Sydney Lohmann: 'My role in the team is just using my strength because my physique is quite good combined with my dynamism which helps me do something you wouldn't expect on the pitch'
Pressing Questions: #9
Sydney Lohmann is one of the up-and-coming stars of the next generation of an exciting German contingent coming through. A long term injury put her out of contention for over a year but made her come back against Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the quarter-finals to make an impactful cameo appearance injecting a burst of energy. Her performance was a stark reminder to the footballing world of her ability.
She has a bullish style of play when driving through midfield through her central midfield position. A player capable of anticipating rotations and spaces to move into through aggressive channel runs is a hallmark of her game.
The observations and insights made by Lohmann are both fascinating and there’s an excellent tactical sense to her game with a want to improve. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did listening to her.
In your own words, what's your best role and position in the team?
So my favourite position is actually the No. 8. So not like defensive midfield, but more offensive – actually box to box. So I can do both. I like getting the ball and just going forward. I think I'm very dynamic. I like to take the risk also, maybe going on 1 v 1 and then playing the next ball. My role in the team is just using my strength because my physique is quite good combined with my dynamism which helps me do something you wouldn't expect on the pitch.
What is the Bayern Munich system that you're playing in right now and how do you specifically see yourself within that system?
We play 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1. I think it fits quite good because our coach wants to play ball possession, he wants to play offensive and be the dominant team. Even when we don't have the ball we’re more defensive but then he wants to have very fast counter-attacks, and play really fast football. I think that's also good for me because when we're defensive and we get the ball, we go on the offensive right away, he always wants to first pass forward, if possible to the forwards, and to look for a counter-attack.
You have this aggressive role in midfield where you like bursting forward into 1 v 1s and a lot of your build-up play is picking up the ball, maybe in a slightly deeper area turning and then just running through. There's a lot of dribbling and progression in that sense. You are a little bit creative, there are a lot of through passes from just outside the box, or even just before that. I think for me, your role is probably the most important given how much of the team play runs through a midfield and runs through a No. 8 like you.
Having said that, do you think you're more of a No. 8 through your ball progression in terms of dribbling, or are you someone who's more creative through passing?
I think I’m more of a runner because I know I need to improve my passing and to find the right moment or decision-making. Can I dribble now or do I need to pass in this moment? That's something I need to learn, I think that comes with experience too. But sometimes I make the wrong decision because my first sense is to say if there's a player nearby me, that I first want to cross the player and go towards the defensive line of the opponent. I mean, that's most of the time also, right, and the coach wants us to do that, though sometimes there's a player you could play in. I would say I'm more of a dribbler but I want to improve my passing and to find the right moment.
I was analysing your heat map from your last playing season and the final third is where you've got a lot of movement across the pitch horizontally in that area. It's not focused in one area, it almost looks like you're both a winger and a midfielder, but your movement is more of a No. 10.
How do you explain that and your thinking behind such movements? Sometimes I see you driving in from the middle out onto the left, right, or into the channels and pockets.
That's part one of our tactics, our coach wants us to move in the offensive line all the time. So he always wants one to run, make the deep run, and one to go into the area where the ball is. When the ball is on the right side, it's sometimes hard when you just run there and make the area smaller. Like it's not that the ball would be in a better position if they play in there. So I try to figure out how can I move to new spaces that can be made for another player to come in. So for example, I can go and make the long run and then our No. 9 can come or do I hold position and make a late run?
I just try to move to create spaces. That's what also we're training on very often. Our coach never wants us to just stand still or do nothing because he always wants rotation. We try to use the half-space so that our winger comes more inside and we [the midfielders] go into the half-spaces. It's interesting that you analysed that and picked that out.
The way I saw it was that you're obviously a dynamic, attacking central midfielder, but then why is your heat map showing you in areas that a No. 10 would take up. You almost look like you're a No. 10 that's been given a free role, but you're actually playing from a deeper position. To me, that seems to be a fair assessment because you're moving into the half-spaces with a lot of off-the-ball movements and rotations into those channels because then I'm assuming it means, as you said, the No. 9 will drop in for somebody else take up that space.
You're moving players out of position creating that space, not just in terms of being on the ball, but off-the-ball movements too.
So if you take a run in a certain direction, your No. 9 can drop in that space which is created for her then someone else is doing the same thing close by. It's fascinating to hear that.
But that also being said, the heatmap also indicates heavy activity right in the middle of the box. I've noticed that some of your stats and goals from last season were headed goals. One of the data points that stood out from last season is you ranked 26th for the most aerial deals in the league per 90 minutes, which is about 4.9 per 90 minutes.
