Dhe occupation of the right-back position leaves Oliver Glasner in no time. It gives the Eintracht coach a big headache. The Austrian has no shortage of candidates for the post: Danny da Costa, Erik Durm, Almamy Touré and Timothy Chandler are very familiar with this area of responsibility. But these four players do not manage to playfully convince in the long run. Regardless of who Glasner has set up, none of them has been able to perform well over the long term in the past.
In an emergency, the coach recently tried Aymen Barkok. The result: Even the Moroccan international did not bring stability to the field. After half an hour in the home game against Leipzig (1-1), Barkok disappointed in the 2-1 away win against Olympiacos in the Europa League. Barkok received the receipt for his loss of performance in the Bundesliga game in Fürth (2: 1) when Glasner did not appoint him to the squad. “Aymen showed against Leipzig that he can do it well. He didn’t have the consistency against Olympiacos ”, criticized the coach.
The player casting for the Frankfurt problem area continues. It has become a great game of patience and a game of changing trees for the people of Frankfurt. In the duel with the newly promoted Fürth, Durm was allowed to play on the position last Sunday. But only for one half.
Then the 2014 World Champion Touré had to give way because Durm did not meet the requirements. However, Touré did not experience the final whistle on the pitch. Shortly before the end of the game, the Frenchman was replaced again. The maximum penalty. Touré was “injured for a long time”, he could “not be constant”, said Glasner. “Still, I expect Almamy to be more defensive. It was too easy how Fürth got through behind him. “
As a final possibility, the trainer “dug out” the “old warrior Chandler”. In view of the unsatisfactory personnel puzzle, Glasner has to be very flexible to his chagrin.
One candidate seems to be on the back burner
Even da Costa cannot contribute to the continuity of the right-back position. The 28-year-old was also not part of the squad in Fürth, most recently in Munich at the beginning of October. Often da Costa only commutes between the bench and the grandstand. After there were differences of opinion between him and the then coach Adi Hütter in 2019, da Costa could no longer build on his previous strong performances in Frankfurt.
Even the loan in the second half of the 2020/2021 season to Mainz, where Costa lived up to expectations, did not lead to new momentum in this round in the Eintracht jersey. Therefore, the ways could part in July 2022. Da Costa’s contract is expiring.
Playing on the right side is “not very complicated,” said Chandler on Wednesday. And the teammates wouldn’t make life difficult for each other either, on the contrary: “We have a great relationship with each other, support each other and always encourage each other.” Nevertheless, Glasner has not yet been able to solve the riddle of filling the right-back position.
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