Team Focus: Inexperienced Hoffenheim - Europe's Most Exciting Team

In the 108 Bundesliga games so far this season, there have been only two 0-0 draws. If the neutral football fan was to follow a league on entertainment value alone, Germany’s top tier would be it. With a total of 348 goals scored over those games, an average of 3.2 goals per game reinforces the notion that the Bundesliga is the most aesthetically pleasing of Europe’s top 5 leagues.

In a division boasting Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, last season’s Champions League finalists, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Schalke 04 and Woflsburg, amongst others, the quality on show is always of a high standard. Yet, regardless of those vying for places in and around the top 6, there’s one team that has thrilled the neutral spectator after the opening 12 league games this term.

Hoffenheim secured promotion to the Bundesliga in 2008 for the first time in their history as a result of the financial backing of Dietmar Hopp and have proven to be a breath of a fresh air in a league dominated by the conventional duopoly. Now under the stewardship of Markus Gisdol, the German appears to have adopted a mentality of ‘you score 4 goals, we’ll score 5’ in his first full season at the helm at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena.

This notion of Gisdol’s is reinforced in the combined 56 goals they have scored and conceded already this season, with that figure the highest in Europe’s top leagues. The goals that have either been scored for or against Hoffenheim mean that the team alone accounts for a startling 16.1% of the total goals netted in the Bundesliga this term.

Fans of Hoffenheim, or their opposition, as a result have been treated to a goal every 19.28 minutes on average. It comes as little surprise that the last time the team were involved in a league game that saw under 2.5 goals scored was the 0-0 draw with Mainz 05 on March 16th. With Gisdol’s side currently averaging 5.3 shots on target per game, the promise of goals is certainly high from his team.

However, with the Sinsheim based outfit conceding 13.2 shots per game, the goals against column is understandably high, even if that is only 4.9 more than Dortmund, with the former champions conceding the fewest shots (8.3) in the Bundesliga this season. Much of this will likely be down to the inexperience of the team, with 14 of the 19 players to register a league appearance being aged 25 or under.

This may be benefitting the offensive side of their game, however, with Roberto Firmino (7.65), Kevin Volland (7.43) and Anthony Modeste (7.27) Hoffenheim’s 3 highest rated players this season. The trio are all attack minded and the average age of the 3 players is just 22.7, less than 1 year younger than the average of 23.6 of the 23 players in Gisdol's squad.

More pertinently perhaps, 6 of the 8 defenders utilised this season have been aged 25 or under and it’s likely that this inexperience is why their goals against column is so high. ‘Defending set pieces’, ‘defending against skillful players’ and ‘protecting the lead’ are three of their statistically calculated WhoScored weaknesses, highlighting their defensive naivety.

Failing to protect a lead, or conceding goals that have resulted in points being dropped, is a trait of Hoffenheim's that needs to be cut from their game. This is accentuated in that in 6 of their 12 league games this season, they have either seen a win turn to a draw or loss, while in that sextet of fixtures, the opposition netted the eventual equaliser or winner in the second half.

This inability to hold out for a positive result has ultimately cost the team this term, with Hoffenheim currently 12th in the Bundesliga and sitting on 13 points; that figure could so easily have been higher. Further reinforcing their weaknesses, of the 28 goals they have conceded this season 10 have come from set pieces; the most in the Bundesliga and twice that of Schalke, who have the second worst record.

Looking at the number of fouls they’re committing per game (17.8), only Hannover 96 (20.1) are making more, so the number of goals they have conceded from dead ball situations comes as little shock. This lack of discipline when attempting to rob the opposition of possession has clearly cost the team on a number of occasions this season and is a factor that Gisdol will be hoping to stamp out as soon as possible in order to avoid another relegation playoff next year.

Again, however, the inexperience of the defence has been telling for Hoffenheim in these situations, with the rash approach to disrupting the attacking rhythm allowing the opposition to heap more pressure on an already shaky backline. With their most mature defender having arrived in the summer, with David Abraham being just 27-years old, the centre-back partnership this season has been Jannik Vestergaard (21) and Niklas Süle (18).

Evidently, this faith in youth hasn’t affected the offensive approach of their game, with their 28 goals scored bettered only by Dortmund (32) in Germany’s top tier. Indeed, this raw natural ability is likely to have played into their hands, with the unpredictability of Firmino, Volland and Modeste able to reap havoc on the opposition defence, much like Adnan Januzaj at Manchester United and Timo Werner of VfB Stuttgart this season.

Ultimately the inexperience has both positives and negatives. This spontaneity allows for the offensive players to come up against opponents that have had little to no time to prepare for the player in question, thus improving their chances of scoring. However, from a defensive viewpoint, this means the opposition can capitalise on the lack of first-team action of the starter, increasing the likelihood of conceding as a result.

Unfortunately for Hoffenheim, this imbalance between defence and attack has been teir downfall all too often this season, as evidenced by their league position. Yet, this has seen the team emerge as one of the most entertaining in Europe, with fans bypassing the likes of Bayern and Dortmund in order to view Gisdol’s side in action.

Do you believe Hoffenheim are the most entertaining side in Europe's top 5 leagues at the moment? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below