind would want to coach this team next season? A huge fire sale of valuable assets like Amine Harit, Omar Mascarell, and Suat Serdar looms. The club’s financial situation necessitates an offloading of most of the offensive. The academy is so depleted that 19-year-old Can Bozdogan was forced into the starting lineup for the last two matches. He looked about as ready as a raw chicken. Dark days ahead.
In thinking about something to unique about SC Paderborn 07’s relegation, it occurs to me that I may be the last German football commentator not to have mentioned Klaus Gjasula record-setting 17th yellow card of the season. The Albanian with the unmistakeable rock-hard roller derby helmet broke a 23-year-old record previously held by Tomasz Hajto, the Bundesliga’s historic equivalent of Bill Laimbeer. Quite the unbecoming record for a relatively nice guy who also scored his first Bundesliga goal this season. The eminently likable Kosovar shall be missed.
Exciting action continues in the country’s lower divisions. In the second Bundesliga, the non-existent town of Bielefeld has all but secured promotion following a big win over Dynamo Dresden. VfB Stuttgart and Hamburger SV currently duke it out to for the second automatic promotion spot. The Bayern reserves rise to the top of the table in the third Bundesliga. Since they can’t actually be promoted, hope lives for MSV Duisburg, Eintracht Braunschweig, Hansa Rostock, the Würzberger Kickers, and four other clubs still clinging to the dream.
Weekly Tactical Focus- A Salute to Sprint Finishers
Indeed, we’re almost home. Only two rounds of fixtures remain. Barely a month removed from all the wrenching uncertainty accompanying the awkward restart, the German Bundesliga heads for a calm and orderly conclusion. Few might have a major European league to close out its campaign with such impeccable execution. It counts as a major accomplishment; one that engenders a significant amount of hope for all sports moving forward.
Even if the Bayern title leaves an unpleasant taste and the relegation fight is now down to a pair of clubs, there remains much tangible to fight for on the pitches of the top-tier sides. The two most important battles come into greater focus when one examines places four through eight in the table. Bayer 04 Leverkusen (60 points) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (59 points) battle for the final Champion’s League Place. VfL Wolfsburg and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (both on 46 points) seek to fend of SC Freiburg (45 points) in an extremely tight race for the Europa League slots
It’s been an eventful week for manager Christian Streich; the “Schwarzwald Sage” who occasionally serves as the league’s poet laureate. Streich commemorated his 55th birthday by signing a contract extension with the organization he’s worked for since 1995. He reached a major milestone on Saturday against VfL Wolfsburg, leading the only club he has ever managed in his 250th Bundesliga fixture.
So many of us Germans hold the man we consider Volker Finke’s literal and spiritual successor in high regard. I’ve never made an effort to disguise my sentiments. More tangential Bundesliga watchers may recall him as the interfering curmudgeon Frankfurt’s David Abraham blatantly clotheslined back in the 11th round. That’s a shame. In tribute to the mysterious philosophical football guru with a poetic should as deep and dark as the Black Forest itself, we’ll have a look at some tactics.
Lineup—SC Freiburg—(4-4-2)
Streich actually rolled out the exact same XI he used in the weekend’s 2-2 Wolfsburg draw as Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Hertha BSC. The first point to emphasize, obviously enough, is how many of these players have local roots. Alexander Schwolow, Robin Koch, Nicolas Höfler, Christian Günter, and Lucas Höler all hail from in and around the Breisgau region. Other significant names you don’t see on this card include Lino Tempelmann, Lukas Kübler, Nico Schlotterbeck, and Yannick Keitel.
Streich faces a two-fold challenge when attempting to keep a smaller market team like this competitive. For starters, there’s simply no way that the SC can afford to retain its best performers. This season’s sensations already have one foot out the door. Its doubtful Koch, Luca Waldschmidt, and Schwolow will return in the fall. Streich has to repeatedly retool and restock from the younger ranks. Merely keeping the academy well-stocked constitutes a challenge in itself. Competition for emerging talents remains fierce in the footballing hotbed of Baden-Württemberg. Dietmar Hopp’s intrusive bejeweled tentacles certainly don’t help either.
