Gar not so few self-proclaimed experts think that Frankfurt Eintracht is about to play their toughest game of the season. Four days after the highly intense clash with Tottenham Hotspur, in which the Frankfurt team used all their strength to prove that they were a worthy Champions League participant, coach Oliver Glasner’s team meets bottom-placed VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga.
Many German teams have failed at the trick of pulling themselves together shortly after a strenuous gala appearance in the European Cup in the gray everyday life of the Bundesliga and putting on a serious and committed performance, including more prominent ones than Eintracht, which are more used to the stress tests. “We have to manage to find the mental freshness, the energy, the focus and the will to push the limits again,” Glasner demands of his players. Then he was optimistic about the outcome of the game this Saturday (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky).
But what influence does a coach have? After all, mental freshness can neither be trained nor prescribed. “I think our victories help us, those who are self-confident have the mental freshness more easily,” said the Austrian. Otherwise he talks a lot to the pros, goes into the situation and the fact that his team is one of those who have to give everything to be successful. Half the power is not enough. “I watch the players closely. And if someone seems phlegmatic, they get a break.”
Promising formation
Prescribing the right breaks is an important coaching issue this October, when Eintracht are scheduled to play nine games – load control through rotation. Glasner’s attitude is not to work out long-term action plans, but to offer the most promising formation from game to game.
“I don’t rotate to give everyone a break,” he said. That also applies to Makoto Hasebe, the almost 39-year-old who produced an outstanding performance against Tottenham on Tuesday, but had to work a lot harder against the athletically strong Londoners than in a normal Bundesliga game: “I watch Makoto. When he’s fit, he plays. I don’t rotate based on age, but based on the condition of the players. Makoto is hard to beat anyway.”
It would be difficult for Glasner to do without his oldest professional, because with Hasebe’s return the defensive has stabilized significantly. The first substitute for the middle position in the back three would be Tuta, who played in the position at the start of the season. But Glasner also brings the name Hrvoje Smolcic into play.
He trusts the newcomer from Rijeka to play the role. But a return to the back four is also possible, emphasizes Glasner: “We played two exhilarating games against Werder (4:3) and Leipzig (4:0) in a 4-2-3-1.” But this hint could also be very good be a smokescreen towards Bochum, because so far the Austrian has not tended to change a basic line-up as long as it works.
Götze back in training
In any case, Glasner has to change something on the offensive, Randal Kolo Muani is missing because of his yellow-red card that was held against Union Berlin. There is every indication that Rafael Borré will replace him in the starting XI, the Colombian already having match practice against Tottenham after 60 minutes.
Glasner has plenty of personnel to draw from, the tough encounter with Tottenham didn’t result in anyone being injured, and Mario Götze returned to training on Thursday: “He was able to do everything, if his body doesn’t show a counter-reaction after the exertion, he plays,” announced the coach.
Another reason for Frankfurt’s optimism. But Glasner doesn’t want to know anything about a sure-fire success in Bochum: “I can only advise everyone to forget about Bochum’s place in the table.” That wouldn’t say anything. “We can beat the league leaders, but we can also lose against all the other teams. And Bochum are highly motivated after the change of coach.”
