Women: Blowout Cup win in Saarbrücken

On Tuesday evening, after the international break for the women, the match in the DFB Pokal was scheduled against the second division team 1st FC Saarbrücken in Quierschied.

Three things we noticed

1. Melanie Leupolz – the new „Aggressive Leader“ in midfield

Ottmar Hitzfeld once introduced the term aggressive leader for Mark van Bommel. While at the moment it is rather associated with Arturo Vidal, in the last few games it becomes more and more apparent that Leupolz is currently playing this role.

In the first two games you could already notice that in the absence of Behringer, the namesake set the course and even in difficult phases she sometimes made her mark by already tackling an opponent in midfield.

In Saarbrücken, both Behringer and Leupolz were on the pitch together, with Leupolz initially playing a more defensive role, thus keeping Behringer’s back. In my opinion, the offensive efforts of the Saarbrücken team were already undermined before the halfway line. In the phases of overwhelming superiority, she always took a dangerous step forward and had one or two chances to score.

You can tell that her break in the national team was particularly good for her and that she is regaining her old strength after her injuries. In this form she should remain a central pillar of the Bayern game.

2. The dynamic basic formation excels

Whereas against Freiburg it was still a back five with three rather defensively oriented midfielders, Wörle changed the system to a back four and five players in midfield. While centre-backs Kristin Demann and Carina Wenninger intercepted just about every ball at the halfway line, full-backs Verena Faißt and Maier were able to apply their attacking qualities quite successfully. Leupolz kept Behringer free for offensive actions.

In the past, one often saw a rather static and cautious combination game from the back, but this time the high diagonal passes from the centre to the outside convinced. Bayern managed to make the game very fast.

It was also noticeable that it was no longer Behringer who took every standard, but often Däbritz or Roord also took their chances. These variants were not only eye-catching, but also offered the option that the otherwise rather removed Behringer could fire rebounders at the goal even from the second row.

Although it is difficult to judge how much can be transferred from the match against the clearly inferior opponent to the top race in the Bundesliga, this more offensive orientation suited the Bayern game. Perhaps Bayern should concentrate more frequently on their offensive strengths.

3. Relentless until the end

Whereas the Bayern women often discontinued playing their game with comfortable leads, they never let up on Tuesday and wanted more and more until the end. In the social media one could read some comments about whether such a demolition was necessary because the opponent was a very young team. However, in view of the fact that the cup match finally allowed players to present themselves, some of whom recently had a somewhat more difficult position, this accusation goes astray. After a long winter break and another interruption due to international games, Bayern must take every opportunity to get going and develop automatisms.

Rolser and Roord took the chance to recommend themselves for further games right from the start. The substitutes Beerensteyn and Galton immediately showed great commitment and Islacker regained her self-confidence through her goals. Also Maier, who had been on the bench, convinced with her performance. Especially the players, who recently did not or only rarely received minutes, should make Wörle’s personnel decisions for the next games more difficult.

Saarbrücken – Bayern
Saarbrücken	Ehl (46. Chládeková) – Dörr (65. Grünnagel), Hauck, Rippberger (46. Franz), Martin, Tröster – Eybe, Selensky, Reifenberg – Griffin, Steimer
Bench	Becky, Danilova, Hager, Ditscheid
Bayern	Zinsberger – Faißt (60. Beerensteyn), Wenninger, Demann, Maier – Rolfö (70. Islacker), Leupolz, Roord, Behringer, Däbritz (60. Galton) – Rolser
Bench	Weimar, Schnaderbeck, Škorvánková, Georges
Goals	0:1 Roord (3.), 0:2 Rolser (12.), 0:3 Roord (22.), 0:4 Roord (26.), 0:5 Demann (31.), 0:6 Rolfö (40.), 0:7 Rolser (45.), 0:8 Rolser (63.), 0:9 Roord (71.), 0:10 Roord (73.), 0:11 Islacker (76., penalty), 0:12 Rolser (83.), 0:13 Roord (85.), 0:14 Islacker (86.), 0:15 Islacker (90.)
Cards	Yellow: Chládeková (76.) / –
Referees	Karoline Wacker (Marbach am Neckar), Melissa Joos (Leinfelden-Echterdingen), Silke Adelsberger (Abtsgmünd)
Attendance	550