Market-wise, Streich deserves credit for getting a great deal right this season. Jonathan Schmid was among the best transfers of the summer. In addition to contributing his own fair share of tallies, his presence on the right has done a great deal for the play of Roland Sallai and Janik Haberer. The Autumn deadline transfer that brought Vincenzo Grifo back to the club turned out to be an excellent piece of business. Hard to say where this club would be without his indomitable enthusiasm and four goals. The whole deal illustrates how properly selling a player on a club can net one a crucial morale-boosting presence.
While there have been some questionable tactics on display during some of this season’s rougher patches, moving center-back Koch into midfield yielded some fantastic dividends. Note that this bold tactical experiment doesn’t at all resemble the comparatively safe shifting of Joshua Kimmich into the midfield at Bayern. Kimmich was always buccaneering fullback destined to follow in Phillip Lahm’s footsteps. The notion that the gangly Koch could move up two axes never seemed likely. It worked very well in large part because the young Phillip Lienhart has been able not only to fully assume Koch’s role, but also always locate him on quick transitions.
It took some time for this 4-4-2 to settle in the Wolfsburg fixture. That’s fully understandable as the opening half-hour featured four major VAR rulings that precluded either team from getting into a rhythm. Once all of the excitement died down, the Schwarzwälder were able to establish their game. Waldschmidt dropped back a bit into a short-striker position, allowing Grifo and Sallai plenty of room to get in some quality crosses. Koch unleashed some wonderful distance efforts and came crashing into the box in pursuit of his own rebounds.
The machine engineered a magnificent comeback from a 0-2 deficit with fine goals shortly before and after the half. Lateral play was definitely the key. Höler dipped down nicely to meet a medium-height Grifo cross in the 43rd while Sallai headed Höller’s nice bowing arc in the 46th. Streich’s men dominated proceedings thereafter. The SC spurned several quality chances to win the match outright. Lienhart somehow couldn’t snap in from five meters out in the 61st. Germany’s undisputed king of the super subs, Nils Petersen, shaved the woodwork in the 76th.
Petersen would score the winning goal off the bench in the Hertha match. The full three points were more than deserved. The same Freiburg XI put on a truly excellent show against the capital club. An outstanding offensive spurt between the 20th and 23rd could have seen them go up 3-0 early. Koch and Höfler missed the back of the net by mere millimeters. Sallai would have tallied were it not for a hard-luck deflection off Hertha defender Jordan Torunarigha.
Sallai turned in a beast of a performance on the right flank all evening. He repeatedly rattled, out-deked, and out-danced a Vladimir Darida many had, as of late, considered invincible. Whenever Sallai himself would cut inward, Koch routinely pushed up to initiate some deft give-and-goes. The German national team converted center-back once again rattled off some great distance efforts. Höler and Grifo set up some perfect squares and cutbacks for Waldschmidt, who somehow failed to score despite another productive afternoon as a semi-short striker.
A surfeit of discernible classy play from the Breisgauer in the two most recent matches works for me. The squad’s current form leaves me more than comfortable labeling them a hot tip. I think Streich will draw and possibly even best whatever exploratory squad Hans Dieter Flick puts together for Bayern this weekend. Following that, he should have no problems dispatching Schalke in the final round. Freiburg finishes the season in sixth place and Europa League football returns to the Black Forest for the first time in six years. Make it happen lads.
Moving on to the team Freiburg efficiently dismantled in the 30th round, Marco Rose’s Fantastiche Fohlen halted a two-match losing skid and re-inserted themselves back into the Champions League race. The squad that topped the table for stretches during the season’s first half hasn’t been able to string together a series of strong matches since. From one match to the next, they’ve oscillated between brilliance and torpor.
Here’s how they lined up in the stately and stirring 3-0 win over Wolfsburg on Tuesday:
Lineup—Borussia Mönchengladbach—(4-2-3-1)
We’ve two crucial absences to discuss. Marcus Thuram and Alassane Plea both incurred injuries. The former is likely lost for the season. Rose responded by moving Breel Embolo up to an advanced nine position, deploying Jonas Hoffman on his unnatural wing, and dusting off 32-year-old Ibrahima Traoré for his first start of the season. Lars Stindl functioned as an especially tight 10, working in close quarters behind Embolo.
