Union Berlin head coach Mauro Lustrinelli acknowledged that his side’s continued defensive problems extend well beyond one system or one centre-back partnership after Friday evening’s 1-3 home defeat against Schalke 04. The result leaves Union with one point from their opening three Bundesliga fixtures and, considerably more concerningly, ten goals conceded.
Lustrinelli’s side opened the campaign with a chaotic 3-3 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt before suffering a comprehensive 4-0 away defeat at Bayer Leverkusen last weekend. Schalke then became the third consecutive opponent to exploit a defensive unit still attempting to adjust to significant tactical and personnel changes.
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“It’s a lot of small things,” Lustrinelli told Sky Germany when asked about the ten goals conceded. “We’re too undisciplined. We’re not keeping up with the opponent. And the opponent profits. They exploit it. And we need too many chances to score goals. The two things are decisive over the course of 90 minutes.”
The warning signs predate the Bundesliga campaign.
GGFN highlighted Union’s defensive instability throughout preseason, with Lustrinelli experimenting with multiple formations while attempting to move the club away from the three-centre-back structures that had defined the era of Urs Fischer and his successors.
Danilho Doekhi and Diogo Leite departed on free transfers during the summer, taking two established members of Union’s previous defensive core with them. Zeno Van Den Bosch, Marvin Friedrich and Felix Uduokhai subsequently arrived as replacements.
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Three league matches later, Lustrinelli has already used all three possible pairings involving Van Den Bosch, Leopold Querfeld and Uduokhai.
None has yet provided the necessary stability.
Frankfurt exposed individual mistakes
The problems initially appeared manageable. Union’s Matchday One meeting with Frankfurt featured plenty of encouraging attacking football and an impressive late comeback. Emmanuel Latte Lath scored four minutes into his Bundesliga debut before Querfeld and Tim Skarke eventually rescued a point from a 3-1 deficit. GGFN documented the new Union trainer describing the mistakes as part of his side’s defensive “growing pains”.
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“It’s not as if we’re allowing ten chances through on goal,” Lustrinelli said after the Frankfurt draw. “Eintracht scored three goals off of four [quality] chances. We’re also playing with a back four. Union is accustomed to playing with a back five for a very long time. It’s a process. We’re aware of it, of course.”
At that stage, the problems could still reasonably be viewed as isolated errors within a developing defensive structure. The following weekend made that interpretation harder to sustain.
Leverkusen exposed the structure
Union’s 4-0 defeat at the BayArena was considerably less forgiving. Lustrinelli changed his centre-back partnership, introducing Uduokhai alongside Van Den Bosch after Querfeld’s uneven opening-day performance. The result barely altered the underlying problem.
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Leverkusen scored after only 44 seconds, the earliest Bundesliga goal Union have ever conceded. Union survived until the 28th minute before another familiar weakness surfaced. Patrik Schick initially struck the crossbar before Facundo Medina headed home from Miguel GutiĆ©rrez’s delivery following the resulting corner.
The second half then began almost exactly as badly as the first. Only three minutes after the restart, Jarell Quansah supplied a low ball into the penalty area and Schick converted the 3-0. Ibrahim Maza later completed the 4-0 rout.
Union finished the match without registering a shot on target and produced an xG value of only 0.15, but the attacking shortcomings told only half the story. The defensive sequence was deeply troubling: immediate concession at the beginning of the match, failure to defend a delivery into the area, then another goal almost immediately after halftime.
Those problems returned against Schalke.
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Schalke punish both Union Berlin weaknesses
Lustrinelli changed the pairing for a third consecutive Bundesliga fixture on Friday. Querfeld returned alongside Uduokhai. Once again, Union were punished from a wide delivery.
Soufiane El-Faouzi escaped down Schalke’s right in the 25th minute before lifting the ball into the penalty area. Querfeld’s attempted clearance fell directly toward former Union player Robin Gosens, who had already positioned himself at the far post.
From Union’s perspective, however, the goal fitted an increasingly uncomfortable pattern.
“We’ve been conceding too many chances, especially from crosses, ever since preseason,” Lustrinelli noted at the post-match press conference. “That’s a particular shame as we were close to scoring an equalizer [in second-half added time], but it didn’t happen.”
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The second Schalke goal presented another recurring problem.
Just as Schick had scored three minutes after halftime in Leverkusen, Adil Aouchiche struck within seconds of the restart on Friday. For the second consecutive Bundesliga match, Union had emerged from halftime only to concede almost immediately.
“I really don’t have an explanation,” Lustrinelli admitted when asked about the recurrence. “During the break, I had a really good feeling. The team is very focused. At the moment, it’s simply happening so quickly that a player is losing his marker and then we concede the goal.
“But I really don’t have an explanation for that because I really didn’t sense any sort of signal at halftime,” Lustrinelli continued. “Quite the contrary. The team was focused. At the moment, we’re just one step behind in such instances. That’s just the state of things at this point.”
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Khedira refuses to blame the back four
Rani Khedira was even less interested in attributing the problems to Union’s tactical transition.
The veteran midfielder acknowledged that moving away from a back five can naturally produce additional spaces, but rejected the idea that formation provides an adequate explanation for what is happening.
“One can fall back on that, but I don’t want to,” Khedira said when asked about Union’s transition to a back four in his Sky Germany interview. “Every Bundesliga player must be prepared to play in a back four. That can’t be an alibi. We have to play according to our principles. When one doesn’t defend consistently and doesn’t win the second balls, it can get difficult in the Bundesliga.”
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Khedira reiterated the point after reviewing Schalke’s second goal with the Sky team.
“Yes, we can talk about the extra spaces brought on by our transition from a back five to a back four,” he said. “But that’s just, for me, too easy [of an excuse]. It comes back to the principles. It’s immaterial if it’s a back five or a back four. One has to push through, support one’s teammates and secure [the line] in football.”
Lustrinelli himself therefore appears reluctant to reduce the matter to personnel.
“We’re working intensively on this issue,” the Union coach said. “All three [centre-back pairings that I’ve chosen] have the potential to play at a high level. With Leo [Querfeld], he helps us out with his presence and also on aerial duels. With Felix [Uduokhai], we have a left-footer. That improves our balance with a right-footer and a left-footer. That’s why I decided on them.”
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Union still showing signs of life
The defensive numbers nevertheless risk obscuring one important point. Union did not collapse completely against Schalke. Lustrinelli’s side improved significantly after halftime despite Aouchiche’s immediate goal.
Tom Rothe struck the crossbar, Loris Karius was forced into several important saves and substitute Skarke eventually reduced the deficit in stoppage time. Union nearly equalized moments later before Karius denied Skarke from close range. Schalke then countered to make it 3-1 through Maximilian Wƶber in the 13th minute of added time.
“I think we played good football in the second half,” Lustrinelli said. “This despite the long break brought on by the referee’s injury. We were in a good flow. We were still able to remain in the game after the long break.”
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Therein lies the frustration.
Union have already demonstrated considerable resilience this season. They recovered from 3-1 down to draw with Frankfurt and nearly dragged themselves back into Friday’s match despite trailing Schalke 2-0.
The issue is increasingly less about whether Union possess enough individual quality. Ten goals conceded in three matches point instead toward a team that has yet to synchronize its defensive work.
The mistakes have changed.
The consequences have not.
GGFN | Peter Weis
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