Cedric Itten in Germany: Rangers' loan star's lonely furrow, the Greuther Furth paradox and his set-piece threat

Even accounting for simple numeracy – Rangers added Fashion Sakala to the forward ranks in the summer – Itten offered a different dimension to the side with his aerial ability. The hope was that his impressive form in pre-season would be a sign of things to come after a debut season at Ibrox where he struggled for regular game time.

On the face of it, a loan move to Greuther Furth was a head-scratcher. A newly-promoted side to the Bundesliga, the style and expectations of the club couldn’t be further from the environment at Rangers. But how has he fared in his time in Germany?

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Team overview

At present, Greuther Furth languish at the foot of the Bundesliga table, having accrued just a single point so far this season. However, they have vastly underperformed their xPoints, which sees them at 12.8 this season and level with Bayer Leverkusen – who sit inside the top six.

As an example, Greuther Furth created an xG total of 3.06 against Eintracht Frankurt in their fixture prior to the international break, conceding an xG of just 0.89 going in the opposite direction. However, they lost the fixture 2-1 in the end – a game in which Itten found the net – which hinted at a lack of a clinical edge in attack.

Generally, Furth don’t attack with great gusto, taking the fourth-fewest shots at goal per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga this season with a high percentage of those coming from outside of the penalty area. They also average the second-fewest touches in the penalty area per game with just 12.16.

Lack of support

What this has typically led to is Itten cutting a frustrated figure in his time on the pitch, with Furth failing to create situations that play to his strengths.

In the example below, it is striking the number of players Greuther Furth have deep inside their own half defending.

When the ball breaks to the right full-back, he launches a direct ball up to Itten. However, the Swiss is completely isolated and outnumbered by opposition defenders, meaning the attack quickly breaks down with no support in the vicinity.

Itten has played the majority of his minutes as the centre forward in a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1, flanked by two wingers who are typically tasked with tracking their opposite number deep into their own half when defending.

This means the Swiss is often ploughing a lonely furrow, tasked with holding the ball up despite having never exhibited considerable upper body strength in his time at Rangers.

Itten also finds himself isolated when Greuther Furth do break into promising positions, with runners from midfield at a premium to ask questions of the opposition’s backline.

From the example below, the Furth winger picks up the ball in space with Itten beginning his movement in the penalty area.

However, there is no enthusiasm from the midfield runners of Greuther Furth to break into the penalty area in order to occupy the right central defender of the opposition. This limits the space in which Itten can move into, meaning he cannot generate sufficient power on his header when the ball arrives as his momentum is going backwards.

This is also illustrated in Itten’s penalty box touch map from his side’s recent defeat to Freiburg.

Additionally, this is compounded by the lack of quality service from his teammates. In the example below, Greuther Furth have worked a promising crossing opportunity with Itten moving into space in the penalty box between two centre-backs.

However, the quality of the cross is poor, forcing Itten to halt his stride to check back to react to a low, driven ball.

Off-balance, he cannot make a great connection with the ball and the chance is subsequently gone.

Set-piece threat

However, there have been promising moments during his time in Germany. Chiefly, the Swiss has exhibited his threat from corners.

In Greuther Furth’s 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt prior to the international break, Itten showed his prowess in the penalty area from a corner to equalise.

As the corner is delivered, the Swiss (circled) hangs back at the far post as Furth crowd the near post area.

Frankfurt win the first contact, but the ball only flicks off the defender’s head. At the same time, Itten anticipates the flight of the ball, beginning his movement off the defender to the vacant space behind the crowd.

With the goal gaping, he uses his chest to divert the ball into the net.

It is a goal that contains many parallels to his header against Motherwell in the 3-1 win at Ibrox last December. Identifying the space at the far post, he is on hand to head home after Connor Goldson wins the initial flick on at the near post.

The paradox for Itten, however, is that because Greuther Furth average so few touches in the penalty box, as mentioned above, there are fewer opportunities to win corners. In fact, Furth average just 3.49 corners per game, which is the second-lowest figure in the Bundesliga this season.

Less lone forward, more front two

Elsewhere, Itten has also shown positive signs in the fleeting appearances in which he’s played as part of a front two.

In the 2-1 defeat to Hertha Berlin in September, the Swiss forward played alongside Branimir Hrgota in a 4-2-2-2, producing one of his most active performances of the season.

Itten attempted 14 passes and completed 12 of them, which is his highest figure of the season relative to the minutes he played on the pitch. Crucially, however, he posted an xG total of 0.44, his second-highest total in a game since arriving in Germany.

The example below shows how Itten improves when supported by another centre forward.

As the ball is launched in his direction, the Swiss (circled) is able to win his aerial duel.

However, in contrast to the example earlier in the piece, Itten has support in close vicinity, allowing him to release his strike partner close to goal with a first-time flick-on.

Summary

Having been brought to the club last summer by Steven Gerrard, it leaves Itten in a slightly awkward position as he eyes a return to Rangers in the summer.

The destination of his loan spell made very little sense at the time, and the evidence from his early days at Greuther Furth confirm those fears, with Itten largely playing as a lone forward while lacking the service he requires.

Although he’s shown promising signs in a front two, it is nothing which wasn’t evident during his days at St. Gallen, and the hope is that he can string a promising run of form together infront of goal in the Bundesliga to give the Rangers coaching staff a decision to make in the summer.