After the 1-1 draw in Gladbach, Bayer coach Kasper Hjulmand was angry and criticized his team’s lack of intensity. But if you believe the figures, this factor is not really an explanation for the disappointing performance. Rather, they are telling in other respects.
Kasper Hjulmand was fed up after the 1-1 draw at Borussia Park. The Leverkusen coach was not only highly dissatisfied with the result, but above all with his team’s lackluster performance before the break. The crisis-ridden relegation candidates from Mönchengladbach should have been leading at half-time as the clearly better team against a completely harmless Leverkusen side, but this was only prevented by an own goal from the hosts. “Possession football is not just about keeping the ball, but about having intention and intensity with the ball, changing the tempo, making runs into space,” Hjulmand listed the shortcomings and concluded, “that was missing today.”
The statistics do not support Hjulmand’s thesis
This annoyed the 53-year-old twice over, because he had already raised the issue the day before at the press conference in Leverkusen. Was he angry because he had publicly addressed this very problem the day before the game? “Yes, that’s right,” admitted Hjulmand, who criticized the team for not being active enough, especially when in possession of the ball.
The intensity with which a team plays can best be determined by the number of sprints and intense runs completed. But to what extent are the figures from the Gladbach game really useful in explaining Leverkusen’s weak performance before the break at Borussia Park? Not really, in the end.
Leverkusen is second to last in the league in terms of the number of sprints
After 90 minutes, the factory club had recorded 140 sprints. This figure is slightly below Leverkusen’s season average of 149 sprints. In a total of six of their 20 Bundesliga games played so far this season, the figure was lower.
This figure is therefore not the only reason for the poor performance. Rather, something else catches the eye when you look at the figures for sprints and intensive runs in a league comparison. These are anything but flattering for Hjulmand’s team.
Bayern, BVB, and TSG are not only outrunning Bayer in the table
Bayer is in 17th place, second to last in the table, in terms of both sprints per game and intensive runs per 90 minutes. And if you compare this with the three top teams in the league, namely FC Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and 1899 Hoffenheim, you can see that they are not only outrunning Bayer in the Bundesliga table.
The two big rivals, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, average 171 and 169 sprints per game respectively. Ahead of them are Leipzig and leaders Hoffenheim (as of Sunday’s games), with TSG averaging 180 sprints per 90 minutes.
Bayer is also second to last in terms of intense runs
The statistics for intensive runs paint a similarly revealing picture: Bayer is also second to last in this category, while Hoffenheim, Bayern, and BVB rank in the top three.
Incidentally, Leverkusen’s sprint statistics have not changed compared to the games before the winter break. They are both at 148 sprints.
The season average of 149 sprints is due to the two games under Erik ten Hag, under whom Bayer averaged 163 sprints on the first two matchdays.
Bayer’s sprint weakness is not an acute problem
Bayer’s sprint weakness is therefore less of a current phenomenon and more one that has become established during Kasper Hjulmand’s tenure. The figures are therefore revealing—not in the sense that they clearly explain Leverkusen’s performance in Gladbach, but rather in terms of Bayer’s style of play under the new coach.