[Albion] Hurzelers tactics

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Not impressed by him so far I'm afraid. He needs to be given time to steady the ship sure. But how much longer can we give him considering what we've seen?

He's been rubbish so far. Not a single win. Boo.

(German pundit on R5 talking like it is a done deal; he wants to join Brighton. I'm excited)

 

[oldboyroy]

He's been rubbish so far. Not a single win. Boo.

(German pundit on R5 talking like it is a done deal; he wants to join Brighton. I'm excited)

Got to be a done deal. Bookies have closed betting now!

 

[Hiheidi]

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

Reinforces what many have said about recruitment this summer.

Need to bring in very high quality at both right back and in defensive midfield. Arguably a pacey centre back too.

 

[brighton_tom]

The more I read about his tactical preferences the more I see why we see him as an ideal successor to RDZ, that will be a development in how we play rather than a complete overhaul.

 

[Perkino]

Pretty sure he'll be very decent. Still doesn't address the central issue tho of having a squad full of young kids and old men and not very much substance in between. That's one for the board to address

How are you splitting the age groups?

3? U25's, 25 to 30 and over 30's

4? U23's 24 to 28, 29 to 32 and over 32.

I think we have a decent amount of experience considering the huge depth of unlocked potential in the U23 age group.

 

[Brian Fantana]

There's so much detail around his style. Is there any indication that he's got a plan to break down teams when they don't fall for the bait to press, I.e. just sit back and defend deep.

 

[Zeberdi]

There's so much detail around his style. Is there any indication that he's got a plan to break down teams when they don't fall for the bait to press, I.e. just sit back and defend deep.

I won’t explain it all again - but may help

[Albion] - Fabian Hürzeler **SINGED 15/06/2024**

He'll be Chelsea manager by December, once Maresca's lost a few games ;) Then we get Maresca he does well for us so they want him back.

www.northstandchat.com

 

[Johnny RoastBeef]

So Hurzeler prefers a 343 formation, but in practice he plays with a libero. Essentially in possession he likes his central defender to step into midfield as a libero and create a pivot. This allows the two central midfielders to push up and overload the top end of the pitch.

So with this in mind, could Van Hecke play this central defender/ libero role?

In his best performances this season he has looked good moving into midfield, although under De Zerbi this was normally when he was chasing his attacker man to man.

 

[dwayne]

So Hurzeler prefers a 343 formation, but in practice he plays with a libero. Essentially in possession he likes his central defender to step into midfield as a libero and create a pivot. This allows the two central midfielders to push up and overload the top end of the pitch.

So with this in mind, could Van Hecke play this central defender/ libero role?

In his best performances this season he has looked good moving into midfield, although under De Zerbi this was normally when he was chasing his attacker man to man.

Webbo likes doing this as well. Heart in mouth at times but still.....

 

[Zeberdi]

So Hurzeler prefers a 343 formation, but in practice he plays with a libero. Essentially in possession he likes his central defender to step into midfield as a libero and create a pivot. This allows the two central midfielders to push up and overload the top end of the pitch.

So with this in mind, could Van Hecke play this central defender/ libero role?

In his best performances this season he has looked good moving into midfield, although under De Zerbi this was normally when he was chasing his attacker man to man.

I had Beleba for that in my head - I think VH is a good CB but I don’t see him being a natural DMF pivot ( that drops back to CB out of possession) - is absolute key in FH’s system (similar to RDZ) - Baleba when he played a libero, seemed very comfortable facing play if I remember correctly ? - more so than playing in the CM -> halfway line areas when progressing the ball.

 

[Weststander]

Defensive tactics and shape evolve with what’s faced. Hard to open up and score against.

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/t...202324-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

I had Beleba for that in my head - I think VH is a good CB but I don’t see him being a natural DMF pivot ( that drops back to CB out of possession) - is absolute key in FH’s system (similar to RDZ) - Baleba when he played a libero, seemed very comfortable facing play if I remember correctly ? - more so than playing in the CM -> halfway line areas when progressing the ball.

At the moment Baleba is too one-footed for that role and doesn’t have the tactical nous.

I don’t think any of our players are a natural fit in that role. It’s either a priority signing or someone is going to need a lot of work in training.

 

[Zeberdi]

Defensive tactics and shape evolves with what’s faced. Hard to open up and score against.

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/t...202324-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics

Thanks - that was the article I was looking for that I or someone posted a few days ago.

 

[Weststander]

Thanks - that was the article I was looking for that I or someone posted a few days ago.

Genuinely exciting times. Something different, even the possibility of clean sheets and to nil wins .

