Analysis: Freiburg's Darida

Vladimir Darida must be the kind of player that a coach dreams of having. He can pretty much play anywhere on the pitch - right, left, middle, back, front, and here, there-and-everywhere.

But paradoxically, this fantastic skill of positional flexibility is maybe a small hindrance to the midfielder and to the team. Without Darida piercing tight defenses, or endlessly shuffling from space-to-space in the hunt for a pocket to penetrate the opposition, Freiburg lack something important.

It was even more compounded by the injury to last season's top scorer at the club, Admir Mehmedi.

Although, Freiburg scored twice in their score-draw with Hertha Berlin, the Black Forest club were fairly tame at the top of their attack. Inspired by 19-year-old Marc-Oliver Kempf, defensively, there was an assurance about their play - but not in attack.

The sufficient quality was sorely lacking between Karim Guede and Maximilian Philipp. Only from the direct Felix Klaus and Jonathan Schmid did Freiburg look to breakdown Hertha's backline.

But Darida was one player on the pitch who could, arguably, have been more effectively used. He's already managed seven assists in his time in Germany, scoring a further three for his current employers.

Milestone move

After helping Viktoria Plzen to the Czech league championship, and through the treacherous Champions League qualifiers, Darida became Freiburg's record purchase at 4 million euros.

It's not common for Freiburg to even consider going to the bank to invest in a new player of that standard, so there would have been meticulous research and scouting gone in to make sure Darida was the right man.

"With the signing of Vladimir Darida, a very flexible footballer comes to us. His game with club and country has been designed across several positions," said Freiburg's ex-sporting director Klemens Hartenbach. "Darida is a prolific, energetic and strong player with a good tactical knowledge."

And what a decision that has been. The 24-year-old will be quick to double or treble the outlay on him in the coming months, if his performances continue to invigorate the Freiburg team.

The complete player

You would struggle to find weaknesses in Darida's game. Even when stationed in the heart of midfield with the experienced Julian Schuster, the Czech international was heavily involved. He ran the most of any player on the pitch (12,12 kilometers), while making 19 sprints and 75 fast runs, which are so imperative to an intensive pressing system of any variation.

More impressively, Darida's data didn't twitch when faced with fatigue towards the end of the match - he completed 80 percent of his passes in midfield, making the second-last pass in the second goal in the 79th minute, while even successfully winning 55 percent of his tackles. That, for a player who is largely a creator, not a destroyer.

Last week in the match against Dortmund, Darida sprung up as one or two advanced forwards for Freiburg. When Dortmund clicked into gear after a cagey first 20 minutes, Freiburg's creative outlets were stifled, as the home side ran out 3-1 winners.

But Darida quietly went about his business with industry, a keenness to get on the ball and the sharpness to be a smashing link-up player in the center. Even whilst coming off with 10 minutes left, he still managed to run 11,38km.

If he isn't creating, he's pressing - and that skill needs to be used as best as possible. Streich's deployment of Darida - especially when Mehmedi is missing - looks to be really key to Freiburg finding the team's true balance this season.