Eintracht Frankfurt have had an outstanding first half of the season, finishing the first round in third place in the Bundesliga.
The team has consistently created goal-scoring opportunities through effective transition play.
In particular, the two pacey forwards, Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitiké, benefited from this style of play.
The large spaces created allowed them to fully exploit their speed advantage.
However, there have been difficulties against compact opponents, which could become a significant issue as the second half of the season progresses.
Before the winter break, Eintracht Frankfurt struggled to maintain the strong form they displayed during the first 12 matchdays.
A clear trend emerged during this period: the team had significantly more possession than at the start of the season.
Frankfurts style of play is heavily reliant on their transition game.
When opponents allow the team more possession and defend in a compact shape, Frankfurt often struggle.
This is by no means a new phenomenon.
Markus Krösche, Dino Toppmöller, and others referred to a lack of heavy metal football as early as last season.
During possession phases, Frankfurt lacked ideas to break down the oppositions defensive block, resulting in less attractive games for spectators.
Over the summer, Toppmöller adjusted the teams playing style.
The formula for success was reduced possession, combined with dangerous transitions supported by a particularly effective rest attack.
Opponents have logically responded by conceding less possession to minimise Frankfurts offensive transition opportunities.
But what do Frankfurt lack in possession to break down a compact opponent?
This analysis will explore the reasons behind Frankfurts boring possession game and examine the options available to Toppmöller to create more scoring opportunities during possession phases.
Finally, the article will analyse the possession game against Freiburg as a positive example.
Eintracht Frankfurt Problems In Possession
In contrast to teams like Brighton under Fabian Hürzeler, Eintracht Frankfurt employ clear positional assignments.
Frankfurt typically utilise a 4-2-4 structure during opposition pressing, while against deeper defensive blocks, they shift to a 3-2-5 setup.
Classical positional play forms the foundation of Frankfurts build-up strategy.
Occupying specific zones, drawing out certain opponents, and finding the free man are key principles of their positional approach.
The result is intentionally large distances between players, designed to force the opposition to shift and open up specific spaces.
However, this often requires overcoming many stations before a dangerous attacking action can be initiated.
Finding the free man can take considerable time.
If the opposition shifts consistently and minimises errors, the ball can be circulated for long periods without penetrating dangerous areas.
The issue with Frankfurts often sluggish positional play against deep-lying opponents is that the opposition typically defends their goal in a highly compact, space-oriented manner, leaving few gaps to exploit.
This leads to an even longer search for the free player and usually results in few scoring opportunities for either side.
Due to the compact shifting of the opposition, the ball-possessing team often lacks at least two to three passing options because these players are positioned in other areas farther from the ball.
Switching play to these players takes so long that the opposition has time to close off the crucial spaces.
Another noticeable aspect of Frankfurts game is that depth is usually created along the sidelines, starting from the first build-up line.
During build-up play, players in the centre or half-spaces are rarely found by the back three.
As a result, the options for the player in possession are very limited, as the sideline also
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