The Freiburg defense, which was surprisingly unchanged after the 1:4 against Leipzig, kept a clean sheet in Darmstadt. The 1-0 win was secured with a mediocre offensive performance by an SC professional who shone on both sides and took a serious conversation with the coach to heart.
Ritsu Doan showed a mature performance on the right wing in Darmstadt. picture alliance / Eibner press photo
That wasn’t to be expected. Christian Streich nominated the same seven-man defense on Sunday, including the double six and the rail players, which he had quite rightly criticized after the 1:4 against Leipzig.
So substitute defender Yannik Keitel was once again the middle man in a three-man chain in Darmstadt, after he had looked particularly bad against the Saxons. The mistakes and the resulting orders were clearly discussed during the week, Keitel said on Sunday: “Secure the inner line and depth better and communicate better.”
At the bottom of the table, the team managed to improve defensively, which was of course also due to the big difference in quality between the two youngest opponents: “Leipzig is already a house number offensively, especially with the pace,” admitted Keitel, but also emphasized their own improvements: “We We were more awake, secured the depth better and supported each other.”
Offensive play at a moderate level
Unlike the previous match day, this time Keitel stood out in a positive way within the three-man chain, which had already worked well in the 3-0 win in Gladbach. Keitel won many aerial duels in Darmstadt despite his size disadvantage and, as a trained six, repeatedly brought his strengths into the build-up. On the other hand, Freiburg’s offensive game was at a moderate level, sometimes below the level in the significant defeat against Leipzig.
“We have to play it better with the ball, be even more confident on the ball and be clearer that we let the opponent run even more in order to get more air. In the end we also have to score the goals,” Keitel confirmed this need for improvement, but summed it up with a smile: “All in all it’s zero, we have three points and we’re happy.”
Compliments for Doan’s textbook performance as a track player
Keitel knew exactly who he had to thank for this. In the “combat game” the first and ultimately only goal was “extremely important”. Ritsu Doan scored it. The Japanese international showed a textbook performance as a right wing player in the first half.
Doan was present defensively and had a say. Especially when he sprinted to catch up with Aaron Seydel in the 27th minute and pushed him just in front of the goal line. This is also why Darmstadt’s striker was unable to capitalize on Oscar Vilhelmsson’s cross. Up front, Doan prepared two chances from Michael Gregoritsch and, after a one-two with the Austrian international, scored with his strong left foot into the far corner.
“He practices that a lot in training, always pulling in and shooting at the far corner,” said Keitel and gave Doan a big compliment: “He’s been great for weeks, he marches against the ball and is really grippy in the duels He learned a lot there and is very important for us out there.”
Streich said to Doan: “You’re not getting anywhere like this!”
Streich had already praised Doan at the press conference before the game. In a serious conversation before the Asian Cup in January 2024, he clearly told the established national player, who had contributed to Germany’s elimination in the preliminary round at the 2022 World Cup with his goal: “You won’t get any further like this!”
The SC coach demanded a different defensive demeanor from the lively dribbler, who, according to Streich, recognized the same weakness during Japan’s surprisingly early exit from the Asian Cup: “Ritsu had to change his game a bit and I knew he could do that “He’s a very good footballer, very agile with great torque, he’s not big, but he has strength and light-footedness. He had to approach the duels differently,” explained Streich on Sunday.
It’s nice that Doan has been implementing this on the pitch for a long time now: “Interestingly, he’s been scoring goals again now that he’s more present defensively than before.” There are four goals and one assist in the nine league appearances since the Asian Cup; before that, Doan only had one goal and one assist in 16 league appearances.
Only in the six Europa League group games (2 goals, 3 assists) was the effectiveness of the trained offensive player right before the winter break. With his golden goal in Darmstadt, the 1.72 meter man significantly increased his chances of getting Freiburg’s third European Cup ticket in a row. Keitel, who is moving to Stuttgart on a free transfer in the summer, will probably even play in the premier class with VfB.
2024-04-15 20:22:09
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