Vo all professional footballers at Frankfurt Eintracht are of age. And they have proven often enough on the pitch that they are seasoned men when it comes to practicing their sport. But last Sunday at 0: 3 in Cologne, the Hessians did not have the necessary maturity, according to Markus Krösche, to remain undefeated this year. Overall, the Frankfurt team “didn’t act seriously enough,” they had to learn “to be more mature in some situations,” the sports director reprimanded the team of coach Oliver Glasner, who were too blue-eyed this time.
Eintracht won their last two home games against Hertha BSC Berlin and Schalke 04 3-0, and the cup game against Darmstadt (4-2) also ended with a lot of goals. But with the Cologne team, who were consistent in scoring, it was over with the blessing of the Hessians. Because: “If you want to score a goal, you have to shoot sometimes,” Krösche complained about the wrong strategy in the game of the Champions League round of 16 participant due to hesitant behavior.
Captain Sebastian Rode put it this way: “We were missing the last punch.” And midfield marathoner Djibril Sow correctly stated in the Eintracht game without goals that his team “simply didn’t have the efficiency in the penalty area of the past few weeks”. The bottom line is that Sunday was “a day to forget” for the Swiss national player.
14 goals conceded from set pieces
On the offensive, the Frankfurters went about their work in an unusually minimalist way. In their defensive work, on the other hand, they acted generously and gave their opponents plenty of freedom, which they used purposefully. To their own disadvantage, two standard goals were conceded by Cologne’s Timo Hübers following a short corner and Ellyes Skhiri (free kick) as well as a goal (also Skhiri) from their own set piece. A huge annoyance for an ambitious club like Eintracht. Especially since the Hessians hardly seem to learn from the mistakes they have made. “Unfortunately, the defensive standards last a bit throughout the season,” Glasner complained to the media representatives afterwards. So far in the Bundesliga, Frankfurt have conceded 14 goals from standard situations. Of these, seven fell from corners, which is the worst of any club. In addition, Eintracht have to let their opponents score ten header goals – no competitor has a higher number.
In Cologne, the Rhinelanders were “always a bit faster, more aggressive, better” in crucial situations, admitted Glasner, who was no longer “used” to losing a game. In addition, the opposing staff was larger. Compared to the competition, the Hessians employ a relatively small team in which, with the exception of Evan Ndicka and Tuta, there are hardly any players who are strong in the air among the regularly deployed defences. However, attitude also plays a role in this context. And in this category, Frankfurt, who lacked the necessary will to defend, also lost out.
In the style of a school team
At 0:1, the 1.90 meter tall Hübers ran unhindered into the Eintracht penalty area before his header hit; Sow didn’t even run after the scorer. How Glasner’s team countered the second goal they conceded after their own corner kick in the style of a student team. In addition, substitute attacker Lucas Alario did not see it as his task to stop Tunisian midfielder Skhiri, whom Hessen are interested in signing, from scoring on goal; the Argentine kept far too much distance. These were not the first instances of negligence in doing defense work. Eintracht professional Daichi Kamada also let Matthias Ginter do nothing in the 1-1 draw in Freiburg.
“With all due respect to the Cologne team, who did well: But this game,” emphasized Krösche, “we decided for ourselves.” Despite the bitter defeat, which “hurt” (Glasner) and was a setback for the sixth in the table in the fight for international places, the coach announced that the failure would “not overthrow” his team. And Krösche said: “You can pull a lot of things out of a game like that that you have to work on where we are not that far.” The Europa League winner still has a need for learning in important areas. From the point of view of Frankfurt, the learning effects should finally set in if they don’t want to have to be annoyed about avoidable defeats. In the best case, the 0:3 is a wake-up call for everyone involved.
