Bundesliga Tactics Check | Albert Riera’s Eintracht Frankfurt Debut | OneFootball

In this Get German Football News feature, we’ll be taking a more in-depth look at Albert Riera’s first match in charge of Eintracht Frankfurt. The SGE’s novel choice for their first mid-season coaching change in a full decade continues to pique interest across the Bundesrepublik. Everyone covering the Bundesliga beat wishes to know if Riera can succeed in the same way as Spanish predecessors Pep Guardiola and Xabi Alonso. 

Do we have definitive answers yet? Of course not. Riera has only coached one game to date and the quality of the football left Friday night’s 1-1 draw with 1. FC Union Berlin barely qualifying as an actual football match. That certainly won’t preclude this German author from diving into the debut of a Spanish trainer he’s insatiably curious about. Let’s have a look at Riera’s first match. 

What did Riera change tactically?

Riera made only two changes to the team that lined up against Bayer 04 Leverkusen last Saturday. Oscar Højlund replaced the suspended Ellyes Skhiri whilst defender Aurelé Amenda made way for attacker Fares Chaïbi. This obviously heralded a change from a back-three to a back-four, with Rasmus Kristensen and Nathaniel Brown moving back from wingback to fullback slots.

A 4-1-4-1 was foreseeable enough upon the release of the team sheet. 

Lineup—SGE (Round 21)

It didn’t necessarily surprise to see Hugo Larsson function as a “solo-six”. Riera definitely ensured that the young Swede received plenty of support from fellow Scandinavian Højlund. The midfield triangle kept a nice tight “tiki-taka” access, though Mario Götze bucked the Spanish cliché trend with plenty of license to roam forward. On most bow-arcs out of the back, Kristensen slid back once the ball was played forward. Brown pushed ahead as a pseudo winger. 

What stood out about Riera’s tactics?

Two words: ball possession. The author already noted the clichéd nature of a “tiki-taka” approach above, but sometimes stereotypes exist for a reason. For most of the first-half, Frankfurt lorded over 80 percent possession. By the time the full-time whistle blew, Riera’s charges had played 649 passes to Union Berlin’s 229. Passing remained largely crisp (87 percent) and most of the upward cycles looked sharp, if not highly conservative. 

The fact that Frankfurt produced a woeful 0.14 xG must be mentioned. Yikes! Riera’s constellation had the team looking most technically unsound once they broke the lines. Admittedly, the squad’s Reira drilling remains embryonic. It’s perfectly understandable that the top axes move too slowly to get quality chances off yet. This will continue to take time. 

Any interesting in-game adjustments?

Once Jean-Matteo Bahoya replaced Chaïbi in the 67th, Brown appeared to swing in a tad more central to work alongside Larsson. It looked a bit (on the ball at least) as if Riera tried to mix it up a bit with a 3-2-3-2 on the possession press. This positioning did play an important role in Brown’s 84th-minute 1-0. If the re-format was indeed deliberate, one could say that Riera has already “manufactured” his first goal. 

Are Some players looking better?

No. One needs to emphasize that. The much-discussed “patterns” of defensive errors persist. Captain Robin Koch committed more than his fair share of glaring errors. Keeper Kaua Santos should probably take a seat and let Michael Zetterer take over again. Götze and Ritsu Doan continue to deliver uninspiring form. Kristensen looked a tad better than he has recently, but is still largely unspectacular. 

Sources of inspiration amid the RheinMainAdler ranks remain the same. Brown, on loan striker Arnaud Kalimuendo, and “super sub” Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab furnish their moments. Everyone else struggles to provide solid football. Most everyone actually slid backwards in form from the last Bundesliga encounter. Of course, that’s perfectly normal when adjusting to a new trainer. 

What are Riera’s immediate Bundesliga prospects?

Based on the mere fact that injuries to strikers Jonathan Burkardt and Younes Ebnoutalib should clear soon, the team will improve. One conjectures that Riera will capture his first Bundesliga win against Borussia Mönchengladbach next weekend. After Bayern and Freiburg, Riera can probably even rattle off a three-match winning streak against St. Pauli, Heidenheim, and Mainz heading into the March international break. 

It’s important to note that one shouldn’t expect the return to “heavy-metal-football” associated with this so-called “Rockstar appointment”. It’s doubtful Riera’s SGE will be as exciting to watch offensively as Toppmöller’s crew for a good long while. To be fair, more solid defending happens to be the reasoning behind Riera’s appointment. The glitz-an-glamour of it all doesn’t jive with the club’s true purpose. 

Obvious enough, but worth emphasizing for those hoping for fireworks.

GGFN | Peter Weis