What happens twice is considered a repeat. If it happens three times, Cologne speaks of tradition. The goal to 1:1 for Union Berlinon Sunday may claim this attribute for itself, having followed a traditional pattern.
On Matchday 7, 1. FC Köln conceded a goal against SpVgg Greuther Fürth (3:1) after just seven minutes through right-back Marko Meyerhöfer. The starting point was an attack by the Franconians via the left side, which Cologne tried to counter with superior numbers. Gradually, the entire Cologne staff moved to the right side of the defence to press the opponent. The completely deserted left side did not belong to the pitch at that moment, left-back Jonas Hector had moved in far to the right. Seconds before, Meyerhöfer – undisturbed by the passive Modeste – had moved forward, speculating that, firstly, Cologne’s pressing would not catch on and, secondly, a teammate would take advantage of the opportunity to shift. Timothy Tillmann did him that favour, Meyerhöfer was completely blank, ran towards Timo Horn, tunneled him, and Cologne was behind.
In Dortmund (0:2) a few weeks later, ex-Cologne player Marius Wolf initiated an attack on Cologne’s right defensive side after four minutes. Marco Reus passed the ball to Thorgan Hazard, who – surrounded by four Cologne players – passed the ball across to Thomas Meunier, who was all alone on the right and headed towards Horn. Fortunately for Cologne, the finish was too weak.
Ryerson scores similar to Meyerhöfer in Cologne
Once again FC’s pressing trap was not sprung, once again Hector had moved wide inside, clearing the right lane for Meunier. Once again the Cologne attacker – this time Jan Thielmann – did not follow the path to the back.
Against Union Berlin on Sunday the joy over the 1:0 by Modeste lasted less than half a minute. Then the familiar pattern: Berlin attack via the left, moving in on the Cologne defence, albeit not as drastically as in the cases described previously. Ryerson sets off at right back, unmolested by the Cologne players. Gießelmann gets to the ball after two Cologne ball losses, passes to the right to the moved-up teammate. Although Hector orients himself towards his original zone, he does not consistently pick up Ryerson, loses his bearings, unnecessarily keeps his distance from the shooter, and the latter takes advantage of this for a surprising finish.
Three scenes, one weakness. It is well known that Steffen Baumgart loves taking risks. And misconduct by his players is consistently priced in. He is concerned with playful liberation even from situations close to goal, the wing through which the opponent comes is overloaded and inevitably there must then be zones that cannot be occupied because the players have to leave their positions to create superior numbers near the ball, to block running and passing routes. One approach could be to persistently block the opposing full-backs with an offensive player. This persistence costs energy. But it may ultimately prevent goals from being conceded. And put an end to the unattractive tradition.
Whereby it also applies: Nobody counts the prevented actions of the opponent by the many-legged Cologne pressing. Union recorded a ball possession of only 33 percent on Sunday, and with a pass rate of only 53 percent it becomes clear how disruptive the actions of the “Geißböcke” actually have an effect on the opponent’s build up.