Strasbourg have enjoyed a positive season so far in Ligue 1 under Julien Stéphan, who replaced Thierry Laurey as the club’s manager back in May. Following his March departure from Rennes, a club he’d guided to the UEFA Champions League with a third-place finish in 2019/20 — a stint during which he managed the likes of teenaged Eduardo Camavinga, who’s since joined Real Madrid, and emerging Brazil star Raphinha, who’s since become EPL side Leeds United’s key man, Stéphan was linked with plenty of jobs including the at-the-time-vacant Celtic position. However, we’ve since seen the promising 41-year-old remain in France, joining Les Courers.
I previewed Stéphan at Strasbourg for Total Football Analysis back in July, when I analysed what Strasbourg fans could expect from their new coach. While some of my theorisations have not materialised (I imagined that Stéphan’s Strasbourg side would not play so many long balls, for example, though I did state he likes to give his side the option of doing so and Ludovic Ajorque would likely be a good option for this, which has definitely been the case but to a greater extent than I’d anticipated, admittedly), some of it has proven accurate, including the three-centre-back system that creates a 3-1 / 3-2 shape in build-up, the recruitment of new centre-backs, who turned out to be Gerzino Nyamsi from Rennes and Lucas Perrin from Marseille, and the increased importance of Sanjin Prcić who can play the holding midfield role well for Stéphan and play lots of switches — an important element of the 41-year-old’s strategy and tactics. For an even more complete analysis of Stéphan at Strasbourg, I do think it’d be worth recapping that analysis from July, if possible, before moving on to this one as it could paint an even clearer picture of Stéphan and this Strasbourg side.
The ex-Rennes man’s time at Strasbourg has been positive because although Strasbourg have finished in the bottom half of the table in each of the last four seasons since earning promotion from Ligue 2 in 2016/17 (15th — 2017/18, 11th — 2018/19, 11th — 2019/20, 15th — 2020/21), they currently occupy a far more impressive sixth place position on the table — a spot that has them contending for European qualification. This would be a great achievement for a side that was playing in France’s third tier, Championnat National 1, in 2015/16.
Additionally, on fire Strasbourg are currently Ligue 1’s second-highest scoring side, trailing just PSG, with 34 goals from their 17 games so far this term. This is two more goals than they managed to score two seasons ago despite having played 10 fewer games, while this is also just 15 fewer goals than they managed to score from 21 more games last term, so the starkest difference in Strasbourg’s performances between this season and previous ones, for me, is their increased potency in front of goal.
So, how have Stéphan and Strasbourg achieved this attacking improvement? This tactical analysis will be a team scout report with a specific focus on Strasbourg’s attack, aiming to highlight how Stéphan’s time at Stade de la Meinau has played out thus far, in terms of the implementation of his tactical ideas. I hope to show how the key elements of this team’s strategy and tactics, as well as explain why these tactical elements are prominent for Les Courers. The stats and data in this analysis are collected from Wyscout unless stated otherwise.
Build-up and ball progression
As mentioned at the beginning of this tactical analysis, switching play is a key part of Strasbourg’s strategy and tactics under Stéphan and I’ll go on to discuss that and explain why this is the case later in this piece. However, I’ll begin by looking at Strasbourg’s build-up play, to look at how this team begins their attacks and explain what about their build-up is most significant to their impressive attack.
Strasbourg have played the 13th-most passes of the 20 Ligue 1 sides this season (385.88 per 90), but they’ve played the sixth-most progressive passes (65.65 per 90) with a ‘progressive pass’ defined by Wyscout as a pass where: ‘the distance between the starting point and the next touch is: 1. at least 30 meters closer to the opponent’s goal if the starting and finishing points are within a team’s own half 2. at least 15 meters closer to the opponent’s goal if the starting and finishing points are in different halves or 3. at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal if the starting and finishing points are in the opponent’s half. Strasbourg’s structure in build-up and tendencies both on and off the ball during this phase help them to create so many progressive pass attempts, move upfield and ultimately get into goalscoring positions more regularly than they would otherwise be able to.
Strasbourg have primarily played with a 3-5-2 shape this season, and in the build-up phase it typically appears as we see it in figure 1. Two of the centre-backs (usually the central centre-back and left centre-back) split either side of the goalkeeper while remaining central, with the right centre-back pushing wider into more of a typical right-back position. The right wing-back sits higher, while the left wing-back sits deeper, corresponding with the right centre-back on the opposite wing. As play moves on into the ball progression phase, however, the left wing-back typically advances to correspond with the opposite wing-back, providing the offensive width for their side. Additionally, as play moves on from the very beginning of the build-up, the right centre-back returns to the centre, providing extra central protection for his side behind midfield.
In figure 1, we see Strasbourg’s three-man midfield in their typical 1-2 structure, with Prcić operating at the base. However, we also see their opponents, Bordeaux, overloading Les Courers centrally by dropping the centre-forward in their 4-3-3 shape deep to mark the Bosnian. In one way or another, it’s very common for Strasbourg’s holding midfielder to be marked tightly in build-up as we see above to prevent him from receiving the ball and thus stifle Strasbourg’s progression. However, as mentioned, Strasbourg tend to find plenty of opportunities for progression despite that. To achieve this, it’s key for their midfielders to rotate positionally.
