The 5 pillars of the first half of the season

Sixteen months after taking office, Kohfeldt can say that this culture has „completely changed“ within his team. SV 98 enters every match with the conviction that they can win. For many, this statement might sound self-evident, as it’s almost assumed that professional athletes are confident of their own success in every competition. However, especially within a football team, several factors must align for the players to feel this kind of self-confidence and take to the field with more poise. A look at the Lilies‘ first half of the season clearly illustrates what ingredients are needed.

„Targeted, dominant possession-based football, always looking for fast breaks.“ Florian Kohfeldt likes to describe his fundamental playing philosophy with these words. Many elements of this were already clearly visible in Darmstadt’s play last season; the team from southern Hesse celebrated some exhilarating footballing festivals, but conversely, they also struggled in many matches, for example, when playing against deep-lying opponents. And so, from the very first day of pre-season training, Kohfeldt and his coaching staff began implementing many more elements of this philosophy in Darmstadt.

The team can switch between a back four and a back three without needing to, a tactic they frequently employ even during a match. Within these systems, there’s also a high degree of flexibility; for example, the role of the holding midfielders in their own build-up play is constantly changing. Kai Klefisch was recently deployed as part of the back three to push forward from the defensive line into midfield. Fundamentally, Darmstadt remains a team that likes to dominate possession-based football, even leading the way in possession statistics away from home in Hannover and Elversberg. However, the team is also willing to drop deeper and launch counter-attacks from this defensive block. This is a tactic Darmstadt uses repeatedly during certain phases of a match, but also serves as their general approach, as seen in the games against Münster and Paderborn. It speaks well of the team that the players, who themselves like to have the ball at their feet, fully commit themselves to this match plan, even though it does not correspond to the “nature of this team” (Marcel Schuhen).

It is this versatility that makes SV 98 so difficult for many opponents to figure out. And it gives the Lilies the feeling that they can find the right plan for every opponent each weekend, without losing sight of their own strengths. Belief in their own quality always comes first, followed by game-specific adjustments that result week after week from the coaching staff’s intensive opponent analysis. „The coaching team prepares us perfectly for every opponent,“ Marco Richter recently explained, emphasising with regard to the different approaches: „We receive a lot of analysis and support. That’s a huge plus: everyone is pulling in the same direction.“

In general, the South Hessians played as a team throughout the first half of the season, typically employing a high press, disrupting their build-up play early, and possessing a good mix of extended periods of possession and quick attacks in behind. Yet, they repeatedly managed to surprise their opponents with slight adjustments to this fundamental game plan. This might involve subtle changes in their pressing (for example, in Elversberg) or the aforementioned deep-lying defensive block. Flexibility as a sign of strength. And thus, an important point on their list of strengths in the first half of the season.

Injuries were a major issue during the preseason and especially the second half of the season. Darmstadt’s matchday squad practically picked itself; often, coach Kohfeldt couldn’t even field 20 fit players. While not all injuries are preventable, player availability was a crucial factor, and Darmstadt invested considerable time and effort in addressing it. Improvements were made in the performance, athletic, and physiotherapy departments, and SV 98 now consolidates all information in an Athlete Management System to better connect the various departments and work more effectively with and for each individual player. Although Darmstadt had to do without key players (e.g., Klefisch, Nürnberger, Hornby) on several occasions during the first half of the season, the length of absences remained manageable. Currently, the team boasts an impressive 90 percent player availability on matchdays. Particularly pleasing in this context are the comebacks of Fabian Holland, Matthias Bader, and Paul Will, all three of whom have long since returned to the squad after their cruciate ligament injuries and are further intensifying the competition within the team. As things stand, all players should be able to fully participate in preseason training at the beginning of January. This situation automatically ensures healthy competition in every training session and is giving Kohfeldt himself his „favourite headache.“

Fortress Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor! „If you want to be a good team, it’s important to have a fortress at home. It’s hard to beat us here.“ Kai Klefisch summed up what’s easily seen in the home table so far this season after the last home game of the year against Münster. With 21 points, Darmstadt 98 sits atop this ranking, remaining undefeated at home in nine matches.

Darmstadt 98 has had the opportunity to showcase its skills to a large crowd on three home matchdays this season, playing in prime time on Saturday evenings at 8:30pm. They collected a solid seven points in the matches against Bielefeld, Fürth, and Karlsruher SC. This home strength is another key reason why the team can take to the pitch with so much confidence.

