2023-08-19 15:06:16
FC St. Pauli scored a point and many yellow cards in the Fürth heat. The team did not convince offensively enough to be seriously considered for an away win. The analysis.
(Cover photo: Peter Boehmer)
Sure, with the weather you are quickly at the stamp “summer kick”. But there is more why both teams under-offered offensively, or were able to offer due to good opposing defensive work, and deservedly a 0-0 lead.
The preparation
There was only one change in the starting eleven at FC St. Pauli: Adam Dźwigała replaced the suspended Karol Mets. Fabian Hürzeler and his coaching team decided against other conceivable options (eg Albers for Afolayan, Treu for Ritzka). In the formation it was not a back four, as Hürzeler called it before the game, but the well-known 3-4-3 with flexible variations in the opening of the game.
There were no changes in the starting eleven at Fürth. Alexander Zorniger only put a question mark over Gideon Jung’s entry because he wasn’t too happy with his performance beforehand. Jung was still given priority over Damian Michalski. The formation was then a 3-4-1-2 at the Fürth.
Line-up for the SpVgg Greuther Fürth vs. FC St. Pauli game
Melted down in heat and respect
After ten minutes I wrote down: “Waiting start – respect probably great”. A few minutes before the final whistle of the first half, it was clear that it was less a matter of waiting and more of a playful problem for FC St. Pauli.
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In addition to their own problems in building up the game, both teams also showed enormous respect for the opposing style of play. FC St. Pauli put ball security clearly ahead of risky passes, well aware of the cloverleaf’s strong switching game. Fürth acted in an unusually cautious manner, blocking the space rather than running up to the FCSP players. On the one hand, this may have been due to the fact that the heat on the pitch was enormous. On the other hand, the fact that 1. FC Kaiserslautern was able to massively disrupt FC St. Pauli’s build-up game with a very similar behavior against the ball. And that’s how it happened: The FCSP’s offensive game got stuck. But not just because the people of Fürth did it so well.
No dynamics, no chances
The formations that FC St. Pauli adopted in the build-up of the game were clearly visible. At the very start Nikola Vasilj pushed high between the two centre-backs and Eric Smith formed a double six with Jackson Irvine. This variant was new, but also limited to the first four or five minutes. As a result, there were the already known patterns that were tried out diligently, but without bringing the desired success in the first half.
At the beginning of the game, the FCSP’s offensive approaches were a little more promising because they occasionally managed to break into the offensive half-spaces. Fürth reacted to this with a change: The storm duo Sieb and Lemperle broke away from the focus on Hauke Wahl and Adam Dźwigała and instead dropped to the flanks, so that Fürth was less man-oriented and acted in a 5-4-1. In doing so, they gave the FCSP even more room to build up, but also fewer passes from central defense.
Fürther conversion puts lame FCSP offensive on hold
It almost didn’t matter what kind of positioning FC St. Pauli chose when building up the game. Whether with Smith and Irvine as a double six, with Smith as the only six or with Smith as a falling six between the two central defenders: FCSP managed to get into the last third with every passing minute in the first half. And if they got there first, then everything fizzled out rigorously. The problem was what happened before. Or rather, what didn’t happen. The positioning was right, but there was a massive lack of dynamics and rotations. The cloverleaf acted well against the ball, no question. But the five-back clover was almost unchallenged by the FCSP, either horizontally or vertically.
And so the first half was pretty dull. FC St. Pauli hardly allowed anything defensively and was very stable. The team then showed far too little dynamism offensively and consistently lost the balls. That was simply not enough to even be recommended for a scoring opportunity. Rarely was a 0-0 break as deserved as it was in this game. Two shots on goal and an xG value of 0.05 were counted for the FCSP in the first 45 minutes. That is far, far too little.
