Eintracht Frankfurt have had a mixed season thus far. They had a rocky start to the season, with just six points from their first 10 games but a run of six wins from seven games after this spell rocketed them up the table. Now, they have returned to some form of equilibrium, sitting in 10th place at the time of writing.
An obvious high in their season thus far has been the form of Jesper Lindstrøm.
The 22-year-old was signed by Frankfurt in the summer for just €7 million and has been one of the standout lower-key signings this season in the Bundesliga. His four goals and four assists are a good start for a young attacker new to a top league, but aside from goals and assists, his overall performances have been excellent. He is a player with clear talent and a high ceiling while he has also been recognised in the national media for his excellent performances, with several ‘team of the week’ appearances.
This tactical analysis and scout report will provide an analysis of some of his key traits, as well as how Lindstrøm has been used in Frankfurt’s tactics thus far this season.
Data and overview
Lindstrøm has a slim frame and stands at 1.82m in height. He is right-footed but is perfectly comfortable using his left where necessary. Lindstrøm has represented the Danish national team at senior level as well.
Lindstrøm predominantly operates as a right-winger. However, he has played on either wing, as a centre-forward and as a 10 for Frankfurt so far this season. Yet, as we can see from the heat map shown, the vast amount of his actions come on the right side of the pitch.
He can operate as a conventional right-winger, sticking tight to the right flank, but he isn’t the kind of winger to drive with the ball to the byline and look to whip crosses in. Instead, he looks to cut inside as he gets closer to goal and we can see this in the pattern of actions seen on his right flank in the heat map. As he nears goal there is a healthy amount of action inside the 18-yard box.
We can also see he enjoys drifting inside operating in the half-space with some frequency.
The next image looks at his dribbling data from this season. Lindstrøm is an effective ball-carrier and is often seen as a key ball-progressor in this Frankfurt side. However, we can see that his completion when compared with other wingers and forwards to have played at least 500 minutes of football this season is well below the league average.
With his delivery from wide areas into the box, his data makes for more encouraging reading though. The following graph shows that his 2.258 crosses per 90 is above the league average, whilst his 41.22% completion is very impressive. Again, this ranks him well above the league average too.
Lindstrøm is a goal threat and performs admirably against his league peers when we look at his finishing metrics as well. He manages an above-average amount of shots per 90, but his accuracy is admittedly lacking and ranks him minimally below the league average. His xG per 90 is respectable too, with a value of 0.29.
Dribbling
First and foremost, Lindstrøm is a skilful ball-carrier. He can carry the ball forward at pace, maintaining close control, yet has an eye for the more audacious dribble as well. He is highly effective in moments of attacking transition. If found early on after a turnover, he can quickly progress the ball forward, whether there is open space for him to attack or even if it involves beating several players in a short period of time.
We can see him gaining possession early on after a win of the ball inside his own half in the following image.
He quickly breaks inside the opposition half, beating his man and drawing the full attention of the Freiburg defence, allowing the centre-forward ahead of him to peel off the shoulder of his man.
Lindstrøm has a habit of using the outside of his boot, whether to make a final pass or even to shoot on goal and has a quick release when doing so.
However, he is more than just a player who can drive at pace and is an attacker with the ability to unlock defences.
Lindstrøm has shown flashes of outstanding quality thus far this season in tight areas. The next image is a prime example of this with him receiving the throw-in out wide and using his first touch on the half-turn to come inside and still beat his full-back to get in behind and into the area.
The following image is another example but with him driving forward engaging the Borussia Dortmund centre-back and rolling the ball through his legs before rounding him.
Playmaking
He can make moments to create in the final third through his dribbling. He will use feints and doesn’t rush his decision, even in crucial moments. This doesn’t work against him though, and even if he chooses to hesitate on the ball, even with space to break past the defender, he can still beat them on the second or third attempt. Often this delay on the ball is to allow the picture behind ahead of him or for an attacking position to change enough where once he beats the opponent, he has an immediate opportunity to play a pass.
As such, once he breaks past the defender, he is far quicker with what he does. The following image shows him doing just this, creating enough space to slide the ball across goal for the awaiting forward.