There’s always a fine line between self-confidence and arrogance. A winning streak often leads to complacency creeping in, or things that have to be worked hard for week after week become taken for granted. During these phases, it helps to remain humble. A good example of this is Kohfeldt’s comments after the comeback victory against Greuther Fürth, which was achieved in particular through a strong final half-hour: „We must never get to the point where we take this kind of football for granted. Those 30 minutes were exceptional.“ Darmstadt displayed similarly strong phases against Bochum, in Düsseldorf, in the cup match against Schalke 04, and against Karlsruhe. However, this doesn’t mean they’re complacent. In a league where many teams are at a similar level, a brief lapse in performance is enough to immediately bring an opponent back into the game. Darmstadt experienced this recently in Paderborn, and the away game in Kiel unfolded in a similar fashion. Despite the ultimately successful outcome, the matches against Bochum, Braunschweig, and Karlsruher SC also highlighted for SV Darmstadt 98 that mistakes at this level are quickly punished. It is all the more remarkable, then, that Darmstadt has managed to keep the number of these avoidable errors relatively low so far this season. This is also because the players approach each week with the aforementioned humility and the necessary respect for the next challenge. That this is unlikely to change is demonstrated by a forward-looking statement from Fraser Hornby, which the attacking player made in an interview with HR: „We have to stay focused. Because last year we didn’t get off to a good start in the second half of the season. That should serve as a warning to us.“

Darmstadt knows that nothing comes easy in this league. Especially not for a club like SV 98, which ranks 12th in the league’s market value table on transfermarkt.de and, despite extremely high stadium attendance, is also in the bottom third of the attendance rankings. Therefore, everyone at Darmstadt would be well advised to stick to their current approach and to always remember that third place in the table after 17 matchdays represents „an outstanding first half of the season,“ as Kohfeldt summarised after the game in Paderborn.

„The team has conviction. They don’t let situations shock or set them back.“ This observation, shared by sporting director Paul Fernie regarding Darmstadt, is also supported by statistics. So far this season, SV 98 has earned the most points after falling behind, with 12 points. This statistic is all the more remarkable given that Darmstadt has only had to come from behind six times in the first half of the season. Only Elversberg and Hertha Berlin have found themselves trailing less often. Only the defeats against Schalke and the Betzenberg resulted in losses for Darmstadt; they are the team with the fewest losses so far this season.

Last season, coach Kohfeldt repeatedly felt his team lacked the instinct for the right moments in a match. Minor setbacks (goals conceded, injuries) sometimes derailed the team, while conversely, Darmstadt regularly failed to seize opportunities. This season, things are different. The away win in Nürnberg on the second matchday, secured with a stoppage-time goal, already indicated that SV 98 had learned from last year. Despite the goalless draw until the 94th minute, Darmstadt remained patient, never lost their composure, and seized the moment for the decisive blow. While Darmstadt occasionally appeared reckless last season, they have consistently displayed a certain calmness in their 17 matches so far. The matches against Braunschweig, Hannover, Fürth, and Karlsruhe were turned into victories, and conversely, the team has shown defensive stability in the majority of games, knowing that a single moment of brilliance can be enough to secure a win. Their consistent defending is also a sign of mental fortitude; matches like the one against Münster (62 percent possession for the visitors) demand high concentration for the full 90 minutes. At the end of the first half of the season, Darmstadt boasts the third-best offence and the fourth-best defence, with a goal difference of 29:17. Last year at this stage, SV 98 had already scored 36 goals but also conceded 29.

Kohfeldt repeatedly emphasises the importance of avoiding extremes. This season, Darmstadt have found a significantly better balance, thanks in particular to their much-improved handling of the different phases of a match. „This won’t throw us off course“ is a mantra firmly ingrained in the team’s mindset, and thus another crucial ingredient.

However, it’s also clear that there are still many areas for improvement at Darmstadt 98. In some matches, the Lilies squandered numerous opportunities and missed the chance to seal early victories. Specifically in Kiel and Paderborn, the team from southern Hesse lost some control of the game after halftime and played considerably more passively than planned. The bottom line is that 33 points after 17 matchdays is a very good interim result. Furthermore, the points mentioned above demonstrate that development has taken place in many areas, but it’s not yet complete. Therefore, the motto for the coming period is: gather strength, remain humble, nothing will be given to you in this league, even in the second half of the season.