After a good third of the season, VfL Bochum is in the desired league table. But: Would more have been possible with a little more risk?
Bochum’s Takuma Asano was extremely hard-working, but had no luck in the finish. IMAGO/Sven Simon
Pleasing from Bochum’s point of view after the 0-0 draw in Heidenheim: VfL did not leave the pitch as a loser against any of the clubs from the bottom of the table that recently crossed Bochum’s path. And with the seventh draw in the twelfth league game, Thomas Letsch’s team is at least leading in this area.
If you approach the matter positively, you will see that VfL has only lost four games in the current season, which is only one more than VfB Stuttgart, who are currently in third place in the table. But the big difference: The Swabians have already won nine games, Bochum have only won one.
Certainly, a draw in Heidenheim, for a team that has collected ten of its eleven points so far at home, is definitely worthy of honor. And there was almost no sign of the feared weapon of the hosts, who often strike at set pieces, on Sunday afternoon in difficult conditions in the smallest stadium in the league.
Compact appearance
Of course, with a bit of bad luck, Tim Kleindienst took his big chance in the final minutes after a bad blow from Erhan Masovic, and VfL even went home as losers. But that wouldn’t have been fair because the guests, who appeared quite compact, allowed very few chances to score against the newly promoted team.
Shockingly harmless
On the other hand, VfL remained shockingly harmless for over 90 minutes. Switching play was far too slow, rarely over the wings, and the Bochum team, who were rather unimaginative, barely penetrated the center.
Would a little more risk have helped? For example, Letsch would have had to take the very weak Lukas Daschner off the pitch early on, and the question arises as to why he didn’t fall back on Moritz-Broni Kwarteng, who recently brought at least a bit of freshness to the offensive game.
Asano luckless
Philipp Hofmann once again struggled in the center of the attack, was important in defensive set pieces, but did not record a single dangerous shot on goal. Takuma Asano was extremely hard-working and at least got into promising shooting positions more often, but was unsuccessful in finishing. By the way, there was no sign of substitutes Philipp Förster and Christopher Antwi-Adjei.
VfL has survived the games against direct competitors in the bottom of the table without defeat, but so far they have only had one win against promoted team Darmstadt 98. With the salami tactic of collecting points through draws, VfL is not doing badly in the race. However, without victories and without a certain amount of courage going forward, it won’t be enough, and that is of course clear to everyone involved.
So dare to be more offensive? Letsch defended the very hesitant approach: “Anyone who knows this stadium and this Heidenheim team knows what energy can develop here,” said the coach on Sunday. “We largely controlled the game, but Heidenheim had the best chances, so the draw is okay.”
“That’s not the optimal yield”
And overall: “Of course we may have played a draw too often. That’s not the optimal result, but we can live with it. We’re in the table exactly in the region where we belong.”
And 14th place in the final rankings would of course be the desired result.
2023-11-27 10:53:42
#line #Bochums #dangerous #salami #tactics
