Bundesliga Preview: RB Leipzig

After two seasons in the Bundesliga, RB Leipzig already ranks among the best clubs. The third season will be a special one though, since Hasenhüttl left the club and director of football, Ralf Rangnick, takes over as a head coach for one season. It is already certain that Julian Nagelsmann will supersede Rangnick one year later.

It is obvious that RB have well planned in a long-term, but does this also augur success in this season?

Head coach: Rangnick

Ralf Rangnick is one of the most popular German football coaches.

The fact that he was responsible for the signing of new players and the creation of a club philosophy may be an advantage. Therefore Rangnick’s philosophy and Leipzig’s style of play coincide in many aspects.

First of all, Rangnick stands for high pressure defending with an enormous intensity.

Secondly, the German prefers to use transition phases to either regain possession or to take advantage of the opposition disorganization in order to create goal scoring opportunities.

In the following, we will point out how this philosophy fits to Leipzig’s approach.

Leipzigs style of play

In general, Leipzigs style can be described as possession football.

According to squawka, RB had a possession rate of 53% in 2017/2018. However, their pass completion rate differs from sides with similar possession numbers. Leipzig has an accuracy of 80% in passing which is lower than the numbers of comparable teams such as Dortmund, Leverkusen, Gladbach and Hoffenheim. Furthermore, the average pass length with 17m is noticeably low.

The following parapgraphs will give some indication of the reasons for these statistics.

Overloads and Underloads

In their offensive phase, Die Roten Bullen often heavily overload one wing. Thereby winger and full-back will be isolated on the far side of the ball. Leipzig searches for the quickest possible breakthrough, either in the overloaded area or after switching play. This causes the foregoing mentioned passing accuracy. A switch of play can bring the isolated winger into a good situation for a 1v1. That Leipzig was the Bundesliga team with the most dribbles in 2017/2018 underlines the significance of these situations for Leipzigs attacking.