WFour weeks ago he would have claimed that Frankfurt Eintracht would hibernate in the second round of the Europa League and would have been happy about 27 Bundesliga points while sitting under the Christmas tree would have been dismissed as a hopeless fanatic, because love is blind. Now the football club is presenting a half-year balance sheet that offers the best prospects for the new year, and the question arises as to how this little football miracle could happen.
First of all: You shouldn’t indulge yourself in the belief that everything in football can be explained. But in the case of Eintracht there are some logical reasons why the preliminary round went the way it went. The upheavals of the summer with a new chairman of the board of directors, a new sports director, a new sports director, a new coach and additional new staff on the second management level had to lead to a bumpy start to the season. The argument that the line-up continued to play with the exception of Silva who had migrated to Leipzig does not work.
It is not possible to replace a 28-goal striker one-to-one, the adjustment measures include several positions. And of course coach Oliver Glasner brought his own ideas about football with him from Wolfsburg, and of course the newcomers had to get used to Eintracht and many of them to the Bundesliga.
What kept her from falling?
In the past, many up-and-coming clubs found themselves in the basement of the table unexpectedly in this mixed situation – and Eintracht almost slipped to the bottom floor. What saved the Frankfurters from the crash? On the one hand, the substance of the squad that has been built up for a long time, which also means their character and willingness to perform. On the other hand, the passionate and level-headed work of Glasner, who lost neither the trust of the team nor that of the club management.
All of that wouldn’t have been enough if luck hadn’t helped. It was the many last-minute victories that gave the Eintracht professionals the boost of self-confidence that had been lacking until then to reach their potential. One can debate for a long time whether the many late goals were deserved because of the relentless fighting spirit or not. In any case, it is not a matter of course that this virtue is regularly rewarded.
At the end of this preliminary round of the roller coaster, Eintracht got 27 points again. It is the fifth time in the past seven half-series. It couldn’t be much more consistent. But that does not mean that now that the upheaval has been successfully completed, everything will continue to run by itself.
The prerequisites are in place, Eintracht is well positioned. But not so good that she has a legitimate claim to play in the top third of the table. The next test comes when all the tight games no longer have a happy ending in a row.
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