SV Darmstadt 98 competes in the Bundesliga against VfB Stuttgart

Marcel Schuhen hasn’t had a bad Bundesliga season so far. Although as a goalkeeper, the last bastion of the Darmstadt defense, he has already conceded 13 goals in four games, which is steep. In the previous second division season it took 13 match days for Schuhen to experience 13 hits in his own net. And so it continued: an average of one goal conceded every match day – at the end of the season there were 33, and promotion was certain.

Of course, it was to be expected that you would have to steal the ball out of your own box more often if you went from being a second division promotion candidate to the number one Bundesliga relegation candidate over the summer. But the flood of goals conceded – if you add the 3-0 defeat in Homburg in the cup – has taken on a worrying dimension. The away trip of the weakest defensive team to the most attacking team in the league, VfB Stuttgart (14 goals), on this Friday evening (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN) is not exactly hopeful – if the “lilies” don’t move quickly find your way back to the path of defensive virtue.

Continued defensive weakness would almost certainly prevent us from staying in the league. Anyone who does not have the financial means for individually outstanding professionals must therefore rely on the strength of the collective – a professional football standard that has long been made a club raison d’être in Darmstadt.

Is there now a danger that the defense will turn from a showpiece into a problem? When asked how worried he was by the apparent weakness of his security staff, Lieberknecht gave a long answer at the press conference on Thursday. He put the statistics into perspective by emphasizing the outstanding quality of some of the opponents (Leverkusen, Union) and special circumstances (outnumbered, outnumbered); He pointed out that since preparations began, the alleged offensive problems had almost exclusively been denounced from outside; He described how his team recently didn’t let anything go at the back for a strong half in the home game against Gladbach (3:3). Conclusion: Lieberknecht is “not afraid of losing a showpiece” and has “zero worries” and “no worries about how the guys are working in defense.”

Rather, the Palatinate player also made the offensive players responsible. One or two players could bring in even more “intensity against the ball and thus provide relief in the back area”. Maintaining concentration for 90 minutes in a game that is accelerated compared to the second division is a learning process.

Which, of course, should soon lead to progress. It would be good if the “Lilies” could get used to a defensive formation. So far, Lieberknecht has had to or wanted to change the personnel of its central defense in every match. This will also be the case in Stuttgart, where Serhou Guirassy (eight goals), who has so far been storming and scoring, has to be kept in check. VfB loanee Matej Maglica is suspended for one game after his red card against Gladbach following a controversial handball. The calm and resoluteness of defense chief Christoph Zimmermann will be greatly missed, as he will be out for an indefinite period of time with back problems that are difficult to diagnose.

David Lindenfeld, Darmstadt Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 7 David Lindenfeld, Darmstadt Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2 Alex Westhoff Published/Updated: ,

His pre-season partner Yannik Müller is currently not playing a role after poor performances in preparation. A lot of responsibility lies on the shoulders of 23-year-old Düsseldorf newcomer Christoph Klarer, for whom the first league is also new territory. Other candidates who have already played are youngsters Clemens Riedl and Thomas Isherwood, but they had little playing time in the second division and reached their individual limits.

The statistics show the SVD not only as the weakest defensive team, but also as the weakest team in the league. Two key figures that prove that the “Lilies” have a lot of catching up to do in two core competencies that should distinguish an underdog. Lieberknecht doesn’t actually want to play pure outsider football – maybe he’ll start with that in Stuttgart.