Europa League performance insights: Freiburg make most of wide areas against West Ham

UEFA's analysis unit highlight how SC Freiburg utilised effective build-up play and controlled possession in the final third to overcome West Ham in last week's UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie.

Freiburg use organised possession to enter final third

West Ham's organisation when defending in a low and compact defensive block provided SC Freiburg with a tough challenge during last Thursday's UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie. With the English Premier League side quick to return to a structured 1-4-4-2 or 1-4-5-1 defensive shape, the German side had to largely rely on organised possession to enter the final third. As the graphic below shows, 36% of Christian Streich's side's entries into the final third came through this method.

With the London side remaining narrow and compact, Freiburg were routinely forced wide in the final third. As a result, the home side attempted a high number of crosses (see more below) which, for the large part of the game, were excellently defended by the visitors.

However, in the second period, West Ham's change to their pressing strategy allowed the hosts more success building from the back and progressing play through the thirds of the pitch. "Freiburg showed their ability to understand and recognise options to progress into final-third areas through West Ham’s press," explained UEFA Technical Observer Jan Peder 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."

Link between Höler and Sallai gives Freiburg central threat

Although Freiburg were largely forced into wide areas by West Ham, there were some encouraging moments of central attacking play through Lucas Höler and Roland Sallai. The clip below highlights how Höler's willingness to run behind West Ham’s backline creates space between the lines for Sallai to receive and play forward. Although the move ends up with a routine save for Łukasz Fabiański, the combination play between Höler and Sallai should act as a warning for West Ham ahead of this week's second leg in London.

West Ham's own attacking approach often focused on their right-hand side and lanes four and five (see graphic). The high number of attacks in these areas owed much to the movement of West Ham's standout player on the evening: Jarrod Bowen. The England forward regularly drifted from central areas into wider spaces to isolate defenders 1v1. Additionally, by moving wide to the right, Bowen had the opportunity to drive inside on his left foot to deliver dangerous inswinging crosses and shots (see video below).

Bowen's movement off the frontline also created space for West Ham’s midfielders to run into. "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."

Penalty box entries: Freiburg look to cross, West Ham aim for 1v1s

Of all Freiburg's entries into West Ham's penalty box, 74% came via crosses. Although this strategy ultimately contributed to Michael Gregoritsch's winning goal, for most parts of the game David Moyes's side were excellent at defending this approach. This is reflected by Freiburg achieving only a 35% success rate in entering the penalty area. There were also a number of examples where West Ham were able to regain possession and launch a counterattack after defending their box effectively.

As discussed above, West Ham's own strategy to penalty box entries focused on the individual 1v1 dribbling abilities of Bowen, Lucas Paquetá and Mohammed Kudus. Of West Ham's attempts at penalty box entries, 57% were successful.

"These performance insight articles aim to provide clubs and national associations with granular data linked to video, which can be tailored towards a deeper understanding of individual and team performance from our senior club and national team competitions. By looking deeply into certain trends, UEFA can be in position to offer knowledge about actionable trends which will help support player development across the European landscape and beyond."
UEFA's Head of Technical Education & Development, Olivier Doglia