Last summer, Freiburg lost their legendary coach, Christian Streich.
The 59-year-old had been with the club since 1995–starting with the U-19 team before taking over the senior side in 2011.
Under Streich, Freiburg achieved some remarkable results: They won the 2. Bundesliga title in 2015-16, were promoted back to the Bundesliga, finished in the top five, reached the DFB-Pokal final, qualified for the Champions League, and made a Europa League last-16 appearance.
These are huge achievements for a club of the calibre of Freiburg, which doesn’t have a glamorous history and comes from a small town.
So, when Streich decided to retire rather than continue as Freiburg’s coach, there was a lot of talk about the club’s future because it is hard to replace a legendary manager who has led a club so successfully for such a long time.
When Freiburg decided to appoint Julian Schuster as his successor in March 2024, another question was asked.
Schuster is well-known within the club.
He’s a former player who has been a member of the coaching staff under Streich and has occasionally stepped in when Streich has needed to be replaced.
However, he doesn’t really have any professional experience as a club manager.
This season is his first in charge of Freiburg, a team with a good reputation in the Bundesliga, and he’ll have to replace the legendary Streich.
The pressure is no joke.
But so far this season, Schuster has shown that he can handle the pressure.
He is also showing that he can make Freiburg as successful as they were under Streich.
Freiburg are currently fourth in the table and have a great chance of qualifying for the Champions League final stage for the first time.
They have 39 points from 23 games, more than previous Champions League spot finishers such as VfB Stuttgart, RB Leipzig, and Borussia Dortmund.
So, it’s really interesting to see what’s behind it.
What is Schuster’s secret recipe?
This tactical analysis will explain Julian Schuster tactics at SC Freiburg in the 2024/25 Bundesliga.
Julian Schuster Unique Pressing Approach
“I felt like I was quite isolated for the whole game,“ said St Pauli’s Eric Smith after his team faced Freiburg.
In that game, St. Pauli lost 0-1 at home and managed to have just 0.17 xG.
The reason? Freiburg‘s pressing.
I can tell you that Freiburg’s press is really good, but their PPDA (passes allowed per defensive action) is the highest in the Bundesliga.
That sounds contradictory, right?
PPDA is usually used as a measure of how good a team is at pressing and how intense they press the opposition—the lower the PPDA, the higher the intensity of the press.
However, this logic does not apply to Freiburg.
Why is that? Because they have a unique pressing system.
Freiburg have mostly used a man-to-man approach to press their opponents, which sounds intense.
However, the main purpose of their pressing is not to speed up a defensive action to win the ball back and launch a counterattack.
The purpose of their pressing system is to neutralise the opponent’s attack first.
Neutralising the opponent’s attack doesn’t always require a defensive action (which is why PPDA can’t measure this).
Freiburg, for example, are happy for their opponents to have the ball most of the time, as long as they do not create many chances.
They have only averaged 47.3% of possession in the Bundesliga so far this season, and that figure is in the bottom half.
But dominating possession is not a big problem for Freiburg because they know how to disrupt it.
They’ve got a few ways of doing it.
First, they love to direct their opponent’s attack to the side because they know that if the opponent attacks through that area, it’ll be easier to stop and less dangerous than if the attack came through the centre.
Look at what happened in the game against Werder Bremen last weekend.
For example, Freiburg had three attackers marking three of Bremen’s centre-backs (Niklas Stark, Senne Lynen, and Anthony Jung).
This meant Bremen‘s keeper, Michael Zetterer, couldn’t send the ball to the centre area, so he had to pass to Amos Pieper, who was on the right flank of Bremen’s defensive line.
Pieper couldn’t find the short passing target, so he kicked the ball straight up front, where a Freiburg player cleared it.
Freiburg also usually make their five front players work as a unit in their pressing.
These five players (three attackers and two midfielders) position themselves narrowly (close to each other) and move accordingly to the side where the opponent is directing their build-up.
They are doing this to make sure the opponent doesn‘t have access to progress the ball to the centre.
If the angle to pass to the centre is always blocked by these five players, it will be hard for the opponent to access the centre area—or even if they can, they need more time on the ball in their own half, which means Freiburg can still settle their defensive structure.
Freiburg hopes that their opponents will keep the ball in their own area for as long as possible (this will affect the PPDA numbers again) and that, if they want to get the ball forward, they will use the long ball.
Since Freiburg’s last line also has five players, it is easier for them to deal with long balls in the non-inferior situation.
Then, they combine these methods with physical duels all around the pitch, which makes it hard for the other team to get the ball and attack.
So far this season, Freiburg have won 51.66% of ground duels, which is the third-highest number in the league.
They don’t really care if the other team has more ball possession because what matters is what the opponents can do with it.
