THomas Letsch initially preferred to talk about the opponent rather than his own team. The coach of VfL Bochum had seen a “strong unity” in the Bundesliga game on Friday evening. However, the game for the Frankfurt “Adler” was not an animal pleasure. After the 1:1, the team remains without a win in the seventh game in a row. These included the defeats against Naples and the end of the Champions League. Things are also going downhill in the Bundesliga. Wolfsburg can push Eintracht from sixth place with a win on this matchday.
Frankfurt’s first pursuer in the fight for the best places that will lead into the next European Cup season will meet Augsburg at home this Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky). With three points, the selection of the former Eintracht coach Niko Kovac would not only be equal on points, but even pass in the table thanks to the better goal difference. It would be another step in the wrong direction for Frankfurt, who dreamed of getting back into the Champions League before the start of the new year.
The fact that things are going downhill in the top German football league is also due to the fact that Eintracht only scored their own goal in the 13th minute after falling behind against Bochum through Takuma Asano, who scored Japan’s winning goal against Germany at the World Cup had to oppose. Randal Kolo Muani equalized with a penalty, which he saved himself with a spirited run into the penalty area (22nd minute). The Frankfurters had a number of other chances, but didn’t score, which caused a lot of frustration.
“It’s very frustrating today”
“It’s just damn bitter that we don’t win the game today,” said Philipp Max. Captain Sebastian Rode sounded similar. “It’s very frustrating today. We have made brutal efforts. But the great effort does not lead to great success at the moment.” Sport director Markus Krösche rated the result as “annoying. That doesn’t satisfy us.” That sounded like a lot of frustration, which also plagued Oliver Glasner. “We’re disappointed,” said the coach. “But the performance is encouraging.” It was actually good, but didn’t really help.
At least not on Friday evening. The trend is not the friend of Frankfurters these days. While Eintracht experienced a dream trip through the football world in 2022 with a number of highlights such as winning the Europa League title and moving into the Champions League, some of what is happening now has the potential to become a nightmare. If things don’t pick up again soon, the season will end with a rude awakening. Another course of history is still possible, but Frankfurt will soon have to play more successfully again.
Eintracht’s performance, not only the coaches agreed, had something to offer, but in the end in front of goal that certain something was missing. With the exception of Kolo Muani’s penalty, who has already scored twelve goals this season, there was always something missing to put the ball in the goal. “Kolo Muani can’t score two goals in every game,” said Rode. “We have to spread the goals over several shoulders again.” The “necessary greed” to want to score the goal was apparently missing, he said. That might also be a question of quality.
Where is it going up in the table again? Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner
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Image: EPA
After his spectacular goal for Colombia against Japan, there were high hopes that Rafael Borré would also score against Bochum. Glasner has recently increased the striker’s deployment times continuously. Borré is waiting for his third goal of the season, in May he was still the one who scored the decisive goal to win the European Cup, but still. Rode was impressed that “Rafa had put in a lot of effort again”. But he did not stand for anything more than symbolic on an evening when unity only gave a good picture, but which did not lead to any significant income.
This was primarily due to their own inability, but a small tip against referee Harm Osmers could still be heard at a late hour. Glasner wrapped his criticism in irony and wanted to leave it at that. “There were only seven referees at work today. That’s a bit too little,” said the trainer to the team on site and in the Cologne video cellar. It was about the question of whether Bochum’s Ivan Ordets should have seen the red card instead of the yellow card for his foul that led to the penalty (21st), and about two other potential penalties.
When Buta ran into the penalty area, he was held by Christopher Antwi-Adjej (57 ‘), at almost the same point his teammate Dominique Heintz straddled a ball from Kolo Muani in the final phase and stopped it with his arm as it slipped on the ground. Criminal handball or not? Osmers decided on an allowed supporting hand and continued playing. The people of Frankfurt didn’t like that, but it didn’t help in the end. Krösche complained to DAZN that “no one knows exactly what handball is and what isn’t”. He is not alone in the football world.
This continues without Eintracht being successful, for Frankfurt on Tuesday (6 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup and on ZDF) with the DFB Cup quarter-finals against Union Berlin. In addition to the Bundesliga, it is the other path that can lead to the goal of being able to travel in Europe in the coming season. Glasner therefore quickly dismissed the game against Bochum and issued the slogan: “Now it’s time to keep your head up and keep going.” A positive attitude will be necessary if the “Adlers” want to make fat booty this season.
