Let's all stop, relax, and take a break......

 

Liebe Eintracht Fans:  Let's just relax for a minute.  It's been a rough start to the season, and we all need to regroup.  With Eintracht sitting on 0 wins, 2 points, and looking rough in the early part of the year it's easy to lose hope.  But this season is going to be a marathon and we are still trying to get loose and shake the rust off.  From the complete debacle in Mannheim to the defensive nightmare in Dortmund to the flat, uninspired attacking play of the last two weeks, there's a lot to digest.  Let's take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly through the early goings of the season.

Oliver Glasner's slowly adjusting tactics:

Glasner opened the season in a familiar 3 in-the-back formation.  Trying to recreate last year's "Dopplezehn", we saw a familiar problem:  Too many cracks in the back.  However, this rendition was also punchless in the front.  Glasner utilized a 4-2-3-1 against both Augsburg and Armenia Bielefeld.  While the defense has been better than we've seen in quite some time, keeping Kevin Trapp mostly clean, it wasn't enough to earn three points in either game. Both games were very winnable and honestly should have resulted in 6 points.  

The fact that Eintracht didn't find the back of the net against Augsburg is pretty amazing.  21 shots, 5 on target, 63% possession, 6 corners, 6 set-piece chances.......and 0 goals.  Eintracht completely dominated everything about this game except the only thing that matters - the scoreboard.  You would have thought Eintracht would have "accidentlied" their way to a goal.  But focusing on 0 goals misses an important point, we defensively dominated Augsburg.  Augsburg was stifled by Djibril Sow, Adjen Hrustic, and the backline, managing only 4 chances, 0 of which was on target. Trapp posted a clean sheet and never even registered a save.  That's an amazing turnaround after giving up 5 goals to Dortmund.  The results were similar against Bielefeld, and it took a perfectly struck bender, around Djibril Sow and through three defenders to beat Trapp that day.  

While this goal resulted in dropping two points, Glasner's high pressing system and a super active midfield had dominated possession (65%) forced a multitude of bad passes (Bielefeld had a 66% passing rate on the day), and Eintracht dominated the first half again.  Bielefeld began to break through at about the 70th minute, and the insertion of Patrick Wimmer in the 86th minute changed the run of play.  Wimmer didn't score the goal from having more energy than the Eagle Defenders though.  He scored it from being in the right place at the right time (with a bit of luck). It all started with a cross into the box from Robin Hack that Martin Hinterigger headed away.  Fabian Klos won the second ball and got credit for an assist, but in all reality, he took a terrible touch and lost the ball.  He was actually trying to chase the ball down when it wound up at Wimmer's right foot who one-touch blasted it into the farside corner.  While you don't get by on moral victories, this game should give all of us confidence in what this Eintracht team is going to be: a solid backline coupled with a hyper-active midfield defensively.  The high pressing points from the front line are forcing teams to simply blast the ball downfield, or hit bad balls to the midfield which Sow, Hrustic, and Hauge are gobbling up with regularity in dangerous spots.  While this team is a work in progress, it appears one foundation has been laid.  

What is desperately missing is simply finishing off possessions in the final third.  Die Adler has shown some excellent combo and give-and-go play at times, only to come away with nothing.  The final pass, the final touch, the shot are all just a bit too much off-target.  The system and style are there, the final execution is not.  They are a great joke without a punchline, a sentence without a period.  Rafael Borré has had a hard time finding spaces in the middle of the pitch, and his teammates have had a difficult time finding him.  While Jens Petter Hauge has knocked home 2 goals in three games, there have been few threats otherwise.  Probably the best chance to beat Bielefeld can on Gonçalo Paciência's flying back-post header in the 92nd minute.  That shot went just wide but is a microcosm of Eintracht's failing attack.  Paciência was unmarked, unchecked, and was the only person at the back post.  The cross was just a tad bit off, so was the header, and the game ended in a 1:1 draw.  That's a play that a team with the aspirations of Eintracht has to complete.  

While I've read the woe and desperation that both fans and writers are producing on multiple platforms, it's not all woe and despair.  The backline has been much more organized the last two games than what we saw at almost any point last year, and Djibril Sow has been one of the best defensive midfielders in the entire Bundesliga so far.  While the beginning of this season smacked a lot of people with high expectations down, it should have been exactly what we expected.  New Coach, New Strikers, New Formation, New Wingers, and Diva Drama.  This will take time.  Eintracht still has plenty of year left to get into a top 4, and we'll look at the final steps that need to be taken in order to get there.

