Looking for the momentum of the start of the season: What the numbers say about the situation of FC St.Gallen before the game against Sion
St.Gallen takes place. “Exhausted,” some say. “Uncertainty,” the others. Or is it just the normal ups and downs in a packed season? Before the home game against FC Sion, we take a look at some numbers on minutes played, strength of tackles and goals conceded.
FC St.Gallen is preparing for the game against FC Winterthur in the fog.
Secretly everyone agreed on how the game against FC Winterthur last Wednesday would end. The tips from sports editors and observers in this newspaper’s in-house live ticker (nothing was less than 3:1, 4:0 was the highest of feelings) as well as among fans were clear. Even the betting offices knew who was the favorite here.
Things turned out differently, as is the case with forecasts and numbers. 90 minutes later, the St.Gallen team had to thank goalie Lawrence Ati Zigi for being able to keep the score 2-2 and one point in the game against the bottom team. The fall under the hyphen remained a fact. Today in the home game against FC Sion from 8.30 p.m. three points are required.
Again against FC Sion
A week ago, the FCSG played against FC Sion and secured a point thanks to Noah Yannick’s dream goal to make it 2-2. Today from 8.30 p.m. the people of Sion will be guests in the Kybunpark. St. Gallen coach Enrico Maassen will have to do without striker Willem Geubbels, among others, who was sent off after an assault in Valais. The FCSG’s appeal against the two game suspensions was rejected by the SFL disciplinary commission.
Possible FCSG formation
Zigi; Faber, Vallci, Stanic, Okoroji; Görtler, Quintillà, Witzig; Toma; Mambimbi, Cissé.
“Then it will be difficult”
The game against Winterthur once again highlighted the problems of the past few days and weeks. On the one hand, there were the sometimes major coordination problems in defense. “If we make such a huge effort up front to create our own scoring chances, but at the back we allow scoring chances so easily, then it will be difficult,” summarized Captain Lukas Görtler after the game.
Lukas Görtler after the 2-2 draw against Winterthur.
Image: Gian Ehrenzeller / KEYSTONE
On the other hand, in the game against Winterthur there was once again the feeling that the momentum of the first few days under the new coaching team around Enrico Maassen had given way to a certain tiredness or even uncertainty. Trees don’t grow into the sky, this realization had to come sooner or later. The truth probably lies between the initial self-image of always winning even close games and the current slowdown in results. Things couldn’t go on as euphorically as in Trabzon.
Defense started strong – and fell off sharply
In fact, that trip to Turkey seems to represent something of a break: in the first eleven games up to and including the one in Trabzon, the St. Gallen team conceded ten goals, followed by 24 in eleven games. The comparison is perhaps flawed because the opponents called differently. But another value is just as interesting, as the data provider Wyscout explains to us: St.Gallen’s rate of duels won has also fallen since then.
In the search for reasons, many things were listed, including of course the national-international double burden, although coach Maassen and Co. never used this as an excuse for lost points. Nevertheless: Not only games, but also the many trips can be tiring, as studio expert Martina Moser explained in detail on SRF on Wednesday.
In fact, some St.Gallen players like Zigi or Bastien Toma achieved record-breaking numbers after just over three months, as the following graphic shows.
FC Lugano also played exactly the same number of minutes as St.Gallen in 2010. And the people of Ticino are showing significantly more consistency. If you take a closer look, you’ll see that Lugano rotates even more than St.Gallen. The eleven players who are on the field most often are less stressed at Luganesi than the St. Gallen “Topelf”.
Rotating in the lineup is also very important to Maassen. He did this very often, especially in defense – the crux of the matter: this can be an explanation for insecurities in defensive play. Gentle rotation and coordination are opposites; finding the golden mean is the challenge.
Isaac Schmidt remains the St.Gallen points king
In any case, numbers can be interpreted in different ways. Here we come to the topic of Isaac Schmidt. Since he left the club for Leeds and the Championship, FCSG has been chocking, as one would put it in St. Gallen terms. The full-back was extremely physically present and posed a goal threat, usually without neglecting defensive tasks. We calculated how many points each St.Gallen player scored during their appearances this season, excluding national cup games. And here, no surprise, Schmidt is clearly at the top.
Isaac Schmidt, here in his last game for FC St.Gallen in Trabzon, where he also scored the 1-0.
Image: Manuel Nagel
This can be interpreted like this: Without Schmidt, things don’t work. Or: Schmidt left the team just at the point when the tough double-duty routine set in. Well, the distribution of points among the individual players also includes coincidences – Noah Yannick, who has only made a few appearances so far, had to play against Bruges and Fiorentina, for example.
Incidentally, Schmidt only made three short appearances in Leeds – he never lost a game. No: We don’t get superstitious about it.
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