Analysis: Faith helps

The 2-2: When asked about the moment when Hojae Lee carried his teammate Yosuke Furukawa off the pitch with impressive ease, Florian Kohfeldt used the description „picture of the match.“ Understandable, but for the „scene of the match,“ we still opted for Aleksandar Vukotic’s equalising goal. Darmstadt’s goal to make it 2-2, and Lee’s first goal for the club, would also have been a valid choice, but the Serbian centre-back’s goal to make it 2-2 was symbolic on this Saturday afternoon.

Vukotic had gifted Kiel their goals in the first half with two unfortunate plays, and after the final whistle, the towering defender addressed these moments openly: „I take responsibility for the two goals we conceded and will do everything I can to ensure these mistakes don’t happen again.“

Previously, Vukotic had already done everything in his power to ensure Darmstadt could start the new season with a late point. In stoppage time, the defender blocked Kiel’s Harres in a promising position, preventing a late blow, and in the 86th minute, Vuko headed home a Duijvestijn corner with pinpoint accuracy.

„We showed character today,“ Vukotic later summarized. He himself exemplified this sentiment.

The mentality: „You’re never satisfied with a draw at home, but we had a very good opponent today. And then to come back from a 2-0 deficit, that leaves us feeling quite happy.“ A small smile played around the corners of Marcel Schuhen’s mouth as he summarised the season opener. Anyone who knows the Darmstadt captain knows that he wants to win every competition, no matter how small. But the 33-year-old is also a big believer in mentality and the idea that a game isn’t lost until the final whistle. And that’s precisely the attitude Darmstadt embodied on Saturday, rewarding themselves with their first point of the new season.

„The mentality is outstanding,“ Kohfeldt emphasised shortly afterward, placing the draw directly in the context of the team’s growing cohesion after the squad overhaul: „You need experiences as a team. Today was the first experience that showed us: Belief helps.“

Content and Behavior: It was a statement that sparked considerable public debate afterward. „We were the better team in terms of content,“ Florian Kohfeldt summarised after the final whistle, referring to aspects that aren’t always the primary focus when evaluating a football match. Darmstadt 98 frequently and skillfully broke free from Kiel’s pressing and, conversely, forced several high ball recoveries, though they lacked the finishing touch. Similarly, Darmstadt’s defence was largely solid; the visitors‘ goals and the clear-cut chance in the second half stemmed from individual errors by the South Hessians (More in „That didn’t go well“).

„Even after going down 2-0, we remained consistent, stable, and focused on our content,“ emphasized the Darmstadt head coach, who also acknowledged that these aspects of a match analysis aren’t always easy for the public to grasp. „It wasn’t a festival of chances,“ said the 43-year-old, who also openly admitted that his team had „difficulties“ „creating attacks in the final third.“ Nevertheless, Darmstadt had more shots on goal, possession was even, while Kiel won more duels. And so we conclude this point with another assessment from Kohfeldt: „Of course, we didn’t play a top match, but considering our current level of development, I was very satisfied with both the content and the team’s conduct.“

The atmosphere: Finally, second-division football is back! Even before kickoff, there was a palpable buzz in the Merck Stadium despite the midsummer temperatures. And the spectators were treated to a great deal of drama right from the start. And they played a major role in Darmstadt’s comeback. „After going down 2-1, there was a special atmosphere in the stadium, and we knew we could still equalise,“ Vukotic revealed later, and Kohfeldt addressed the fans directly at the press conference: „The support today was outstanding. A huge thank you for the fantastic atmosphere.“

The substitutes: Throughout the transfer window so far, those in charge at SV 98 have repeatedly emphasised that they used the summer to create more depth in the squad in various positions. The match against Kiel provided a good first example of this. „We have a very deep squad, and the substitutes today were really good,“ praised Marcel Schuhen, and Kohfeldt explained: „We don’t get any worse if we bring on Hojae, Manolo, and Nico, and can even bring on Ibi at the end.“

The individual errors. It wasn’t at all the case that Kiel were simply playing their way into their goals. In particular, a misplaced pass during the build-up play led to the immediate punishment from the North Germans for the first goal, while for the second, Harres was able to head home completely unmarked after a clever move.

„We practically gifted the goals to the opposition; that shouldn’t happen to us so often,“ Kohfeldt succinctly summarised. Vukotic’s comments on the goals conceded were already noted at the beginning of our analysis. Darmstadt had luck and a strong performance from Marcel Schuhen in the 52nd minute when Bernhardsson missed another opportunity after a glaring error. „If Kiel had made it 3-0 there, the game would have been over,“ Kohfeldt admitted frankly, and he will certainly review these scenes with his team in next week’s analysis.

„We gifted the opponent those goals; that shouldn’t happen so often,“ Kohfeldt succinctly summarised.

Fine-tuning and actions in the final third: „In terms of spacing and our game plan, I thought we were good, but in the final third we overthought things to create chances.“ Florian Kohfeldt wasn’t the only one who had to wait a while on Saturday afternoon before SV 98 created any clear-cut scoring opportunities. While the Lilies had a goal ruled offside in the first half and did manage a few shots on goal, with a bit more precision, better internalised routines, and more advanced coordination, significantly more would have been possible.

„We still lack the ability to convert our chances into fast breaks, the natural instinct to turn at the right moment, to play the through ball, for the little things that we just can’t quite nail yet,“ explained Kohfeldt, adding: „As long as my team is willing to give everything and believe in themselves until the final whistle, I’m incredibly happy to be working on these things with them. This game has given me a tremendous amount of confidence for the season.“