WBremen is Mario Götze’s favorite opponent in the Bundesliga. The Frankfurt football professional has already scored goals against the Green-Whites seven times – a record for the former professional from Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. In a duel with Bremen in the first leg, Götze scored his first competitive goal for Eintracht in an entertaining 4:3. There are a total of two after 20 match days and before the encounter this Saturday (6.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) in the Waldstadion against Werder.
So far, Götze has been one of the big winners at Eintracht. He was in the starting line-up 20 times and played the full distance in 14 games. In the offensive game, the 30-year-old is the chief conductor of the Champions League round of 16 participants. Götze’s ingenious passes give the Eintracht game an extra class, in the team he sets the pace. Even if the 2014 world champion only has two assists, he delivers the most penultimate passes before goals and shots on goal.
This statistical value receives little public attention. But for Frankfurt, Götze’s flashes of inspiration and famous passes are of immense importance. Not to forget his part as a constant reference station for his teammates. When initiating dangerous situations, Götze is the lynchpin.
Unfocused and thoughtless
Only in the 0: 3 in Cologne last Sunday did the national player fail to achieve normal form. Götze, who is one of the top runners in the league, covered 12.6 kilometers the most on the pitch at Eintracht. As a string puller, however, he did not come into play; the insecurities in the sixth place in the table were transferred to the director. Götze could not go ahead without his usual creative power. Just like Daichi Kamada didn’t develop his skills.
The Japanese is currently too often out of rhythm, acts too unfocused and thoughtless. Until the World Cup break in mid-November, Kamada had scored twelve goals and four assists in all competitions. A proud quote. But since the beginning of the second half of the season, only one goal in the cup against Darmstadt (4:2) and one assist against Bayern Munich (1:1) have been added. Kamada is currently not a defining figure in the Eintracht game.
Things are going well for Mario Götze (left), but less so for Daichi Kamada at the moment.
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Image: picture alliance / Laci Perenyi
Does his unclear contract situation bring him out of step? No, believes coach Oliver Glasner. Kamada, whom Eintracht want to keep, could leave the club after this season as his contract expires. “I don’t know what’s going to come of it,” said the coach on Thursday. Glasner has one wish: he wants to hear from Kamada in front of the media how the national player decided about his future.
Glasner counts Kamada’s congenial partner Götze among the most important employees in the Eintracht community. The Austrian’s confidence in Götze is great. Glasner hardly gives him any instructions. The coach knows that Götze, with his experience, is up to the challenge. Glasner did not name names. But he reported that he spoke to “a couple of players” this week about “how they are feeling on the pitch”. Götze will have been there. “The solution approaches were congruent with the coaching team,” said Glasner with the result of the conversation.
The Frankfurters have had to accept almost 50 percent of the goals they conceded from dead balls. In this category, Eintracht is at the bottom of the Bundesliga. “We will therefore change something where we think we can prevent the high number of goals conceded,” announced Glasner. He didn’t go into detail. Just being average is not his goal. But in this case it would be a step in the right direction for the coach. He was enthusiastic about the “super training week”. “We haven’t had such an intensity and joy in playing for a long time,” he said. “Maybe Cologne was a warning shot.”
