SV Darmstadt 4 - 0 FC St. Pauli
Jos Luhukay's tactics questioned as St. Pauli suffer heavy loss at Darmstadt
St. Pauli suffered their first defeat since return to 2. Bundesliga action. The hosts ran away with a 4-0 win against the boys in brown. Darmstadt strolled into the break 1-0 up, with a very competitive first 45 minutes showcasing both teams as fairly equal. A Rico Benatelli mistake allowed Mathias Honsak to put his team in front within 7 minutes. It was a very end-to-end first half with both teams sharing chances to lead, but St. Pauli failing to crawl back into the game. The second half was not as competitive as 'Die Lilien' took advantage of a their sloppy guests by adding 3 goals well into the final 45 minutes. Yannick Stark, Marvin Mehlem and Victor Palsson all scoring. Finally, a 90th minute penalty wasn't converted by substitute Dimitrios Diamantakos, who put wide of the goal, leaving St. Pauli leaving the Merck Stadion without converting any of their 13 chances.
St. Pauli started with the out-of-form striker Borys Tashchy, selected by Luhukay. A surprise to many as the Ukrainian striker was yet to score for St. Pauli and regularly features only as a substitute in later stages of games. Another unusual aspect of the game was Luhukay's block substitution of 4, which concerned many fans due to the drastic change to the squad, which clearly didn't pay off. Despite Luhukay's bizarre decision-making, I took a look at the individual performance of the team and where it all went wrong for St. Pauli...
Goalkeeper - Robin Himmelmann #30 (7.3 RATING OUT OF 10)
Himmelmann had a good game despite the scoreline. A handful of critical saves kept St. Pauli in the game long before the goals came flooding in. His distribution was decent with a greasy playing surface making the job a lot harder. The 4th Darmstadt goal came off the underside of the bar and ricocheted off Himmelmann's wrist, a poor twist of misfortune to a relatively decent performance.
Left-Back - Daniel Buballa #15 (5.9 RATING OUT OF 10)
The long-term full-back struggled in this fixture. A decent first half was thrown away when sloppy passing and rash challenges became more frequent in the desperate stages of the game. He defended well, but frustration got the better of the 30-year-old and was consequently substituted with 60 minutes on the clock.
Centre-Back - James Lawrence #21 (6.7 RATING OUT OF 10)
Generally speaking the Welsh international had a good game. Alongside the young Leo Ostigard he stood strong and passed very well. Once again, there wasn't much personal blame with the 4 goals which Darmstadt scored, Lawrence for the majority of the time controlled the back-line. He was one of the better passers on the team, but mainly sharing possession with Ostigard who stood to his right. Some very important blocks and won a decent amount of his duels.
Centre-Back - Leo Ostigard #3 (6.9 RATING OUT OF 10)
The talented centre-back dominated for the most of the game. Again, the 4 goals put past him might suggest differently, but similarly to Lawrence wasn't directly to blame for either of the hosts fortunes. Ostigard suffered the same fate as the rest of the team in the final 45 minutes, but was definitely one of the more composed St. Pauli players on the pitch, passing well and being dominant in the air. An overwhelmed midfield more to blame than the two centre-backs who fought as well as they could.
Right-Back - Sebastian Ohlsson #43 (6.2 RATING OUT OF 10)
Ohlsson was another player who struggled to make a mark in this tough game. At right-back the Swedish full-back never had the opportunity to really push forward or involve himself when needed. The 26-year-old didn't have a bad game, but never really identified any highlights to suggest he required more than the rating I had given.
Left-Midfield - Viktor Gyokeres #9 (7.1 RATING OUT OF 10)
One of the most threatening players on the team sheet was the Swedish youngster. A constant threat on the left-side, capable of cutting-in and unleashing on his right foot. He tested Darmstadt's goalkeeper with a strike similar to last week's goal at Nurnberg, but this time a stronger hand prevented him from levelling St. Pauli when the score was 1-0. Gyokeres was replaced with 30 minutes to go despite being one of the better players in white.
Centre-Midfield (HOLDING?) - Rico Benatelli #26 (5.9 RATING OUT OF 10)
The first goal was conceded following a mistake made by Benatelli. A sloppy pass allowed the hosts to go a goal up before 10 minutes had passed. The 28-year-old struggled to keep-up with play through the centre and the odd pass went astray, allowing Darmstadt to build in confidence. He did pass well and contributed by making a couple of interceptions, but didn't keep pace with the aggression and dynamism of the opposition. The midfielder was replaced with 30 minutes to go. An underwhelming game for a player who needed to step-up in such a fixture.
Centre-Midfield (LEFT?) - Marvin Knoll #5 (7.2 RATING OUT OF 10)
Knoll, similar to Benatelli struggled to really make a mark on the pitch. Usually he is the heavy-hitting warrior in the centre of the pitch, but against Darmstadt he looked out-of-place and not the player we are used to seeing. Statistically he was one of the best passers on the pitch, completing 37 of 38 attempts. It wasn't a bad game for the St. Pauli favourite, but there wasn't his usual fight and dominance we'd usually expect. A strong Darmstadt midfield forcing Knoll to work overtime.
Centre-Midfield (RIGHT?) - Waldemar Sobota #27 (6.6 RATING OUT OF 10)
The winger-turned-centre-midfielder offered a fairly well-rounded match, with a wide collection of attacking offerings. The Polish international lost the ball 19 times, which significantly lowered his overall rating. He looked like a well-rounded attacking midfielder, but losing possession that amount will tire your team, building frustration and lack confidence within. Again, the hosts just outnumbered in the centre of the pitch.
Right-Midfield - Ryo Miyaichi #13 (6.6 RATING OUT OF 10)
The nippy winger played all 90 minutes in Darmstadt and featured out on the right side. He played his usual game in trying to slip in behind their back-line, but a well-oiled defence prevented the Japanese forward from prevailing the majority of the time. Any chances he had were often cleared or not good enough to make decent contact with. Similar to Sobota, Miyaichi lost the ball 16 times, another disconcertingly large figure.
Centre-Forward - Borys Tashchy #24 (5.6 RATING OUT OF 10)
It may be now 'trendy' at this point to criticise the centre-forward's performance, but the choice to involve him as the starting striker is really on Luhukay. The Ukrainian struggled to identify himself and prove he is more than a rusty substitute. He hadn't had the confidence coming into this match, so it was heavily questioned with him being relied on for scoring. Tashschy looked startled and had too much to prove. St. Pauli fans weren't convinced of him before this game and I think Luhukay has done more damage than good for everyone in this situation. Not a lot to say on the situation or the performance.
All-in-all the scoreline isn't a true representation of the match itself. The individuals above didn't play as poorly as the 4-0 would suggest. A very impressive Darmstadt team dominated a one-sided second-half where St. Pauli equalled the hosts in the first 45 minutes, bar the goal advantage. The middle of the pitch was ruled by players in blue for the last third of the game. Luhukay's changing of 4 players with some time to go completely took St. Pauli out of the game as the disruption to the squad allowed Darmstadt to exploit. The woeful second-half was enough to bury a heavily bruised St. Pauli side.
All-in-all the scoreline isn't a true representation of the match itself. The individuals above didn't play as poorly as the 4-0 would suggest. A very impressive Darmstadt team dominated a one-sided second-half where St. Pauli equalled the hosts in the first 45 minutes, bar the goal advantage. The middle of the pitch was ruled by players in blue for the last third of the game. Luhukay's changing of 4 players with some time to go completely took St. Pauli out of the game as the disruption to the squad allowed Darmstadt to exploit. The woeful second-half was enough to bury a heavily bruised St. Pauli side.
