Bundesliga 2021/22: How Hoffenheim’s pragmatism lead to a 5-0 victory vs FC Koln – tactical analysis

Coming into the 2021/22 Bundesliga season, both sets of fans for Hoffenheim and FC Koln were hoping for better a showing as both teams flattered to deceive. Last season, Hoffenheim finished 12th, which is far from their desired destination of European football, while Koln finished in 16th and remained in the league through a relegation playoff. With more quality littered around the squad, most would think Hoffenheim have the minerals to escape mid-table mediocrity and start a resurgence with brand new manager Sebastian Hoeneß.

The same sentiment can be echoed for Koln as they also have a brand-new coach with Steffen Baumgart leading the pack. So far, Hoffenheims luck has not changed as they currently sat in 9th place coming into this match. By contrast, Koln has been fit and firing coming into the new season as they were positioned 7th in the table, with their only loss coming to Bayern Munich.

This tactical analysis looks into the in-game changes that Hoffenheim manager Sebastian Hoeneß utilised to nullify the opposition while exploring Koln’s impressive intensity they showcased during the first half and how their great start fell away in the second. Lastly, I will be looking into Hoffenheim’s pressing traps that were used to minimise the threat of key Koln players, which lead to an inevitable goal-fest. 

Line-ups

A 3-4-1-2 was Hoffenheim’s formation of choice for the majority of the game with club captain Oliver Baumann in goal, Kevin Akpoguma and Stefan Posch positioned at centre-back as well as David Raum and Pavel Kadeřábek at full-back. In midfield, Florian Grillitsch, Diadie Samassekou, Dennis Geiger and Christoph Baumgartner with Ihlas Bebou and ex-Premier league attacker Andrej Kramarić up-front.

For the away side, FC Koln made use of a 4-1-3-2 formation with Timo Horn in goal. In the back 4, Benno Schmitz, Jorge Meré, Rafael Czichos and Kingsley Ehizibue. Within FC Koln’s midfield was Salih Özcan as a lone defensive midfielder and to accompany him, Florian Kainz, Mark Uth and Jan Thielmann in more advanced positions. In attack was a striker partnership of Sebastian Andersson and former Ligue 1 striker Anthony Modeste.

Hoffenheim’s tactical change 

During the opening stages of this game, Hoffenheim originally employed a 4-2-2-2 formation in possession and a 4-4-2 diamond out of possession with Christoph Baumgartner playing as a number 10, man-marking Koln’s Salih Özcan in midfield. Within this tactical blueprint, Hoffenheim were not able to maintain control and sustain possession due to the frantic nature of the opening exchanges between both teams. Another issue that remained was dealing with the oppositions positional play when they were in possession.

FC Koln did well to progress the ball using the wide areas of the field. Koln was able to do this due to Hoffenheim’s man-marking scheme, with Hoffenheims goal, to deny Koln’s vertical passing game and this was done by matching their four midfielders with their opponents.