Swissquote match analysis: Freiburg 1-0 West Ham

In this article brought to you by Swissquote, UEFA technical observer Jan Peder Jalland, working together with UEFA's analysis unit, outlines three key tactical features from Freiburg’s 1-0 victory over West Ham in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie.

West Ham use numbers to defend penalty box effectively 

For large parts of this round of 16 tie, West Ham demonstrated their effectiveness in defending their penalty area. The English Premier League side routinely used seven or eight defenders inside or around their penalty box to prevent central attacks and repel crosses.

"West Ham were very organised and structured when defending around the lower third of the pitch," noted UEFA technical observer Jan Peder Jalland. "By remaining compact in central areas, they forced Freiburg wide. When the ball did go wide, there was a positive mentality from the West Ham midfield players to cover space and support their full-backs. Edson Álvarez did this very well and you can see in the clips how he makes an effective recovery run to provide protection behind his full-back."

West Ham's ability to defend their penalty box also provided a platform for the visitors to launch counterattacks from deep areas. "By having a high number of players in the box West Ham were able to make lots of first contacts – their ability to defend in this way was exceptional. It allowed a number of regains in and around the penalty area for them to then counterattack through Lucas Paquetá, Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen."

Freiburg find joy playing through the press in second half

West Ham began the second half by attempting to apply pressure further up the field. However, with David Moyes's side adopting more aggressive pressing positions, Freiburg were afforded opportunities to find spaces between West Ham's units.

"Freiburg showed their ability to understand and recognise options to progress into final-third areas through West Ham’s press," explained Jalland. "They had success by moving their wingers inside and allowing their full-backs the space to attack – apparent between Christian Günter and Vincenzo Grifo – or by getting players in behind West Ham's midfield line."

As the game progressed, Freiburg also recognised the need to alter their attacking idea from wide areas. With West Ham competent in defending aerial crosses into their box, the home side utilised cutbacks to find space in a crowded penalty area. This strategy is demonstrated in the clip above and through their winning goal from Michael Gregoritsch in the 81st minute.

At times, the visitors did, however, have some success with the switch to a high-press strategy. The clip shows how Bowen's ability to apply pressure on Freiburg’s backline leads to a forced forward pass. From here, West Ham regain the ball in the middle third and encourage forward runs from midfield as they counterattack.

Bowen's effective movement key to West Ham attacks

Although West Ham's evening would eventually end in defeat, there were some promising attacking moments that will give them encouragement ahead of next week's second leg in London. Bowen – who largely played through the centre of West Ham's attack – displayed his ability to link play and create space for others.

"A lot of their attacking play went through Bowen, who was key in dropping to receive," explained Jalland. "The movement of Bowen dragged defenders out of position allowing West Ham's midfield players to make movements beyond Freiburg's defensive line. Central midfielder Tomáš Souček was particularly effective at this and made lots of forward runs into the space created.

"There were also elements of combination play between Bowen, Kudus and Paquetá, particularly in the second half, when they were able to create more regain opportunities. Bowen and Kudus played well together and had good moments of combination play, recognising when to create space for each other."