Before the top match at FC Bayern, SC Freiburg are still unbeaten in the Bundesliga and occupy third place with 22 points. Which factors have contributed to the Breisgauer’s flight of fancy – and where it could still go …
To call Christian Streich a successful coach is undoubtedly accurate. But of course he is not solely responsible for the strong development of his club in recent years.
Among other things, this is shown by a look at the figures behind the scenes. During Streich’s almost ten-year tenure, SC generated a transfer surplus of 70.51 million euros, only in three of the ten seasons was the transfer balance negative. Responsible for this are Jochen Saier, head of sports, and Klemens Hartenbach, sports director, who, like Streich, used to work in the SC youth academy and took over the sporting management of the professionals in April 2013.
The Breisgau side made their biggest profit in the 2020/21 season by selling players such as Robin Koch, Luca Waldschmidt and Alexander Schwolow – although they paid the club’s internal record sum of ten million euros for Baptiste Santamaria. He went back to France a year later (Stades Rennes). Transfer fee then: 14 million euros.
Mainly due to this profitable transfer policy, the club ended the financial year ending on 30 June 2021 with a profit (9.8 million euros) despite the pandemic, increased equity (from 83.3 to 93 million) as well as turnover (from 89.2 to 110.1 million) compared to the previous year – an absolute exception league-wide. According to official DFL figures for the 2019/20 financial year, the €83.3 million in equity already meant a very respectable 7th place in a league comparison, while SC’s personnel expenditure of 49.2 million (13th place) still placed them well in the second half of the Bundesliga.
Whoever comes to Freiburg usually stays longer
But Freiburg handles these still modest resources efficiently. A big factor in this: personnel sustainability. This applies not only to the longest-serving Bundesliga coach by far and his coaching team as well as the sporting directors, but also to the team. On average, Freiburg players have been with the club for 3.29 years since their league debut – only Mönchengladbach (3.93) has an even higher figure league-wide. Freiburg (5.08 years) is also second in the league rankings in terms of complete club affiliation – behind Mainz (5.12).
Meaning: Those who come to SC Freiburg usually stay – and are then very familiar with the club, its philosophy and, above all, Streich’s idea of the game. One pillar of this is the successful youth work. The regular players Nicolas Höfler (interrupted by a two-year loan to Aue), Christian Günter and Jonathan Schmid (in between four years at Hoffenheim and Augsburg) have been at the club since 2005, 2007 and 2008 respectively. Yannik Keitel and Nico Schlotterbeck also played for the Breisgau club at youth level, and this summer another six talents from their own substructure were promoted to the professional squad – Kevin Schade, Noah Weißhaupt and Kiliann Sildillia have already made their debuts.
They are all part of the current winning streak, which is mainly characterised by a strong defence. Freiburg have conceded only seven goals – the fewest in the league and also the fewest in their own club history at this point. In addition to the strong keeper Mark Flekken and the stable defensive chain, the decisive factors are the disciplined work against the ball of the offensive department around Lucas Höler as well as the lack of chances of the opponents. Only 16 per cent of the opponents’ chances found their way into the net – the best figure in the Bundesliga.
Even without dribbling, Freiburg are often fouled
Extremely remarkable with regard to the offensive: Although Freiburg attempt the fewest dribblings in the entire Bundesliga (average 10.8 per game), SC players are fouled most often (average 13.8 per game) Expression of the straightforward but effective attacking game.
In conclusion, the question arises: Where can Freiburg’s flight of fancy still lead this season? There have been 31 times in the Bundesliga that a team has been unbeaten after ten games. 13 teams were champions at the end of the season, 14 times they finished second to fourth. The probability of reaching the Champions League for the first time is thus an impressive 87 per cent. Incidentally, the deepest fall after such an unbeaten streak at the start was experienced by MSV Duisburg, who finished the 1993/94 season in ninth place. But even that would be an improvement on the already impressive 10th place that SC finished in last season. But the chances have never been better to beat the previous best result under Streich: 5th place in the 2012/13 season with 51 points. After ten matchdays, his team even had only 12 points to show then.