To me, that looks like you really know how to find space in the box. That's where your activity is and you know how to contest players in that space. Whether it's because of your physicality, you're out-muscling players, but there's also a point to make that you're finding the right spaces with well-timed runs to be able to make the duel. What do you put that down to?
It's actually funny because before last season, I hadn't scored or I think I scored once or twice in the year. My goal was to become more offensive, have at least one or two dangerous shots at goal. It just worked out quite well last season. It's also because I always have the aim if we have a central attack or have the ball on the wing, I want to be in the box.
It comes to my physique again, where I have power and can run a lot. I just tried to, when I'm in the box, try to get across. I talk to the No. 9 and go to attack one of the posts. You just always need to get into the spaces which are the same actually. If we are in those spaces, no matter where the ball comes, at least one of us has the space in the box to attack unmarked.
I know you are your own player, and I think you will eventually be one of the best midfielders in the world. Though if you were to compare your playstyle to another player, who would you be most comparative to?
Leon Goretzka? He's also that box-to-box player who’s really strong, big. He's really good defensively but also offensively – especially last year. I think he showed how good he is and how dangerous he is, not just in the attack.
Another player you remind me of is a little bit of Frank Lampard. He was the master of being able to come into the box late and time his runs, being able to score 15-20 goals a season. I think you've got the ingredients to find the spaces in the box already and your ability to take the ball on your back turn and drive forward.
Frank Lampard is also nice. Okay, it's good. [She laughs]
So do you see yourself playing better in a three-player midfield or a two? Obviously, you play a 4-3-3 at Bayern Munich, but which do you prefer?
I would say three. I think that worked out well for us. Our No. 6, Lina Magull, she's just really good on the ball, she won't lose it. She plays the ball a lot and has excellent passing. Then we have Sarah Zadrazil and me as the No. 8s. Sarah is more defensive, she won back every ball and I was a combination of both. I think that worked out well. You're also so free when you still have two other midfielders around you in doing what you do. You can go attack with two because in a dual pairing, you always have to think, ‘Okay, can I go now? Or is my other midfielder already too far forward?’
Obviously, Bayern are a team that dominates the ball most of the time in a game because you want to play that possession-based game, but let's say you're coming up against some of the top teams in the Champions League. How do you deal with teams that will look to overload you in midfield? Both from an attacking and defensive situation – especially teams that can match you in midfield in terms of player quality?
I think that we showed last season and even in the last Champions League game against Lyon, that we have a lot of potential but we have to improve a lot to some degree. In our first game against Lyon, you could see that was hard for us because it was Lyon, they were pressing high and were really good. We were a bit surprised, we haven’t been at that top level for years where everyone is experienced with that type of situation. But, on the other hand, in the second game, you could see what we were capable of if we are on that level. I think we need that confidence that we can play because we have the technique and passing ability but we still have to improve on that. Sometimes I think we are too hectic, and we resort to long balls under pressure from several players.
But we're able to play and we need that confidence and that's a process that still needs time. We have the players and the ability in midfield, wingers, and defence.
I'm going to show you two clips of you in game situations. I just want to know what you were thinking in those situations: what's the idea behind the decision-making?
You pick up the ball here and just turn and run. You found this amazing through ball that just got cut out. You often find yourself in situations like this, so when you're about to receive the ball in these areas, what are you thinking in these moments?
I remember that moment really well. I drove through the middle but started off slightly on the left side. I looked over my right shoulder, saw that the player was coming and I tried to pretend that I'm opening my body up. I knew she would believe that I'm opening up to the right side. I just wanted to make that touch with the inside of my right foot to the left side. I spotted Svenny (Svenja Huth) pointing in the space. I already thought in the final moment that the pass would possibly be too far to the left, but I thought it might just go through.
You're playing against Ajax. You're there in the space picking up possession and turning where you play this incredible backheel pass. When you're moving into the space, and you talked about this earlier when you said that you move into spaces to pull opposition players out of position, you make this sudden movement, this player wearing 3 for Ajax pulls away. When you're able to do this, you create the space in behind. So is this a similar sort of thinking when you were in this situation?
Yeah, for sure, you can see that in the first movement, Lea [Schüller] our No. 9, when she drops, I realise I need to make a deep run. At this moment, I just saw the space created, moved to the right, and the pass was intuitive. It’s about moving into the right spaces and timing my forward runs to take advantage of these sorts of rotations.
Photo by Mark Wieland/Getty Images
Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images