The Striker Situation:

Glasner now has an intriguing situation developing at Center Forward.  With Borré, Sam Lammers, Gonçalo Paciência, and Ragnar Ache, he has four completely different guys with completely different skillsets.  Finding the tip of the arrow is the most vital part of the equation right now.  Developing this system with these guys will require something that Eintracht really doesn't have: time.  With Borré, you have a timing-based player very similar to Andre Silva.  Borré is best when he has the ball in space, or when he is making runs between defenders.  As we saw with Silva, that takes a great deal of time to develop.  Silva didn't come to Eintracht has a 28 goal scorer, he had to develop the timing and cohesion with his playmakers.  Kostic and Kamada took time to learn where he would be and when he would be there.  It takes precision, accuracy, and anticipation by both the scorer and the passer, and those things take time.  Whether Borre has the ceiling of Silva or not is debatable, but what's not is that he can score goals and that it will take time for him to gel with the rest of the team.  He's also being asked to hold up play and work the Center Forward pivot more than his size dictates.  Borré is not a big Center Forward type (5'10" - 154lbs)

Lammers is a big (6'3" - 180lb) Center Forward type player who can get in front of defenders and make plays with his feet.  Lammers has good ball skills and can work his way out of tight spaces and make plays.  He's had the more productive seasons between the two and has logged more minutes at Heerenveen in 2019 than Borré had in the last two years combined.  Both are fairly young, but Lammers fits more of the Wout Weghorst model that Glasner had in Wolfsburg.  A large, skilled, athletic Center Forward that can make plays, press, and find the back of the net.  After a disappointing turn at Atalanta, he comes to a team hungry for a big playmaker in the middle of the pitch.  Sebastien Haller wreaked havoc in that role, Baz Dost was mostly disappointing (I'm being kind here, he's a good guy that didn't work out), and Paciencia has been mostly non-existent.  This could be the perfect fit for a guy like Lammers, but he has a lot to learn with little time to get there.  Lammers could also be the easiest transition to a goal-scoring option since he can make plays in between the lines and can get physical with defenders inside the box. Lammers can get his big body on defenders and fend them off to win the ball in dangerous positions. It's also easier for Kostic and crew to find the head of a 6'3 athlete than it is to find a 5'10" timing-based player.  It also brings up the question of if Glasner plays them together.  What system will he use, how do they play off each other, and if he goes with two strikers, what happens to Kamada, Lindstrom, and Younes?  I think the most likely scenario is one wins the starting job, the other is a rotation/situational starter.  This to me is the most intriguing storyline of the rest of the year.

Ache is fast, and I believe will likely spend time transitioning between Striker and Right-Wing.  I think he'll play, but his minutes will be sparing and his position inconsistent.  Paciência will factor in as a sub in some games, but most likely is the man left out with the signing of Lammers.  Gonçalo has lost a lot of burst and athleticism that he had (which wasn't much) with the injuries he's sustained over the last few years but is a smart player with a good-sized frame and decent skills.  He's not going to strike fear in any Bundesliga defense, but can still make plays from time to time.  

Djibril Sow's overlooked brilliance:

Sow has simply been phenomenal. You don't need a stat geek like me to tell you how good he's been, you just need to watch the games.  But, a stat geek's going to stat geek so here we go.  Djibril is tied for 4th in tackles (10), tied for 2nd in tackles won (7), 7th in Interceptions (10) 4th in balls recovered (39), has won 100% of his areal duels and has completed 89% of his passes, including 87% (27/31) of his passes 30 yards or longer.  His 4.7 Long balls per game rank 21st in the league, and first among all midfielders.  He's shut down opponents before they even cross midfield and is a major reason why Eintracht has dominated possession in the last two games.  Bielefeld only began to break Eintrachts defenses when they began to bypass the midfield altogether and play balls down the sideline to Fabian Klos.  They only scored by somehow missing the back of Sow's legs on a perfectly struck ball.  

It's also hard to see because of the 5 goals conceded against Dortmund, but if you think of every one of those goals, it was Erling Haaland busting between the backline, and many of the passes he recieved went over Makoto Hasebe's head. Even in this debacle Sow had 4 tackles, 7 interceptions, and 13 recoveries.  He more than did his part in this job.  Since then Sow has dropped deeper and is playing much more of a deep pivot than a forward attacking player.  He has to connect better with the front line, but he's been spectacular this year.

The problem with the new-look backline:

While the back four of Christopher Lenz, Martin Hinterigger, Evan N'Dicka, and Erik Durm have been exceptionally solid the last two games, the biggest problem is that 3 of the four are left-footed.  While that doesn't sound like that big of a problem, and Hinti can play with either foot in short and medium ranges, having two left-footed center-backs slows down counterattacking possibilities on the right side of the pitch.  It's hard for either N'Dicka or Hinti to play the ball through the lines from the right side, so you have to play through Durm or the midfield.  Hitting Hauge on a quick strike becomes highly unlikely.  

Final Thoughts:

As we have a little time on international break to regather and refocus, let's hope our Liebe Eintracht can hit the training ground and sort out some of these issues.  With Europa League group stages starting on September 16 and Eintracht needing a win, the Sept. 12th game against Stuttgart needs to see some improvements in the attack.  Stuttgart has one of the worst defenses in the Bundesliga currently but has scored 7 goals in three games. After a 0:4 defeat to Leipzig and a 2:3 defeat at the hands of Freiburg, Stuttgart will be working to solidify their backline.  Granted that 5 of their goals came against Greuther Furth, Stuttgart has the ability to score in bunches also.  Five different players have found the back of the net for Die Roten this year, and Eintracht must be ready.  I firmly believe that Eintracht will find a way to start netting goals over the 6 game stretch that is coming up.  The game with Fenerbache is concerning considering the quality of their squad.  But, let's all just relax for the time being and trust in our Eagles.  Let's take the next 7 days to just breathe.

Thanks again for reading,

Forza S.G.E.

Brian