SC Freiburg have slowly evolved from a small, local club into a fully-fledged Bundesliga powerhouse.
The club from the Black Forest finished in the top six in three of the last four seasons, qualifying for European football multiple times in a row just a couple of years after being relegated to the 2. Bundesliga in 2015.
But Freiburg arent just successful on the pitch; the club has become one of the most financially stable clubs in Germany, allowing their current run to be more than just a short-lived dream.
The key to their success: Their academy and the development of young up-and-coming players.
After young goalkeeper Noah Atubolu struggled in his first couple of starts at the club, former long-time manager Christian Streich told the press that they knew about his struggles, but that they needed to develop him, because that’s what the club is all about.
Multiple players have come through the ranks of the Freiburg academy and first team, just as Atubolu has.
Multiple players in the German national team were developed in the Breisgau, like Oliver Baumann, Matthias Ginter, Nico Schlotterbeck, Robin Koch, and Kevin Schade.
This season, they found another young player bound for a breakthrough campaign: Johan Manzambi, a midfielder from Switzerland.
At just 20 years of age, Manzambi has become a regular for Julian Schuster’s team, playing on the international stage, making his debut for the Swiss national team, and attracting interest from clubs like SSC Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain.
In this tactical analysis and scout report, we will look at what makes Johan Manzambi so special, the strengths and weaknesses the young midfielder possesses, and why he is bound to make the World Cup for his home country.
Johan Manzambi In The Attacking Phase
Most of the time, Julian Schuster lines up Johan Manzambi as a central midfielder in his 4-2-3-1 formation.
Still, the young midfielder has such a wide range of movement that limiting him to a single position does him no justice.
Johan Manzambi is everywhere when Freiburg are in possession.
He likes to overload the wings, but he can also be found at the edge of the box or even in a striker position at times.
This makes him incredibly hard to control for the opposing defence, with Johan Manzambi consistently forcing defenders to switch their assignments.
Here is a situation from the game against Mainz 05 last weekend.
Mainz had a player sent off early, so they fell back into a deep block and focused on defending the central areas of the pitch from there on out.
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