About halfway through this Belgian Pro League season, Bernd Hollerbach decided that he would not renew his contract with Sint-Truiden, with the 53-year-old German departing the club at the end of the season.
Following this announcement, Hollerbach went through some problems with the Belgian side on the pitch, with Sint-Truiden’s 37 goals scored the second-lowest total in the Belgian Pro League this season. However, they partnered that with one of the league’s better defences, with Sint-Truiden only conceding 40 goals this season, the best of the teams that finished in the bottom half of the table.
This tactical analysis and scout report will take a look at the troubles that Bernd Hollerbach had this season at Sint-Truiden, and in general, what went wrong for the German manager from an attacking perspective in the current campaign. This article will try to decipher why they scored so few but had a really good defence, and what some reasons were behind these troubles.
Taking a closer look at the goal-scoring problem
When taking a deeper look at the problems that Bernd Hollerbach ran into with Sint-Truiden from an attacking perspective, the first thing to look at is the lack of goals distributed among players. In total this season, the Belgian side only managed to score 37 goals, with 18 of those coming from on-loan striker Gianni Bruno who will return to Gent this summer, with Sint-Truiden unlikely to make his move permanent. Just under half of the Belgian side’s goals this season will likely not be there in the next campaign, meaning whoever replaces Hollerbach on the touchline will have a huge first responsibility.
The next highest goal total came from Japan forward Daichi Hayashi, with 7 goals, meaning over half of Sint-Truiden’s goals came from these two forwards. It makes for worse reading when you analyse some key attacking stats among Belgian Pro League clubs this regular season, and look at where Sint-Truiden rank in these categories. For instance, the club had the third lowest number of shots this past season, with 346, along with the second lowest percentage of shots on target, with 34.4% being on goal.
Hollerbach’s side also finished the season with the second lowest number of touches in the penalty area, with only 437. Finally, the club also had the second lowest number of attacking corners this season, with their 3.55 per 90 minutes total only beaten by relegated Seraing.
The data viz graphic above shows the shot map of Sint-Truiden from this past season, which again emphasises the struggles that the Belgian club had in front of goal this season. As the graphic shows, the majority of Sint-Truiden’s shots have come from outside the area, which is a result of their inability to progress the ball into the penalty box and their lack of touches inside the penalty box.
Most of the progressive passes that Sint-Truiden had this season came from crosses played from the wide areas, with the majority of these not resulting in any chances on goal. Following are a few examples of this lack of chance creation ability that Sint-Truiden possessed this season, with Bern Hollerbach’s side struggling for any kind of consistency in creating attacking chances this season.
The image above shows an attacking moment where Sint-Truiden were unable to garner something from a potential golden goal-scoring chance. In the phase of play above against former Barcelona and Bayern Munich striker Mark van Bommel’s Royal Antwerp, Sint-Truiden are in possession, with the ball originating from the fullback advanced on the far side. The Belgian side’s second top goal scorer, Daichi Hayashi, makes a forward run from a deeper starting position, with him able to sneak behind the Antwerp back line. The ensuing cross is then played in from the far side, with it being perfectly weighted, falling right to the feet of the Japanese striker.
However, Hayashi mishits his first-time shot, with the ball rolling harmlessly wide of Jean Butez’s post. While this would have been a tough first-time finish, if Hayashi would have been able to at least get the ball on target and force a save out of Butez, it could have resulted in either a Sint-Truiden corner or a second ball opportunity for either him or the onrushing Gianni Bruno.
The image above shows another example of an attacking phase of play for Sint-Truiden, which also results in a lack of shots on target for the Belgian side. In the phase of play above, the ball is again in possession of the player positioned on the far side. As in the previous example, the Japanese striker, Daichi Hayashi, is making a run in front of his opposition centre-back, moving towards the front post area which allows him to get in front of his marker.
