A warm welcome to the tactics board before the game SC Freiburg II – TSV 1860 Munich. Freiburg lost in the first leg 0:6 against the six players. Will this shooting festival be repeated?
Freiburg II can fall back on four goalkeepers, fourteen defenders, eight midfielders and a whopping ten strikers against TSV 1860. This means that the second team of the SCF has a squad of thirty-six players in total. The coach of SC Freiburg II, Thomas Stamm, can theoretically always draw on the full amount of players in the squad. If he didn’t have to give up one of his protégés, most recently striker Vermeij, to SC Freiburg’s first team from time to time, SCF might even be higher up in the table.
The system of the SC Freiburg II team was still slightly adapted to that of the Bundesliga team in the first half of the season. However, the first of the SCF now often plays with a back four in defence. As in the first half of the season, Stamm’s U23s mostly use a three-man defense in central defence.
Before we get to the style of play of the Freiburger SC second team, here are the most important statistical values.
Statistical values of SC Freiburg II
- Possession: 54%
- Accuracy: 80%
- Defensive duel rate: 62%
- Edge Accuracy: 34%
- PPDA (Passes Allowed Per Defensive Action): 9.3
The game of SC Freiburg II
The systems shown so far were all offensively oriented. With 3-4-3 (3-4-2-1, 3-4-1-2), 3-5-2 (3-1-4-2, 3-2-3-2) and also in the 4th -3-3, which has been played six times so far, or recently against Halle, when the 4-1-4-1 was used for the first time, Freiburg are calibrated for attractive offensive football. So we can expect the Breisgau team to play offensively on Sunday as well.
When in possession of the ball
When they have possession of the ball, the Freiburgers attach great importance to combining forwards quickly and in a variety of ways. Freiburg are doing very well up to the last third. However, the goal yield has been very low so far. Only 27 goals have been scored for the Breisgauer so far.
During the week against Halleschen FC, Freiburg had the game under control for the most part and also had significantly more chances. Only the goals didn’t want to fall. That’s often the case with newcomers from Breisgau. You play better, but in the end you have to cope with a defeat or a draw.
against the ball
The young Freiburg squad had big problems against the ball, especially when the opponent played quickly and directly. Defensive switching and counter-pressing are not disciplines in which Stamm’s team excels. However, if the team from Breisgau manages to get behind the ball quickly after their own attack has failed, they work well and compactly defensively.
Depending on the opponent, Freiburg’s pressing in position play is sometimes on a higher, sometimes on a lower pressing line. Against TSV 1860 Munich, I expect Freiburg to set the pressing line rather low and narrow the spaces in their own half of the field, since the lions rarely have problems breaking out of an opponent’s pressing.
The likely system of Freiburg II against TSV 1860
Which system will Freiburg play on Sunday? Rather the 3-4-3 or the 3-5-2? I reckon with the 3-5-2. In this system, it is important for the team that plays like this – as in all systems with a chain of three – to quickly restore the depth gradation in the game against the ball after completed attacks or after losing the ball. Otherwise there can be big problems with counter-attacks against teams that have fast players. In order to give the players time to get back behind the ball, immediate counter-pressing when the ball is lost is an absolute must with this system.
In the game going forward you are extremely overloaded with the 3-5-2 and its variants and can easily pose problems for the opposing defenses with overnumbered play.
Should Freiburg play with a back four, i.e. 4-1-4-1 or 4-3-3, which I don’t assume, but which is quite possible, the Breisgauer’s game with the ball will not be particularly different from that with a back three differentiate. When the ball is in possession, one of the full-backs moves into midfield and a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 will emerge.
In my opinion, Freiburg will play with a back three in central defence.
Strengths and weaknesses of 3-5-2 (3-4-1-2)
Strengthen
The system enables a good gradation in width and depth when the ball is in possession. This can result in a good division of space for pass combinations.
Two strikers up front bring a strong presence in the center of the opposing third of defense. A compact midfield center gives the opponent little space against the ball.
weaknesses
When the ball is lost, there are sometimes wide gaps that the opponent can take advantage of when playing fast. In a dynamic game with a lot of ball possession changes, the long distances for the wing players to run can lead to a premature loss of strength in the wing players and thus to a slacking of the pressure that is supposed to be built up via the wings. The wings are only occupied once, so either defensive or offensive can weaken there. Against systems in which two or more strikers are used, counterattacks by the opponent or rapid positional attacks can easily result in the back team being outnumbered.
The key players
defense
goalkeeper Noah Atubolu (#1) is the youngest goalkeeper in the league at just 19 years old. At 1.90m tall, he has incredibly good reflexes and a good rate at catching high balls. This young player has already learned a lot this season. He is among the top 5 goalkeepers this season.
Sandrino Braun-Schumacher (#6), the central defender, brings experience from eight seasons and 227 games in the 3rd division. He is the most experienced player in the Freiburg team. Braun-Schumacher wins most of his defensive tackles, but for a central defender he’s not quite as successful with headers as he should be. Thanks to his many years of experience, however, he has good positional play. He can intercept an above-average number of balls before they reach the intended addressee. In the game opening, Braun-Schumacher is safe in the passing game.
midfield
The entire midfield center is well manned. However, the key player in midfield is called Enzo Leopold (#8). Yannick Engelhardt (#18) and Patrick Chamber Builder (#31), his backers in defensive midfield, are not really inferior to him. Leopold is a technically brilliant player with a precise passing game and therefore one of the reasons why Freiburg is one of the best teams in the league until the opponent’s sixteen. Since Leopold, after being ignored by the coach at the beginning of the season, has been playing regularly, has bonded with the team and also got used to the pace in the league, Freiburg has been stable in mid-table. Enzo Leopold can be a difference player. With four templates each, Leopold, Engelhardt and Kammerbauer are the best template providers in Breisgau. Leopold has also scored three goals himself so far.
Sturm
Vincent Vermeij (#9) in the storm everyone should be familiar with it. Dangerous in goal, strong in the air, robust, diligent against the ball and concentrated when pressing. With eight goals, Vermeij is the best shooter in the Breisgau team. With his height of 1.97 m he is always good for a header. You always have to watch out for him.
Conclusion
After the unjustified draw – due to the referee’s wrong decisions – that the Löwen had to accept in the game against Saarbrücken, the Breisgauer will be presented with the bill. If TSV 1860 Munich performs the same way against SC Freiburg II as they did against Saarbrücken, there is no question who will have the upper hand in this game. In order to be able to hold a candle to a top team like the sixties, the Freiburgers are not dangerous enough in front of the opposing goal.
No prophecy without warning. If you take Freiburg lightly, it can backfire. All the players in the squad there want to play their way into the first team at one of the most permeable clubs in Germany for young talents.
That’s why in this game, as in all others, commitment and concentration have to be right. Coach Michael Köllner is responsible for ensuring that this will be the case with the six-year-olds and, as always, he will send a top team with the right match plan onto the field at the Dreisam Stadium.
I am very confident that we will talk about three points that were taken to Giesing in the tactics board analysis after the game.
This is how Freiburg II could start against TSV 1860
Data Source: Wyscout
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