BDuring a visit to the federal capital Berlin, which ended with Eintracht unadorned 1-1 draw against Hertha BSC, the Frankfurt soccer coach Oliver Glasner called for people to “not always talk about Europe”. The 47-year-old Austrian is apparently tired of hearing about Eintracht’s Europa League win and the associated high expectations of his club.
He was asked” that the Europa League winner is playing here. And I answered: The Bundesliga eleven from the previous season plays here, who lost Martin Hinteregger and Filip Kostic, two national players with huge experience,” said Glasner at the press conference after the game and was not yet finished with his unequivocal statements: “That, what we achieved internationally last season, we achieved with unbelievably great discipline, passion and willingness – and not because we played every opponent to the ground.” That’s why, according to the football coach, he says it “also with this clarity, that we shouldn’t always talk about Europe”.
Disappointing placement
The Frankfurters, who lost 6-1 to Bayern in the first division opening game, are currently feeling the burden of winning the international title. Many are now demanding a lot from them because the club is adorned with an award with great radiance. In Europe, Eintracht stands for continued success. For favorite falls, carelessness and unbridled passion. That is the assessment basis for the new Bundesliga season, in which Eintracht wants to continue its success story on the national stage.
Coach and team have set themselves the goal of a place between first and sixth place, compared to the past round with the disappointing placement they want to make up a lot in their core business. This time, an international starting place should be achieved through the local competition.
And then there’s this: referee Frank Willenborg doesn’t give Eintracht a penalty after the intervention of the video assistant.
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Bild: picture-alliance
But on the first two first division matchdays, the Frankfurt team, who have now been without a win for ten Bundesliga games across the season and in which Jens Petter Hauge is loaned to KAA Gent, did not live up to their ambitious claims. “We haven’t found the stability we want yet,” said Glasner. The team doesn’t work as a collective as the coach would like it to. And as many believe her in terms of her composition.
This has to do with the fact that a few players have lost performance. The French central defender Evan Ndicka lacks the determination in his actions and the assertiveness shown in the past season. Perhaps the 22-year-old is busy changing clubs to a lucrative club. Ndicka is one of the candidates for sale in this transfer period, unless he is willing to extend his contract with Eintracht early.
Much average
The nimble Ansgar Knauff, who lost the header duel against the scorer when Suat Serdar scored the opening goal in Berlin (3rd minute), is literally chasing his form. The special moments in his game have become fewer. And Djibril Sow is also a long way from being able to fulfill his leadership role with the usual energy. Nottingham Forest is interested in signing the Swiss national player, and Sow is said to be worth a transfer fee of around 20 million euros to the Premier League club, which is keen to buy.
Measured against the proud market value of the Frankfurt team, for which Daichi Kamada scored the 1:1 (48th) in Berlin, there is currently too much average in the team. The new players have to be integrated first – that’s another reason for the initial difficulties. World champion Mario Götze failed to make impressive passes in Berlin; there was hardly any sign of the playmaker.
New attacker Lucas Alario drew the most attention with a missed big chance. Only striker Randal Kolo Muani, who came from FC Nantes and was involved in many offensive actions, stood out pleasantly from the others: his great commitment, his determination to assert himself, his enormous amount of running and his impressive speed were role models. Glasner acknowledged Kolo Muani’s “great performance, he will play many more games in this condition,” announced the coach.
Praise for the best player, but criticism for the behavior of the majority of his team at the beginning of the game: “Our duel behavior and the intensity were simply disastrous. If I think I can only jog around, that’s how it looks,” criticized Glasner. From the point of view of goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, the Frankfurt team “didn’t feel like they won a duel in the first 25 minutes. We were just chasing.”
Glasner had always warned against a laissez-faire attitude in the minds of his players after the triumph in the Europa League. Not everyone seems to have listened to him, however. So it’s understandable that the topic of Europe isn’t appealing to the coach at the moment – especially when it’s repeatedly brought to his attention from outside and accompanied by exaggerated ideas about his team’s performance. Glasner’s appeal in Berlin was no accident.
