Torsten Lieberknecht Tactics At SV Darmstadt 98 – How Can Their Defence Improve For The Bundesliga?

Over the last week, SV Darmstadt 98 has clinched their place in the next iteration of the Bundesliga after a 1-0 win over FC Magdeburg.

After a six-year absence from Germany’s top division, Darmstadt will look to ensure that their spell in the Bundesliga is as long as it is fruitful over the next season.

Led by Torsten Lieberknecht, the side has scored a healthy amount of goals this season, with 50 goals scored, and has the best defence in the league, conceding just 29 goals in 33 games.

However, when looking at underlying numbers such as xGA, Darmstadt has been overperforming defensively.

The model states that the chances Darmstadt has given up should have led to them conceding around 40 goals this season.

However, xGA and xG are not perfect metrics, and it would be dangerous to reach a conclusion just from consulting this metric in any tactical analysis.

However, when analysing Darmstadt for this scout report, prior to looking at the data, it became apparent that the execution of certain aspects in their defensive system may be problematic.

This analysis aims to highlight and explain why.

SV Darmstadt 98 Defensive structure

On paper, Darmstadt fielded a 3-4-1-2 formation with this changing to either a 5-2-3 or 5-3-2 and in some cases a 5-2-1-2 defensively.

Darmstadt’s defensive line is relatively high.

However, the side is not extremely aggressive with their press.

As can be seen in the image below, Darmstadt is structured in a 5-2-3 formation defensively

Within Torsten Lieberknechts structure, the first line does not initially orient their positions to the oppositions centre-backs.

Rather, the frontline looks to position themselves primarily in relation to the space behind them so as to prevent direct passes into the midfield, which has the effect of the opposition playing out to the wide areas.

As a result of this, the initial pressing trigger fo