Whilst he often plays out wide, he is afforded a lot of freedom with his positioning and thrives with this. He will make late movements inside where he can pick up possession in space in central positions. Naturally, there are times when the opposing defence are aware of this pattern and may follow him tightly, but Lindstrøm has the ability to turn a player when receiving.
We can see him doing so in the following image.
After beating the player and breaking past another, we can see him, in fact, with three players on his tail in the next image, he is still able to keep composure and his timing on playing the final pass is excellent.
We can see a further example of this movement in the next sequence of images, albeit in a slightly further up position.
Lindstrøm moves inside and sits on one of the Hoffenheim centre-backs. As the ball is played inside, he uses this as a cue to drop deep, knowing the centre-back is unlikely to move with him into this position.
Once on the ball in this area with plenty of space around him, he has the time to thread the final ball in behind for the centre-forward to run onto.
He does have an instinctive flair with passes in the final third and has shown he has the quality to create a goal-scoring opportunity from a half-chance.
The following image shows an outstanding cross against 1. FC Köln, where as the ball gets headed down, he plays a first-time volley into the path of Daichi Kamada, who completely misses the free header.
Finishing
Lindstrøm can lack accuracy in front of goal, as seen in the shot map shown, with a high number of shots from inside the area failing to hit the target. He does take a relatively high number of shots from outside the area and whilst he hasn’t scored from this distance, he still hits the target with a respectable ratio. However, for him to start contributing more as a goalscorer, he obviously needs to hit the target with a greater frequency, but to his credit, when he does shoot accurately, he nearly always aims for the corners, and these have to produce good saves from the opposition keeper to prevent him from scoring. He has minimally underperformed his xG of 4.86 thus far this season, at the time of writing.
Lindstrøm is actually well-rounded as a centre-forward, and can operate as a poacher, showing good instincts with his movement, but his dribbling ability also allows him to create opportunities for himself.
Lindstrøm’s movement in the final third doesn’t just make opportunities for him to receive a pass, but he is also clever with what he does to create space for him to receive in goal-scoring areas.
He shows outstanding awareness for spaces opening up in central areas, and with the ball on the opposite flank, will consistently move into attacking areas, nearly always getting inside the back post before the cross is played. He can make movements into slightly deeper areas, attacking the edge of the area, timing his run to access the space left by the movement of his centre-forward.
We can see him angling a late run into this area in the next image, where he finishes upon receiving.
He anticipates forward passes and opportunities for his teammates to play through passes in behind.
In the following image, a direct pass is played into his centre-forward. Recognising the up, back and through pass pattern, Lindstrøm is already on the move, attacking the space in between the opposition full-back and centre-back as his centre-forward receives.
Latching onto the through pass, Lindstrøm shows quality in this example to slot the ball into the far corner from a relatively tight angle where the goalkeeper has a good starting position.
For a player who needs to add more consistent accuracy to his finishing, he can nevertheless show remarkable composure in shooting opportunities. His goal against Freiburg earlier this season came from him finessing the ball into the far corner with the outside of his boot, despite the close proximity of the keeper and several defenders surrounding him as well.
Conclusion
Lindstrøm undoubtedly has room for improvement — that is obvious to see. Whilst his goals and assists thus far this season is a good start, he can certainly improve on this tally, particularly when it comes to his somewhat poor accuracy in front of goal.
However, he has already grown into a highly valuable asset for this Eintracht Frankfurt side. He is most at home at right-wing, but his ability to play multiple positions means he can fit different systems and tactical needs from game-to-game and frankly, there hasn’t been a great drop-off if he finds himself in one of these different positions.
He is a high volume dribbler, and again needs to improve his completion percentage when doing so, but he can be a very useful ball progressor, especially in moments of attacking transition, while can he also create shooting opportunities for himself or for his others with his clear knack for innovative dribbling in certain moments.
Lindstrøm is far from the finished article right now, but is developing nicely in a Frankfurt side who will want to push for European football in this second half of the season, but whether or not they obtain that goal, they have some interesting young talents dotted throughout this side — and are a team that can grow and build around these players. Lindstrøm is certainly one of these talents and whilst he won’t be attracting major interest just yet, he is absolutely a player worth keeping an eye on over the next 2-3 seasons, and has the traits necessary to continue to thrive in the Bundesliga – but perhaps he may also peak the interest of teams in the Premier League too.
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