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Construction variants of FC St. Pauli in the game against SpVgg Fürth
Afolayan is only noticed by a foul
Actually the only scene of the first section, which further heated the already hot heads, was the only action in which Dapo Afolayan appeared. He first lost the ball and then fouled Julian Green by hitting him open-soled just above the ankle. A hard entry, which could have ended with a dismissal. In any case, it is pretty sobering that this was the only action by Afolayan that was remembered. The project with him as the central tip, which was already viewed critically beforehand, has definitely suffered a massive setback. FC St. Pauli’s entire offensive was a total failure in the first half against Fürth. Afolayan, however, was the leader of the total failure, with a completely unacceptable six touches in 45 minutes, but also suffered from the fact that the ball was often lost a step earlier.
More pressure on the chain with the Hartel/Sinani double tip
In the second half David Nemeth came on for Adam Dźwigała and Danel Sinani replaced Dapo Afolayan. Sinani in particular provided some stimulation in the offensive game. But also a tactical determination in the build-up game ensured that the FCSP was now much more compelling on the offensive. Although that doesn’t mean they deserve a goal.
In the structure, it was now mostly the variant with Smith as the sole six. Very rarely did Jackson Irvine fall for the position. Smith could no longer be seen between the central defenders when the ball was in possession. And Marcel Hartel could almost only be seen as the second point on the field. These somewhat more fixed structures in the structure have certainly also contributed to the fact that the FCSP now got along a little better. But it was much more important that there was more movement in the actions.
Best phase just before the end
A good example of what FC St. Pauli lacked in the first 45 minutes was creating the team’s first real scoring chance. The FCSP built up through the center and Hauke Wahl found Sinani further ahead, who sprinted into the tens and thus pulled his opponent out of the last chain. Sinani laid the ball down for Smith, while Marcel Hartel showed a movement in exactly the opposite direction and launched a deep run into the space behind the pulled-out central defender. Smith played a perfect pass into the interface. In the end, Hartel’s shot went wide of the goal, but at least it was clear what options there were, even against Fürth.
The game fell asleep again after a good start. FC St. Pauli struggled again, although at least they managed to get the ball into the Fürth half. For a long time, however, Fürth were closer to the goal, although they too could not boast of a wealth of chances. Only towards the end of the game did it become clearer and FC St. Pauli was finally able to establish itself in the opposing half and combine and became really strong. Shortly before the end, the FCSP could almost have scored the lucky winning goal. First Andreas Albers occupied the space in the box in such a way that a cross (from Scott Banks) also arrived. But the finish was weak and went over it from a very good position. Hartel’s shot was similarly weak, and minutes later he produced a “mice’s hammer” (that’s what my former coach always called such shots) from ten meters out.
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Controlled clarification action?
And when everyone was really expecting a draw, the ball was suddenly in the Fürth goal. Andreas Albers hit hard. But before Albers could really explode, the assistant’s flag went up, he was offside at the free kick. But: Damian Michalski cleared the cross with a head to the side and so you have to at least discuss whether there was a new game situation. Unfortunately, the rules for this are vague (here to read), but what matters is whether Michalski is allowed a certain amount of ball control. I do and therefore: In my opinion, the goal should have counted.
Andreas Albers still had chances to score the winning goal shortly before the end. One of them even ended up in the goal, but then didn’t count.
(c) Peter Boehmer
Hürzeler satisfied
Whether the victory would have been deserved is another question. FC St. Pauli showed a mostly poor offensive performance against Fürth. In the third league game, it was the second time that the problems were relatively identical. Fabian Huerzeler explained anywaythat it’s his team “The first 20-25 minutes done very well” have and rather criticized “far too many easy turnovers” than the lack of momentum that would have led to a weaker phase at the end of the first half. Hürzeler showed up in the second half “very, very satisfied”.
Many people – perhaps also influenced by a certain emotionality – are unlikely to agree with this assessment. The FCSP were in control of the game, but that didn’t mean it was more dangerous up front than back. The question that needs to be asked is what might be causing this. Did Fürth and Kaiserslautern just do really well against FCSP? Is it a question of offensive quality? Or does the game lack a pinch more risk to be even more compelling offensively?
With five points from three league games (two of them away) in which FC St. Pauli conceded just one goal, it’s a successful start to the season. The games themselves showed that the FCSP are a real force defensively but still have work to do offensively.
Keep going!
// Tim
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