What can one say? Everything worked. Within 10 minutes the Foals had scored a marvelous team goal. Stindl played Embolo through wonderfully. The Swiss international then proceeded to set up Hoffman for the easy finish. Stindl won nearly all of his challenges in midfield. Synchronicity with Embolo on the forward press appeared seamless. Those two could switch positions at a moment’s notice; always rapidly and with discipline.
On the defensive side of the ball, Oscar Wendt and Stefan Lainer took turns marking VfL striker Wout Weghorst. They literally pushed him out of the game by driving him out into touch whenever he got the ball. Traoré needed less than 30 minutes to shake the rust off. He was already rushing past defenders and supplying quality cutbacks by the 28th.
Hoffman’s second tally came at the end of a beautiful sequence involving Traoré, Lainer, and Mathias Ginter. Though it could also be described as a great team-goal, Hoffman’s exhibited individual brilliance on the control and finish. Traoré really should have made it 3-0 shortly before the half. He did brilliantly to pick Joao Victor’s pocket, quickly hit Stindl in stride, and position himself perfectly for the return. Everything was flawless save the finish.
Traoré eventually redeemed himself with a blistering forward run and a cheeky cutback for Stindl’s goal in the 65th. All of the starters continued to play well throughout the second half; so much so that Rose didn’t bother to employ his first substitution until the 72nd. This improvised constellation lorded over the midfield axes. More solid movement from Lainer, Wendt, and Ginter kept them in control. It was all very pleasing to the eye.
Can the team that once led the table now run the table with this? I’m thinking yes. The foals only have SC Paderborn 07 and Hertha BSC, neither of whom have anything left to play for, on the slate. Rose didn’t even deploy his best double-six look in this match. Laszlo Benes and Christoph Kramer can speed up that axis. Rami Bensebaini will add additional danger on the flanks when he returns from suspension.
Operating on the assumption that Gladbach can capture maximum points, all that’s left to discuss is a potential Leverkusen slip up. Peter Bosz’s Werkself have also dropped some important points in notable stumbles against Wolfsburg and Schalke since we returned from the COVID break. Do they have another lapse left in them?
Lineup—Bayer 04 Leverkusen—(4-5-1)
Based on what I saw in the command 3-1 victory over 1. FC Köln, I’d consider the odds of another misstep rather long. With Kevin Volland back from injury and Leon Bailey fit enough to start, Bosz may have his best XI assembled. There’s no more need to muck about using Kai Havertz as a false nine or even rotate his pivot runners in a back-three.
The defensive arrangement the Leverkusen trainer concocted for this fixture may be the best fit for his possession-based system. Edmond Tapsoba, who’s incredible play since transferring to the team during the January window, could merit a separate column in its own right, can run the play from his pocketed position with ease.
Options for triangulation on upfield builds are seemingly infinite when Havertz sits atop the pentagonal axis illustrated above. The 37th-minute goal showed how Havertz can serve as both the initiating fulcrum and the final target. He might have grabbed a brace or even a hat trick had he been able to finish on those two late opportunities.
The attacking wingers maintain just about all the space they need here. Bailey and Moussa Diaby should have seen more of the ball. Substitute Jonathan Tah, on for opening goalscorer Sven Bender in the 33rd, didn’t appear to have the flanks in sight as much as his predecessor. Bosz can tinker with the arrangement a bit to ensure that he gets better results from his lethal wide duo.
Admittedly, this was precisely the type of ultra-pacey affair that calls for a careful rewatch. There might be some weak points I’m missing on the first go. The squad also had repeated issues on set pieces. More time needs to be invested there. A Leverkusen draw against either Hertha or Mainz would provide Gladbach an opening.
Based on the impressive -nearly 70 percent possession by my unofficial count- manner in which a full-strength Bosz side can control the tempo of a match, I just don’t see it happening. Leverkusen equals Gladbach’s effort and Germany’s red company team finishes fourth… just as they always do.