DThe end of the season was a farewell photo. When all players in the squad, the coaching and coaching team of Frankfurt Eintracht had gathered at the center line, the final whistle was already 20 minutes behind. Coach Adi Hütter had gathered his team after the 3-2 home win over SC Paderborn and made a speech, the length of which could be compared to that of the entire course of the season. The season 2019/20 had lasted almost twelve months with preparation time, in which 54 competitive games had to be played. The longest season in Eintracht history was followed by the longest farewell on the pitch.
It was an emotional end, and the coach from Austria addressed a few personal words to almost every professional, and a lot to the entire team. Words of respect and gratitude. Hütter and the Eintracht leadership felt that ninth place in the Bundesliga, reaching the semi-finals in the DFB Cup and the round of 16 in the Europa League were a success. And with an objective assessment of potential and yield, there is no contradiction in this assessment, although two long, unsuccessful series had prevented an even better performance.
The three professionals who were on the pitch for the last time in Frankfurt also gave farewell speeches. Marco Russ, Jonathan de Guzmán and Gelson Fernandes received long applause for their words. De Guzmán had even been allowed to work against Paderborn for a quarter of an hour, which Russ and Fernandes was denied because Hütter absolutely wanted the victory over Paderborn. The two were in poor physical shape after long injuries.
After a 3-0 lead by Rode (9th minute), Silva (33rd) and Dost (52nd), the success was on shaky feet, as the promoted team, who became a relegation team, simply did not give up and was replaced by Dräger ( 55.) and Michel (75.) shortened. The equalization then actually fell in injury time, but before the Jans goal, an East Westphalian colleague had been sidelined, which no one had noticed on the lawn, but was not hidden from the video assistant.
Marco Russ did not look sad about his last Bundesliga appearance. “I would have been happy for two or three minutes, but the win was more important. The points are valuable for the TV rating. To be in the squad was respect enough for me. I enjoyed spending the night with the team and experiencing the bus ride together again, ”said Hanauer, who came to Eintracht in 1996 and, apart from a commitment for one and a half years at VfL Wolfsburg, has always remained loyal to his club . Russ remains in harmony. “I am trained in the analysis department and then taken on.”
At almost 35 years of age, he felt the time had come to step down. “I haven’t really played much in the past few years, it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to get into the right physical condition. After the Achilles tendon tear last year, I had enough time to gain distance. But after my family, harmony is the greatest. ”
Coach Hütter spoke of a “downer that I couldn’t change Marco and Gelson”. But the points were too important for him to distribute gifts. He showed his respect after the final whistle: “I’m not a friend of forming a circle, but there are exceptions when such deserving players with great character leave the club.” It had become very emotional. “I also had a few tears.”
The game had not brought tears to his eyes, but he was dissatisfied that his team had started swimming again after 3-0. “We didn’t understand how to let the ball and opponents run.” Hütter also paid a downfall to relegated Paderborn. “As always, they didn’t give up, it was admirable what the Paderborn players did, they were very uncomfortable.”
But after 104 competitive games in two years, he took his players under protection. “We still showed character and won over 90 minutes. That then the clarity was missing, you have to turn a blind eye. ”After these words, Hütter said goodbye to the four-week vacation. And combined that with the words: “I’m looking forward to going back. I am proud to be the Eintracht Frankfurt coach. ”
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