What’s wrong … at FC Red Bull Salzburg
Photo: © Screenshot Sky Sport Austria
December
Red Bull Salzburg was unable to convince in previous games. In the Champions League you missed the chance to fix the promotion and in the league it came to the first defeat. You have problems with the ball especially in the phases of the game.
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Of the FC Red Bull Salzburg is THE address in Austrian football. This year, too, she was able to achieve excellent results. In the Bundesliga, after 16 match days, RBS is twelve points ahead of Sturm and WAC, and in the Champions League they also scored points in the first three games. However, the achievements and the results of the Salzburgers in the last few weeks did not meet their demands. In the last four Bundesliga games, the Jaissle squad won against Vienna Austria, but played against them SV Ried and Flyeralarm Admira only a tie. Against the newcomer Austria Klagenfurt there was even the first defeat in this Bundesliga season. Furthermore, the last two games in the Champions League were not great. The red bulls lost two match points and could already beat the Vfl Wolfsburg fix the ascent to the knockout phase. This means that the beginning of a form depth can be recognized, but performances against it die TSV Hartberg and against the Sevilla FC be essential for the further course.
It is important to mention that Red Bull Salzburg had problems with the ball during the game phase, especially in the last few games. This means that the pressing and, in some cases, the switching torque work very well in both directions. Pressing in particular is an important point in Salzburg’s game philosophy. The diamond is pressed and the successful attack is also reflected in the numbers. The PPDA value (note: this shows how many passes the opponent is allowed per defensive action) is an average of 5.6 for the Salzburg team this season. This means that the lower the value, the fewer passes the opponents play in the build-up. In comparison, the opponents in the Bundesliga are worth twice or three times as high. But not only the PPDA value is an indication of the good pressing of Salzburg, but also the ball conquests in the third of the field. Here they are by far in first place in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League they are also in the top 5 of all teams.
In the last few games, however, there were mainly problems with building up the game and creating opportunities for low-ranking teams.
Task 1: The vertical pass must come
Already under head coach Jesse March War versus Marco Rose It can be seen that Salzburg are pushing the vertical game to the top. Even among coaches Matthias Jaissle it is similar. In building up the game, the first line of building thinking is often that you get to the top as quickly as possible. For this purpose, not only flat vertical passes are chosen in the space between the lines, but also high chip balls on the striker or behind the opposing defense. However, there are some problems, especially when Salzburg played against low-ranking teams like Klagenfurt or Admira. The Bulls try with all their might to play through the middle and thereby miss the opportunity to miss other pass paths, such as using the wing. Due to the formation of the diamond, most of the players are clearly dying in the center, but against opponents such as Austria Klagenfurt it was very difficult to get a goal chance over the center.
Figure 1: Camara vertical pass is intercepted.
Photo: © Screenshot Sky Sport Austria
The Klagenfurter plays in a deep 4-1-4-1 and puts the focus on closing the vertical pass paths. Since Salzburg still wanted to play this over and over again, there were often inaccurate passes so that the teammate could not accept the ball – or the opponent anticipated the pass and repeated it in a loss of the ball. Another example can be found in the game against Admira. (Figure 2)
Figure 2: Despite the closer formation of the opponent, the vertical pass is forceier.
Photo: © Screenshot Sky Sport Austria
Depending on the situation, Admira formed a very tight 4-3-3 in their own half. As a result, the wings were very free, especially in the middle third. Tried anyway Mo Camara Brenden Aaronson to play in the space between the lines. Due to the high density in Admira’s midfield, the pass had to come out very sharply so that it could be played through at all. Although this pass went through the two pressing lines, the play was too imprecise so that the American could not take the ball with him. This shows another problem with vertical passes: If the opposing teams are so close, the pass has to be played really hard. In doing so, however, accuracy dies. This means that the sharper the pass has to be played, the more imprecise it can be, since the player primarily concentrates on the sharpness of the pass. Furthermore, it is then all the greater for the teammate to take such a ball or take it with him.
Such patterns could also be seen in the Champions League. An example from the game against Wolfsburg (Figure 3)
Figure 3: High chip ball over defense leads to ball loss
Photo: © Screenshot Sky Sport Austria
Andreas Ulmer got the ball in the build-up on the wing and tried to play his striker with a chip ball over the defense. Even if the ball comes perfectly to the teammate in this situation, it is difficult for the striker to turn towards the goal, as the path makes it difficult to turn it and an opponent is right next to him. If the striker didn’t come straight to the end, there would have been no connection options. This means that he would hardly have any pass points and would be under pressure from three opponents. Another example from the game against Lille. (Figure 4)
Figure 4: High chip ball over the defense, although there are better options. (black arrows = better pass option
Photo: © Screenshot Sky Sport Austria
In this situation, too, the high pass to the striker was played, although there would have been better options. In addition, the problem would have been that if the pass had arrived, there would have been hardly any passport options in the follow-up campaign.
Although some examples have now been presented that show the problem with the ball, the unconditional urge to play forward also has some advantages. Through these vertical passes, Salzburg come back into the spaces between the lines and can create a goal opportunity in the follow-up action. Now the question arises whether the great urge to play forward is helpful and you have more chances to score or if all attempts at vertical passes do not result in too many ball losses. In addition, it could be questioned whether it would not make more sense to better plan the vertical pass paths through more ball circulation. This means that by letting the ball run more the opponent WILL be moved more and possibly more spaces will open up.
Problem 2: Isolation of your own full-backs
Salzburg had a lot of possession, especially against low-ranking teams, such as in the last Bundesliga games. Especially in the opposing half there were repeated phases of ball possession. Due to the formation of the diamond, as mentioned, there are no wingers in the last line. This is the job that primary full-backs have to do. However, there are some problems in the game of Salzburg.
If the ball lands in the opposing half of the full-back, he is usually isolated from his teammates and has few options. For the most part, the defender had to play back a pass or go in 1-on-1 situations. however, neither Ulmer nor Rasmus Kristensen Players who can get out of situations very often. Furthermore, when a pass is made to the full-back, the teammates position themselves mainly in the center and in the penalty area, so that only one cross can be played. This means that the winger hardly has any pass points backwards in the last third and very often has to play the cross into the sixteen. Here are a few examples.
Figure 5: Isolated Kristensen on the right wing.
Photo: © Screenshot Sky Sport Austria
Figure 6: Here, too, Kristensen is isolated again on the right wing and forced to the flank.
Photo: © Screenshot Sky Sport Austria
In order to occupy the wing in the last line, dying strikers sometimes move to the side. Particularly Karim Adeyemi Makes this movement very happy and can then solve a 1-on-1 situation with his speed. However, the problem IS again that the striker IS left “alone” and has no opportunities to pass. (Figure 7)
Figure 7: Adeyemi must be in 1-on-1 situations due to a lack of connection.
Photo: © Screenshot Sky Sport Austria
However, in the last third, when the ball is played on the wing, there is also another sequence of movements. If the full-back gets the ball, the striker runs down in the half-space. Such situations come up again and again and the striker often gets the ball played deep. This sequence of movements is not only a passing option for the outside player, but also creates a pass path into the middle. In the Salzburg game, however, a few problems arose here as well.
The deep passes are very difficult to process, as it is difficult to have contact with the ball and at the same time to see into the penalty area. Often the solution here was that the ball was played blindly into the middle with full sharpness. If the pass does not go deep, the horizontal pass to the second striker is open. However, the striker rarely moves into this space. So it was difficult for the full-back to take proper follow-up action. Here is an example from the game against Klagenfurt. (Figure 8)
Figure 8: Movement sequence in the last third.
Photo: © Screenshot Sky Sport Austria
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