However, the Japan forward is the only Sint-Truiden player who is showing as an option inside the penalty box, limiting the options for the wingback to cross the ball towards. As we can see, all of the Sint-Truiden players circled in red could arguably be in more advanced positions in and around the penalty area. Due to a lack of advanced attacking options, there is not much for the wingback to aim his cross towards, with the ensuing header by Hayashi sent off target, not forcing the goalkeeper into a save. The lack of advanced movement from the Sint-Truiden midfielders and opposite wing-back prevents the Belgian side from being able to get players in good positions to create chances on goal.
As a result of this lack of forward movement from the midfielders and outside defenders, these positions did not contribute much to goals and assists this season, with much of the reliance on both Hayashi and Bruno.
Above shows a similar attacking phase from Sint-Truiden that again results in an attempted shot going off target. In the phase of play above against Oostende, the ball is in possession of top scorer Gianni Bruno in the wide channel, with one of the more advanced midfielders making a run into the penalty area from a deeper lying position. On the back post, Daichi Hayashi is able to get away from his marker and make a movement towards this area, which Bruno is able to pick out. Unfortunately, the Japan forward miss hit the header, allowing the ball to go harmlessly out of play for a goal kick for the opposition.
In this attacking phase from Sint-Truiden, there are a couple of things to point out in regard to how they attack. First is the amount of numbers that the Belgian side have committed forward, with only two attackers positioned in the box against the Oostende defence. They also have top scorer Gianni Bruno out in the wide area, which should instead be occupied by an outside midfielder or the overlapping wingback joining the attack. Taking Bruno out of the centre of the area limits his impact from a goalscoring perspective which results in fewer chances for the Belgian side in front of goal.
What needs to change next season and who could potentially replace Gianni Bruno?
In regards to how Sint-Truiden can turn their attacking fortunes around next season, that question will have to be answered by Thorsten Fink, with the 55-year-old German manager being officially appointed to replace his compatriot Bernd Hollerbach in the Sint-Truiden dugout for next season. The first thing he should look at doing is trying his hardest to retain the services of 18-goal man Gianni Bruno on a permanent basis.
The data viz graphic above shows the impact that the 31-year-old Belgian striker had this season on his year-long loan from fellow Belgian side Gent. His 14 goals from open play and 57 total shots were all club bests for STVV, with the Belgian striker being heavily impactful in the areas around the penalty spot. Bringing Bruno back should be the number one priority for Thorsten Fink as it is unlikely STVV will concede the same low amount of goals next season. Losing almost half of their goals from this season could be devastating for the Belgian side next season, with smart recruitment the only way to replace these goals.
Looking around the relegated teams in Belgium, as well as the Challenger Pro League, two names stand out as potential replacements if they can not retain the services of Gianni Bruno. One potential name is Marius Mouandilmadji, with the Chad international relegated this season from the top tier of Belgian football with Seraing. The 25-year old finished the Belgian season with 11 goals, the top scorer in the Seraing side. It seems likely he may leave the relegated side in the summer, so STVV could be an intriguing option for the Chad international.
Another potential option is 20-year old SK Beveren striker Thierno Barry, with it possible he leaves the second division side this summer after they missed out on promotion to the top tier of Belgian football. The Frenchman finished the Challenger Pro League season with 14 goals and 4 assists for Beveren, and while it is very realistic that he stays there at least one more season, he could be worth the risk for STVV in their potential search for a new forward.
This data viz graphic above compares both potential striker options, with Barry exceeding Mouandilmadji when it comes to goals scored this past season. However, this was considered by many to be the French forward’s breakout season, as well as his unknown quality when making the potential step up to the Belgian Pro League. In the case of Mouandilmadji, he was able to score a consistent number of goals for Seraing both this season and last, when they were able to stay up by beating RWDM in the promotion/relegation playoff. Both are viable options, with STVV needing to find who will score goals for them next season, with this likely being priority number one for Thorsten Fink.
Conclusion
As this tactical analysis has shown, Bernd Hollerbach’s tactics did not have the greatest success from an attacking perspective with STVV this past season. The job now rests with his compatriot Thorsten Fink to revitalise an attack that was one of the worst in the Belgian Pro League this season.
While they will not be able to get a player the calibre of someone like Real Madrid‘s Karim Benzema, Sint-Truiden need to do whatever they can to fix their goal scoring problems for next season.
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