In fact, in the last four games, which they won all of, Freiburg only dominated ball possession once, kept four straight clean sheets, and faced 2.92 xG.
In general, Freiburg is also the third team with the least xGA (expected goal against)—only after Bayern München and Bayer Leverkusen—and they’re in the top seven for the number of shots faced per 90 minutes.
They also have the least (or mean the best) number of non-penalty xG faced/shots.
All of this shows how good they are at stopping the other team from scoring, which is one of the reasons why they’re in fourth place so far this season.
Attacking As A Unit
As mentioned above, Freiburg don’t use their press to win the ball back and counter.
They’ve only created 16 shots from the fast break in the Bundesliga so far, and that figure doesn’t even rank in the top ten.
This is because Julian Schuster style of play relies on other methods to create shots and goals.
Firstly, when it comes to open play, Freiburg like to attack with their attacking players positioned close together.
For example, if the attack starts in the right wide area, the attacking midfielder and the right central midfielder will move closer to the right winger to make it easier to create combinations.
The striker can also move closer, as can the left winger.
By keeping his attackers close together, Schuster makes Freiburg unpredictable.
This is not a team where the wingers stay wide on the byline and just send in crosses.
Freiburg’s wingers also like to get into the half-space, but not just to cut inside and shoot.
They combine and use their bodies as another target for crosses or through balls, and they love to crash into the penalty box.
It’s no surprise that Freiburg’s current top scorers are their wingers, Vincenzo Grifo and Ritsu Dōan, with eight goals apiece.
That is the uniqueness of Freiburg.
Their wingers can be of two types simultaneously: the one who can provide the body to be a target in the box and the one who loves to cut inside and shoot.
Both Grifo and Doan can score from outside the box, which has been Freiburg’s secret weapon so far this season.
In fact, Grifo is the second highest shooter from outside the box in the Bundesliga this season.
Freiburg can also attack through the middle.
They are second in the league with the highest percentage of attacks through the middle of the pitch.
They do it by sending a vertical pass into the middle, where they usually have enough body to create an attacking combination because of their attackers’ narrow position.
A combination of short passes, cut-backs, low crosses and through balls has become part of Freiburg’s attack this season.
What is also noticeable about their approach is that any action that leads to a shot being taken is often taken as close as possible to the opposition’s penalty area.
Freiburg’s attack is dangerous because of the tight space between the players and the proximity of the teammate who will send the ball.
Another Secret Weapon: Set-Pieces
Schuster has often used the set-piece as an attacking method to get his Freiburg side on the scoresheet.
So far this season, they have scored 10 goals from set-pieces, ranking fourth in the league.
On paper, creating chances from set-pieces is not difficult when you have the likes of Grifo and Christian Günter.
Both of them are very dangerous set-piece takers, proving that they can assist and score from set-pieces.
In general, the set-piece situation has really improved this season under Schuster.
Compared to last season, Freiburg already has one more goal from set-pieces, and the season is still a bit far from its end.
And Freiburg are making the most of their set-pieces, not only by having good takers but also by having a clear strategy.
Freiburg often uses a 3-3 strategy when it comes to corners.
Three players are positioned inside a small box in the penalty area and usually also near the post, while the other three come from the back and run into the small box to receive the ball.
The first three players usually act as blockers.
They block or stop the opponent’s movement so that the other three players can run in and catch the ball in a free or comfortable position.
This method works many times, including in the game against Bayern München.
Conclusion
The Bundesliga season is not yet over, but so far we can say that Freiburg have made a good decision in replacing the legendary Christian Streich with Julian Schuster.
Yes, Schuster is only 39 years old and has never managed a team professionally.
However, he has proven himself to be an astute coach with the potential to become a great one.
This season, he has managed to maintain the intensity usually present in Streich’s team—intensity in the context of team spirit.
If we talk specifically about pressing, Freiburg have not been as intense under Schuster, but they have been far more effective.
This has made their defence more stable, thus becoming one of the main reasons why they are in the Champions League zone so far.
In attack, Schuster also has a clear idea: To ensure that Freiburg attack their opponents as a unit, with players often positioning themselves close to each other to make the combination more fluid and unpredictable.
They are also good collectively, as no one player stands out in terms of scoring goals or creating chances, although they can rely on their wingers to do so.
And when the open play is at a standstill, Schuster gives Freiburg more options, as they are also very dangerous and can (often) score from set pieces.
Whether direct free-kicks or corners, Freiburg have good takers and the strategy to make them effective and valuable.
Another point in their favour is that they consistently score.
However, if they really want to play in the Champions League next season, they will need to be more consistent against top-half teams.
So far, they’ve been very clever against many of the weaker teams, but when they face the big teams, they still seem too nervous, too rushed, and a bit out of sorts.