These articles appear to assume that opponents try to attack at will, a general Bundesliga thing of end to end ganes? Interesting to see how Hurzeler-ball works against managers who always leave big numbers back, who try to rob 1-0 wins against the run of play …. Dyche, Moyes in his new club, Seven Hag, Santo.

 

[Zeberdi]

At the moment Baleba is too one-footed for that role and doesn’t have the tactical nous.

I don’t think any of our players are a natural fit in that role. It’s either a priority signing or someone is going to need a lot of work in training.

I commented last week that I thought under FH, Baleba could be our break out player next season - I think you are judging him a little prematurely. He has a lot of potential but I agree it is an important role so it needs to fit. Baleba, if he doesn’t go out on loan, 2024/5 will be boom or bust for him probably.

FH is not wedded to a system like RDZ was - he will find an optimum role for each player where they are most comfortable - he’s much more flexible than RDZ.

 

[Zeberdi]

Genuinely exciting times. Something different, even the possibility of clean sheets and to nil wins .

These articles appear to assume that opponents try to attack at will, a general Bundesliga thing of end to end ganes? Interesting to see how Hurzeler-ball works against managers who always leave big numbers back, who try to rob 1-0 wins against the run of play …. Dyche, Moyes in his new club, Seven Hag, Santo.

See for yourself - they lost 5 games out of 37 last season. You can work out the GD yourself but a quick scan down is enough to show you that he is Potter on a good day in defence and De Zerbi on a good day in attack when it comes to the stats.

There’s more stats here people might be interested in. Bearing in mind, they had a very good forrward and some good finishers on the squad - we often broke through low blocks but some of our finishing last season was appaling.

St. Pauli Stats, Bundesliga | FBref.com

Check out St Pauli's latest scores, goals, shooting, passing, defense, possession stats and more for the 2024-2025 Bundesliga.

fbref.com

 

[Weststander]

See for yourself - they lost 5 games out of 37 last season. You can work out the GD yourself but a quick scan down is enough to show you that he is Potter on a good day in defence and De Zerbi on a good day in attack when it comes to the stats.


View attachment 183856
View attachment 183857
There’s more stats here people might be interested in. Bearing in mind, they had a very good forrward and some good finishers on the squad - we often broke through low blocks but some of our finishing last season was appaling.

St. Pauli Stats, Bundesliga | FBref.com

Check out St Pauli's latest scores, goals, shooting, passing, defense, possession stats and more for the 2024-2025 Bundesliga.

fbref.com

I like stats! Promising metrics there.

One aspect which is the tale of the Albion PL years (bar 2022/23), we need a prolific scorer or two to turn that xG into more goals.

 

[nickjhs]

Has he signed yet

 

[Zeberdi]

I like stats! Promising metrics there.

One aspect which is the tale of the Albion PL years (bar 2022/23), we need a prolific scorer or two to turn that xG into more goals.

Yes but I think there was a systematic issue more than anything for us last season when you unpick it a bit more:

Marcel Hartel was FCSP’s top scorer in 2023/4 - 17 goals out of 33 games and 12 assists. (he left at the end of last season btw for another yet undisclosed, “unknown club“ )

St. Pauli Scoring Stats

Get the full St. Pauli stats for the 2024-25 season on ESPN (UK). Includes leaders in goals, assists, yellow and red cards, and longest streaks.

www.espn.co.uk

Joel Pedro also with similar goal scoring stats 20 goals (across all competitions) out of 40 games and 3 assists. BUT 10 of those were penalties (hence the low assist stats).

Marcel is an attacking midfielder so to me, that’s an indication of how Hürzeler’s system worked cf to De Zerbi’s last year - it suggests our goal scoring problems were generated deeper in attacking midfield than in the 18 yard box (despite some woeful tap in finishing) lending some validity to the thinking that losing McAllister impacted the double pivot in RDZ’s system at the base of the box where MacAllister was so often the key to providing the final pass to our forwards.

MacAllister wasn’t a prolific goal scorer (his conversion rate wasn’t great) despite creating great goal scoring opportunities scoring 10 goals in 2022/3 but again only 3 from open play. It was MacAllister’s counter-pressing skills that we missed and his link up play in CAM (as a #10). I think that’s was one of our main weak areas of attack last season..

Buonanotte is still needing more experience - he consistently improved at the beginning of last season, but like some of the other younger players, I suspect some of the toxic dressing room environment and De Zerbi’s hard drive for perfection may have been a little counter-productive in their development by mid season.

Without Lallana, Facu’s going to have to step up - he can’t let poor mental attitudes and confidence be a stumbling block any more - I have great hopes though that a much younger, less intimidating Coach, who is less positional-focussed (cf to one that demands a rigid adherence to player position off the ball) will suit both him and Ferguson and they’ll find some freedom on the field to spread their ‘natural’ wings a bit.