FanPost

Scouting Report/Liveticker - 1860 München v Jahn Regensburg


I happened to catch the 1860 - Regensburg match (thank you Eurosport 2!), and remembering that Regensburg will be our Pokal opponents in a few weeks, I figured I might as well try to learn a few things about them. Here's my faux-liveticker of the game, with some tactical musings to follow.

Pre-match - 1860 München marked as "M60" on the scoreboard - I somehow doubt they have the same firepower though.

Kiraly, the 1860 goalkeeper, is sporting a hilarious tracksuit pants-goalie jersey combo. The commentators assure me this is quite normal.

The stadium looks quite well filled out - I estimated a 40k headcount, the official amount is 45 thousand. The top level is completely empty, though, with the word "sechzig" formed by covering the chairs with... something. The stadium is very blue in general - I had forgotten 1860 plays at the Allianz, so this is quite a weird and unsettling sight for me.

1. Minute - Kick-off. 1860 play in blue (duh), Jahn in Rothosen.

6 - Decent penalty shout from the Jahn striker, Sembolo. Looks like both teams play a 4-4-2.

7 - 1860 scores! Jahn screws up bad on defending a corner, their defender is outmuscled easily and the ball finds itself in the back of the net, without anyone being quite sure WHO actually scored the damn thing.

10 - More set piece chaos for Jahn. Their players are quite reluctant to take action and challenge for the ball, but it gets sorted out in the end.

20 - Jahn's Weidlich goes on a good run through the middle of the park, beating to players before being stopped by a foul. The resulting free kick is blasted towards the goal, but saved by Kiraly, probably a lot more comfortably than it looked at first.

24 - Jahn looking quite unconvincing defending their box in the air as they put the ball behind for a corner under barely any pressure at all.

28 - Again poor heading from Jahn, this time the ball rebounds to a 1860 player at the edge of the box who smashes the ball at the goal, missing the target just barely. Noone tries to stop him from taking the shot.

35 - Jahn get a corner for themselves but create nothing, 1860quickly play long and the Jahn goalie is forced into a sweeper-keeper header a la Neuer.

36 - Yellow card for Jahn's Ziereis as he is unable to deal with the pace of the 1860 player running at him. The resulting free kick once more creates danger as the Jahn goalie Hofmann falls to the ground after weakly punching the ball away.

38 - Good pass from a Jahn player as they are on the counterattack, but it fizzles out pretty quickly - story of the game so far for Jahn.

45 - Half-time, 1-0 for the hosts. Pretty dull game so far. Very English, lots of set piece actions as two 4-4-2's batter eachother like headless chickens. No midfield battle to speak of.

46 - The game resumes and instantly Jahn has a superb chance with a shot from 10 metres being fires straight at Kiraly. Should be 1-1.

50 - Jahn crossing the ball into the box but it ends up at the hands of Kiraly. Still, a lot better from them so far.

51 - Despite their renewed efforts up front, their set piece defending is still shambolic as 1860 miss a decent chance to score from a corner.

52 - Another sharper attack from Jahn as Sembolo connects with a cross but misses his header quite clearly.

55 - Dangerous cross from 1860 from their right, Jahn looking rather vulnerable from their left flank.

67 - Jahn has been dominant for the last 10 minutes but struggling to create clear chances.

69 - The referee is allowing quite physical play. 1860 seems to love it. If we happen to play them for some reason, I'm sure we'd get an injury out of it.

71 - Jahn concede a free kick from a dangerous position as their centerbacks fail to communicate going for a high ball, which has not been uncommon for them today. The resulting free kick is lifted over the wall and hits the crossbar!

74 - More confusion in the Jahn box from a 1860 corner, but it ends with Hofmann being fouled. He punts the ball long, Sembolo and the 1860 centerback Aygün fight in the air. Aygün is quite unhappy with Sembolo's physical play and confronts him aggressively, the referee needs to sort the situation out. Sembolo creating a few problems for the 1860 defensive line with his physicality.

76 - Sembolo steps on Aygün's ankle and gets a very deserved yellow card.

79 - Aygün is taken off the pitch - apparently he is unable to continue after having his ankle trodded on. 1860 make their last sub to replace him.

82 - Great chance from Jahn but the shot is lacking in accuracy.

84 - Sembolo runs down the channel, beating the offside trap. The 1860 defender struggles to contain him and concedes a penalty! A soft one, but Jahn deserve a little luck. However, Kiraly saves the penalty and the shot from the rebound! Amazing stuff from the 1860 goalie, though the penalty was nothing to brag about.

88 - 1860 get another shot on target from a corner, Jahn is just awful at defending their box in the air, especially during set pieces.

89 - Another good stop from Kiraly who has looked a lot more confident than his Jahn counterpart.

90 - ... who manages a decent stop from a Lauth (1860) shot.

92 - Jahn pushing for a goal, but it's not going to happen with only one minute to play and Kiraly cleverly wasting time.

93 - Game over! A game of two halves - Jahn improved a whole lot in offense after the break - which could've gone either way in the end.

Man of the Match - Kiraly was really solid in the 1860 goal and his penalty stop was just the icing on the cake. However, Jahn's Sembolo worked very well and created both the chance at the start of the second half with strong target man play, as well as earning a penalty. Despite his rash foul that earned him a yellow, he didn't deserve to be on the losing team.

Scouting report

Jahn looked a bit rusty, probably aren't in full form just yet. They played a 4-4-2 which quite often changed into a 4-2-3-1 as the wingers pushed higher and the second striker dropping deeper, with Sembolo staying highest up in the target man role. I was very impressed with him - he managed to bully the 1860 defenders quite well sometimes, and was clearly the focal point of the Jahn attack, as they sought to cross the ball to him, play it long to him, or pass to his feet so he could hold it up and pass back (which created that chance in the 46th minute). I think the best way to counter him would be to field van Buyten who is our strongest defender physically, with Boateng or Dante playing in a covering role.

There was no midfield to speak of, however. all their play was either long balls or down the flanks. 1860 didn't really exploit it enough, though, as their playing style also focused on the flanks. I think this is one of the games where we can afford to play Kroos and Schweini down the middle. Or perhaps resting Schweini for a defensive midfielder like Gustavo or Tymoschuk.

In the defense, they were really bad during set pieces. Lacking communication and resolve, it was almost like our set piece defense last season! This is an additional reason to play van Buyten. I think Pizza could also be a good shout to start against them. Perhaps we could play two strikers even, as their weakness in the air and lack of proper midfielders could end up screwing them over quite badly.

Of course, they won't play the same style of football against us. Probably a lot more defensive, a 4-4-1-1. So we might want to field fullbacks who don't get forward too often as they will certainly seek to counter against us, especially on the flanks. Even more so, those fullbacks should be very good crossers to supply whatever tall guy we have up front with aerial balls. The fullbacks should be supported by hardworking wingers capable of crossing as well (that is, no Robben at the right flank mostly)

I'd use the following lineup against them, considering we might want to rotate the squad a fair bit too -

-----------Pizza--Mandzukic-----------

---Shaqiri---------------------Müller---

-----------Kroos------Tymo-------------

--Contento-Dante-DvB-Boateng--

Depending on how much we need to rotate or not, Ribery could be in instead Shaqiri and Lahm instead of Boateng (who would move back into central defense instead of Dante). In any case our strongest lineup is surely not necessary here.

PS: I really didn't like seeing the Allianz in blue like this. I imagine the local fans feel even more strongly about it. Come on Hoeness, make them move out already!

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