AOliver Glasner made no secret of his feelings. He was bubbling, said the Eintracht coach on Saturday after the 1: 2 at RB Leipzig and shortly before the Frankfurt team started the return journey to the Main in wintry conditions in a low mood. In the past working week, the ambitious Hessians could have taken a big step forward in terms of their top program.
Instead, they had to accept two setbacks at the highest level of competition: first the 0-2 in the Champions League at home against Napoli, in which the Frankfurters had no chance, and then the sixth defeat of the season in the fight for the premier class places for the new round. The weak first half in Leipzig with a 0:2 deficit due to the goals of Timo Werner (6th minute) and Emil Forsberg (40th) stood in the way of a positive final work result.
Glasner’s reckoning with what has been achieved sounded like this on the podium in the press conference room: “We have to hold on and say: If we’re not at the upper level for 90 minutes, then it’s not enough.” the decisive competitive disadvantage for the big players aroused Glasner’s emotions – and his ambition again.
Disappointing clear rounds
All eyes are on Eintracht at Eintracht. Excuses, no matter what kind, don’t count for the coach after the two negative experiences. The Austrian made that clear. The people of Frankfurt “were held up to the mirror” last week, said Glasner and sees himself in the role of admonisher and guide. “We have to blame ourselves. If you look elsewhere for the causes, you won’t be able to change it.”
The preparation for the Leipzig game was “good” and “the food wasn’t spoiled either,” said the coach with a smug undertone. Glasner is now setting a good example. For him, the disappointing zero rounds in Frankfurt mean in national and international football business “rolling up our sleeves and doing everything we can to get our best performance over 90 minutes”. Then, according to the coach, “we can win games like this”.
First of all, he gave his players two days off before two training sessions are scheduled for Wednesday. Next Sunday (5.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN) the next away game against Wolfsburg awaits Eintracht. From Frankfurt’s point of view, success would be desirable – also because the gap between sixth in the table and seventh in Wolfsburg would then be eight points again. In the opposite case, Wolfsburg would become a serious competitor for a place in the Europa League. For comparison: Two years ago, Eintracht were happy about four points more in their table account after 22 matchdays. Nevertheless, she still gambled away the lucrative entry into the premier class. And now?
As Europa League winners, Eintracht now sees itself as a top team. At the beginning of the year, sporting director Markus Krösche’s job for the second half of the season was to definitely defend fourth place and to get even better in terms of performance. Full throttle into the future was his motto. Eintracht cannot keep up with his words at the moment. In 2023, the Frankfurters have not managed to exploit their potential over the entire 90 minutes in almost any game. The penetrating power, the determination, the compactness, the alertness or the concentration – something was usually missing.
Eintracht fears
“We slept through the first half. We weren’t involved at all. That was zero percent Eintracht Frankfurt. But I’m glad we were able to show a different face in the second half. It was sometimes 90 to 100 percent Eintracht Frankfurt” – Djibril Sow could not have summed up the fickleness of his team’s game better. The Swiss national player scored the only Eintracht goal in Leipzig with his brilliant shot in the 61st minute. In Wolfsburg, the Hessians have to do without him due to Sow’s fifth yellow card.
“At Frankfurt you always have to expect that the doorbell will ring,” said Leipzig’s successful coach Marco Rose full of appreciation for the opponent. In the meantime, however, Eintracht also has to fear itself. In the duel with the Saxons, central defender Tuta continued Frankfurt’s individual chain of errors across the game – the Brazilian’s bad stick error initiated the Leipzig opening goal. Fluctuations in form and drops in performance of individual players also seem to be becoming the norm.
All in all, Daichi Kamada, Evan Ndicka and Jesper Lindström no longer reach the top level they have already demonstrated. The Japanese (probably to Borussia Dortmund) and the French Ndicka (FC Barcelona?) are likely to change jobs in the summer. The Dane Lindstrom is also being courted by lucrative clubs. The tempting career prospects may hamper the three’s focus on the here and now. In Leipzig there was only one bench left for the left central defender Ndicka. “Ever since I’ve been the coach here, Evan has been the fielder who has the most playing minutes.
Then it should also be conceded that he went through a phase when he wasn’t acting at his best level,” Glasner had defended his protégé after the cup match against Darmstadt (4:2). After the recent failures, Glasner seems to be losing his composure and patience in one case or another. Because his sense of entitlement, that much is certain, remains high. His awakening has only just begun.
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