Third division side Rot-Weiss Essen have not been playing consistently enough this season. One problem is their vulnerability on the defensive flanks.

Once again, Rot-Weiss Essen had to make the long journey home empty-handed. RWE suffered an avoidable 1-2 defeat at Erzgebirge Aue. Aue had previously gone three home games without a win and did not look particularly strong against Essen either. The home side benefited from the fact that RWE made too many defensive mistakes and were unable to convert the chances they had in the second half. Overall, it was not a game of a good standard for the third division.

Once again, this game made it clear that the Red & Whites are extremely vulnerable on the flanks. By way of context, a total of 15 of the 25 goals conceded were scored via the flanks (60 percent). In the last five games, RWE has conceded eight goals in this way, which is clearly too many. In the 3:3 in Dresden, all goals were scored via the flanks. Twice a cross could not be prevented, and in the 2:2, Jonas Sterner was able to dribble almost from the sidelines into the middle and shoot while free.

Aue also showed that the defensive wing positions are a clear weak point. When Pascal Fallmann scored the 0-1, Eric Voufack was unable to prevent the decisive cross, and Lucas Brumme was only able to watch as the second goal was scored.

Brumme and Julian Eitschberger are much more comfortable in a forward role, and the same applies to their deputies Voufack and Nils Kaiser (currently injured), whose defensive weaknesses are even more pronounced. The distance between the defenders and the opposing offense is just too great, which means that it is rarely possible to decisively block crosses or shots on goal – regardless of whether the back four or a back five is playing.

Dabrowski has to make changes again against Sandhausen, Brumme is out

It is already clear that head coach Christoph Dabrowski will have to make a change on at least one of the flanks for the upcoming home game against league leaders SV Sandhausen (November 23, 2:00 p.m.). Left back Brumme, who at least provided a lot of impetus in the offensive in Aue, is out due to his second yellow card. Eitschberger, on the other hand, is returning from his red card suspension.