Seventh, fourth, seventh, and now tenth. After finishing second (and losing more than one third of their games on the way) in 2016/17, Austria Vienna are in what you may describe as a permanent crisis. They are definitely performing below expectations, given that they are the last club to win the league not named Red Bull Salzburg and also the record champion since the competition was installed in its current format in the 1970s.
The club, formerly known for technical and offensive football, is struggling especially at the high end of the pitch. During the current season, they have scored only one goal per game, down from 1.5 during last year's regular season and on par with the worst team of the league. Their last win (and only second in total) dates back to early October. This happens in spite of reinstalling their messiah, Peter Stöger, the last one who coached them to champions honours, as head coach this summer.
The difficulty is that their performances are just that. Although they can argue that they have been a bit unlucky (only nine goals from 15 xG), there are only three teams in the league that created even less. They are playing like a below average team and deserve the position they occupy in the table.
The shot zones map underlines their weaknesses. They create less expected goals than an average team does from any area in the box and just outside of it. Their chance creation in the zone around the penalty spot is especially poor. This is not the map of a team that competes for European competitions or even more, but rather one that needs to make sure they don't finish in a lower league the following year.
The question is if there is at least anything positive about their offensive performances this year. A strength they could rely on to score more goals during the remainder of this season. By crunching the numbers concerning their expected goals and comparing them to the other teams of the league, we can detect any possible strengths.
Unfortunately, they are not leading the league in any category, and only in one they are among the top third of teams. They are below average both before (8th best team of the league) and after the break (10th). They are somehow better after crosses (7th) than after non-crosses (10th) as well as after set-pieces (6th) than from open play (9th), but nothing to be too optimistic about.
The only category in which they somehow excel is xG after long passes, in which they are the fourth best team by now. To put this into context, they also try it quite often the direct way, playing long balls both absolutely (955 times so far) as relatively (23% of their passes are long) the second-most frequently of all clubs. Plus, this kind of football might not be the one preferred by their supporters and is also not the best one suited to some of their more gifted players such as Grünwald, Fitz or Sakaria.
The most baffling fact, however, is that they are still to create a single shot from a through ball this season. Through balls are in general a very effective way to generate high quality chances, hence the team lacking this quality shows the poor season they are having. Only fellow relegation contenders Hartberg and Altach have also failed to create something from through balls this season.
The issue is as much personal as it is structural. Last season's most dangerous players are by and large also this season's, but in general most of them on a lower level. There are some promising youngsters such as Aleksandar Jukic (20) and Patrick Wimmer (19), but they still rely too much on some players beyond their peak (Grünwald, Klein last season, Suttner this year) in terms of chance creation.
Plus, one of their most exciting younger players has hardly featured this year. Dominik Fitz has played less than 200 minutes this season, missing many games due to injury and suspension. He was easily their most creative player last season, setting up 7.5 expected goals for his teammates. On the way, he created more than two expected goals from through balls last season (no other more than one), was their best assister for shots both from crosses and non-crosses, and also both from open play and after set-pieces.
He did additionally also create danger from his own shots, being their second most effective player from non-crossed shots and their third most from open play and after short passes. His tally of four goals and eight assists almost perfectly matches his underlying performances, indicating how much his team has been missing him this year.
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