There are not many clubs that have been consistently well run despite personnel turnover in Germany over the last couple of years, and for the longest time, SC Paderborn didn’t look like it either.
After their miraculous promotion to the Bundesliga in 2014, the club was relegated twice in a row and found itself in the 3. Liga.
They would have been relegated from professional football if it weren’t for 1860 München losing their licence back then.
But this was the starting point of something special.
With their newly hired coach, Steffen Baumgart, Paderborn turned things around, built a strong squad, and established strong structures on the pitch.
After their promotion back to the second tier, the club was instantly promoted back to the Bundesliga and relegated again immediately.
However, this time, instead of completely giving up, the club managed to establish itself in the top third of the 2. Bundesliga, always a contender in the promotion battle, develops its players well and maintains a stable structure.
Even when they lost key figures to their success, like Steffen Baumgart or sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth to VfB Stuttgart, they managed to overcome those struggles.
This summer, they once again lost their successful coach to 1. FC Köln. This time Lukas Kwasniok left the club.
Instead of crumpling again, Paderborn made a bold choice, hiring Ralf Kettemann as their new manager.
Kettemann began his coaching career in the amateur tiers of Southern Germany before becoming an academy coach for TSG Hoffenheim and Karlsruher SC, where he coached the U19 Team.
But the 39-year-old never coached at the professional or even senior level, so making him the manager of an ambitious team in the second division seemed rather naive.
Still, Paderborn once again proved everyone wrong, leading the league after 12 matchdays, demonstrating that SC Paderborn is arguably the best-run club in German football at present.
In this tactical analysis, we will examine how Kettemann is building up his team in lines one and two, how they work against the ball, and why they are currently leading the race for promotion to the Bundesliga.
Paderborn Tactics In Possession
Looking at what the team from East-Westphalia (yeah, that’s unfortunately not a joke) does when building up in line one, we have to start with their goalkeeper.
Over the last couple of years, Paderborn have undergone several changes in the goalkeeper position, but they have always valued one thing more than any other team in the league: the ability to play the ball.
It doesn’t matter who coached the team at the time; the goalkeeper was always heavily involved in the build-up.
As we can see, Kettemann continues this tradition, starting his build-up play with his goalkeeper in possession of the ball most of the time.
Another interesting thing about their play in the first line is the way their backline shapes up.
