Arndt’s Analysis - The Inside Story: 1860 Draw Blank

Posted: 12:19 am, October 22, 2013 by Carsten Arndt

1860 were happy to come away with a point. Photo: DPA

Here we go again. 1860 and their fans have now been waiting for a goal for three matches. In the 0-0 draw against 1. FC Köln the Löwen were too harmless again. Especially in the second half, their attacking performance was alarmingly poor. Gabor Kiraly and the crossbar saved a point at the other end.

Personnel:

It was definitely not Moritz Stoppelkamp’s day. He barely won a duel and disrupted some encouraging counter-attacks. Swapping wings with Tomasov had no positive effect either. If he did get through, his crosses were much too harmless.

Defensive-leader Vallori had nothing more than an ordinary performance, making a lot of positional mistakes in the first half, including before the penalty. But in the second half he played much better, winning nearly all of his aerial duels.

Gabor Kiraly was at the heart of the strong display. The keeper showed a lot of strong saves and radiated a sense of calm. In addition to that he saved a penalty from Ujah straight before half time.

Funkel with tactical flexibility

On paper, 1860 started with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Stark and Stahl in central defensive midfielder, with Adlung in front of them and Stoppelkamp and Tomasov out wide. Straight from the start, it was clear that Funkel had another plan.

1860 operated in a 4-1-4-1 with Stahl as the only defensive midfielder. When Köln were in possession and got behind the four midfielders though, the defensive four were too tight in the box, forcing the outfield players to take over the full-back positions, leaving six in a row.

Funkel pointing the way to a point. Photo: DPA

Disappointing first half

This compactness left Köln unable to create a lot of chances in the early stages. It seemed like the home side couldn’t and 1860 wouldn’t score a goal.

After 30 minutes, 1860 grew more courageous but their passing was much too imprecise, preventing any build-up play. The only chance for 1860 was to set-up some counter-attacks but they couldn’t steal the ball in a dangerous area. They only got the ball if Köln lost the ball deep in 1860′s half. Their chances were rare and when they did come, they were not taken.

1860 completely outplayed

At the beginning of the second half, there was a moment when 1860 could have improved. Sadly, it was nothing more than that. After the hour mark, 1860 were totally out of the game, choosing to solely defend from that point onwards. Friedhelm Funkel seemed to be satisfied with the draw. His substitutions were all defense-oriented. In the end, Kiraly and the woodwork saved 1860 from defeat.

Big problems in attack

A point away at Köln, a side favorite for promotion, is not a bad thing but the club are still not really playing football. Funkel’s side can defend very well, that’s not the problem. But with only eight goals after eleven games, 1860 have the worst attack in the 2. Bundesliga. If Funkel doesn’t change this soon, this season will once again be a big disappointment. Today’s performance raises no hopes.