Dhe perfectionist relies on the live experience. On the day that the athlete Konstanze Klosterhalfen surprisingly became European champion over 5000 meters and not only delighted the spectators in the Munich Olympic Stadium, Oliver Glasner was sitting in the Cologne stadium. The Frankfurt Eintracht coach wanted to get an accurate picture of the upcoming Bundesliga opponents, who will present themselves this Sunday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN) in the more or less sold-out Frankfurt Arena.
Despite FC’s 2-1 defeat in the Europa Conference League qualifying first leg against Hungarian club Fehervar, Glasner was full of praise. “They could have taken a 3-0 lead,” said the Eintracht coach about his teammate Steffen Baumgart’s presentation of the team. The people of Cologne were “very aggressive”, said Glasner on Friday about his observations and warned: “FC hit by far the most crosses in the Bundesliga. And even with standards they are dangerous.”
So time for the possible system change that Glasner recently hinted at? Four instead of three in the Frankfurt defensive?
Coach Glasner asks a question
Of course, the 47-year-old Austrian didn’t let himself be looked at and lured out of his reserve. All in all, Glasner said before the duel with Cologne: “We want to be defensively stable and have a good balance overall. We have to be good against the ball and close the gaps.” The Eintracht coach recalled the 1-1 draw at Hertha BSC last week, where “3-4-3 became 4-4-2 “.
In concrete terms, this means that it is not the line-up that matters, but the attitude. “We want to remain variable. Our behavior is system-independent. We’re not reinventing football,” he said on Friday and publicly asked the question: “How do we get power forward?”
Perhaps with a dual leadership, behind which a strategist like Mario Götze can provide surprising moments. Asked about the former world champion maker Götze, Glasner said: “We have expectations of the 30-year-old Mario, who we brought from Eindhoven – but not of the 22-year-old world champion. Mario is doing great. But he can’t decide every game for us.” One way or another: “It’s going to be up and down,” predicted Glasner of the wild hustle and bustle he expects against the ambitious Cologne team on Sunday. “It goes back and forth. We want to fight back aggressively.”
Oliver Glasner (left) and Evan Ndicka at the DFB Cup match in Magdeburg.
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Image: dpa
Almamy Touré will not resist at all in the coming months. The defender, who was injured last weekend, will be out for “at least two months”, according to Glasner. He thus specified the nebulous report from the beginning of the week, in which Touré’s downtime was “until further notice”. Daichi Kamada was not operational on Friday. The Japanese had called in sick, but those responsible in Frankfurt hope that his illness will be resolved by Sunday.
Stabilized Eintracht defense
The training days of the week that was coming to an end, said Glasner, were used behind closed doors primarily “to try out a few things”. The coach was not specific. “But we gained a lot of knowledge. You can see what ideas we have against Cologne.” Sounds exciting and sounds like a possible system change.
Almamy Touré (left) will be out for “at least two months”.
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Image: dpa
What is urgently needed in any case is the stabilization of the defensive. Glasner is also displeased that Eintracht conceded too many goals. Looking back on the past three Bundesliga seasons, on Friday he reported an average of 1.7, 1.6 and 1.3 against goals against. Too much, as the coach thinks. “Aim must be to come against 1 or below.”
Can the newly signed Luca Pellegrini help his new team immediately? The Italian, Glasner reported, “did pump a bit in training. But he’s a very dynamic player with a lot of confidence. He’s doing well and has integrated quickly.” The Eintracht coach left it open whether he will actually be used.
Randal Kolo Muani also received praise before the game against the European hopefuls Köln. The striker was the formative man of Eintracht against Hertha. “He has individual quality,” said Glasner and was pleased “that he quickly gained a foothold with us.” On Sunday against Cologne, the supple Muani wants to go hunting for goals again. Others are responsible for improving the goals against statistics.
