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Nicolas Höfler is something of a model professional at SC Freiburg.
The thinker and leader in the midfield of the sports club. Someone who also thinks outside the box, is socially committed and since this summer is the face of a campaign against sexual violence against children. But currently the 30-year-old, who in Freiburg they only call “the Chico”, is the symbol of the Breisgauers’ form crisis and the dilemma of coach Christian Streich.
“Chico was eliminated because he was right. It’s also fair in retrospect, because you can’t just let things go,” Streich said, explaining his regular player’s unusual bank position against Mainz 05 at the pre-match press conference. against FC Augsburg (Bundesliga: FC Augsburg – SC Freiburg, Saturday 15.30 at LIVETICKER).
Freiburg forms crisis: joke due to Höfler in a dilemma
Matches, in which Höfler only sat out from the rebirth in 2016, could almost be counted on one side until Sunday and mostly attributed to returning after a minor injury. This has been the case six times in the past four and a half years.
Against Mainz it followed the seventh time – in reaction to seven more or less direct Höfler appearances this season, but with seven goals conceded. “He played unfortunately a couple of times. If he made a mistake, there was a goal. If he didn’t, there was a penalty that wasn’t. It all comes together,” said Streich.
The 1: 3 loss to Mainz revealed the dilemma: there is no solution without Höfler. When the midfielder went on the break for Lino Tempelmann, Mainz had already met three times in the person of Jean-Philippe Mateta. After all: Höfler was one of the best on the pitch after the break. “There were still two or three mistakes, but we don’t always look for them. It also created a certain structure and that was important,” Streich said. One is looking for a way “to regain his old strength,” the SC coach said. “The second half was the first step in the right direction.”
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Freiburg still needs many more to stop the increasingly rapid downward trend. They expected a victory from the first day. With their win, Mainz took SC to the basement, the relegation zone is only two points away. The reasons are complex. And not just to bond with Höfler.
Streich struggles with referee decisions
On Sunday Streich struggled again with unfortunate arbitrary decisions, such as Mateta’s thrust against Baptiste Santamaría in front of Mainz’s lead. “That’s not why we lose, but it’s amazing that you can let go of the game,” said Streich. “And so it is week after week. In Leipzig we have an incredible penalty against us, now we get a goal like that. Of course, it’s against us at the moment.”
Freiburg sports director Jochen Saier taught this Sky In a nutshell: “All in all, it’s too much because we’re not good enough to make up for scenes like this at the moment. It’s up to us, the excuses are zero point zero. We have to go through it together, work hard. You don’t get anything for free.”
The previous year, the good start to the season contributed to the fact that Freiburg could play a carefree season and the pendulum swung happily in Breisgauer’s favor in close matches. At the moment, the performance was mostly fair in the very demanding opening schedule, draws against Wolfsburg and Bremen were closer to winning, but overall the results were lacking.
The departures of Schwolow and Koch are painful
In this regard, the defeat against the Mainz bottom line is particularly alarming. “For us this year means we have to forget everything about last year. I said it from the beginning,” Streich tried out his usual mantra.
At the same time, the 55-year-old has listed the weaknesses. “I only see we have committed six fouls – it’s honorable,” he said sarcastically. With only 771 duels won, the team from Freiburg occupies the penultimate place in the league. According to Streich, Mainz’s goals were also “very naive” in defense.
The 19 goals conceded were only beaten by Mainz and Schalke, goalkeeper Florian Müller – on loan from Mainz at the start of the season for the injured Mark Flekken – has not yet played a clean sheet. The departures of the protagonists Alexander Schwolow, Luca Waldschmidt and Robin Koch were painful.
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“We lost players who also brought physicality. We cannot replace Robin Koch due to his physicality,” admitted Streich. Record signings Santamaría has made a good fit in the defensive midfield, but is more of a quiet strategist like Höfler than a clearer resolve. Newcomer Guus Til, called to attacking midfield, only made his debut against Mainz due to injury and could become even more important in the coming weeks.
Streich calls relegation battle in Freiburg
The offensive lacks penetration with just nine goals, four of them from top scorer Nils Petersen. “We have made 23 crosses, but we are not dangerous enough. We have been following each other for a few weeks. We are not strong enough in the end,” explained Streich after the loss to Mainz.
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His conclusion: “Obviously you can’t win a Bundesliga match like this.” The work-up “was not pleasant for all of us”, Streich reported Thursday and announced changes in the starting XI: “Everything is up for discussion, everything is open”.
Until Christmas, Freiburg’s opponents are Augsburg, Mönchengladbach, Bielefeld, Schalke and Hertha BSC – with the exception of Gladbach who currently occupy the bottom half of the table. After three losses in a row, the sports club should score again as soon as possible so as not to slip even deeper into the basement.
The SC Streich coach also knows this, not only after the sobering result against Mainz. “And what does it mean for this season? That we have to do everything possible to stay in the league. But this is not surprising for Freiburg.”
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