The competitive game can begin. Dino Toppmöller is certain: “We can look forward to a good season.” The coach and other Eintracht protagonists said many friendly words about the dress rehearsal against Nottingham Forest. Make verbally strong what is not yet strong in sport. The performance of the Frankfurt soccer pros, as they presented themselves in the endurance test against the English, leaves room for improvement.
Improvements and fine adjustments are urgently needed. For example in the offensive and the popular sub-discipline standard situations. Even in the pre-season, it was sometimes annoying to see Eintracht taking corners and free-kicks. Even against Nottingham there wasn’t a dead ball of any stature that posed a threat. Toppmöller and his team urgently need to improve this.
Anyone who has looked closely in the Frankfurt Arena has seen the probable starting line-up for emergencies in the cup and in the league. Certainly: with Randal Kolo Muani things can happen very quickly. And even courting fellow striker Jesper Lindström can still cause imbalance in the Eintracht offensive. But otherwise the scaffolding is in place. The back three, which was not overly challenged against Forest on Saturday, has been found. And the starting XI players are also in pole position in the broad defensive and attacking midfield.
It was understandable that Toppmöller didn’t want to distinguish between an A and a B team. The Bundesliga newcomer has to weigh things up and make decisions. “It hurts at the end of the day,” said the coach. There are often nuances or a gut feeling that would decide the starting XI and bank space. Because: “We have a large squad.” There are currently 33 professionals under contract.
Ralf Weitbrecht Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4 Peter Heß Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 1 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 99
Despite the forthcoming triple burden in the DFB Cup, the Bundesliga and the Conference League, this number is still too high. In order to implement his ideas about football, Toppmöller needs a smaller core group. And he needs a sense of achievement quickly. The fact that the preparatory games in summer only resulted in a win over a seventh-class group league club cannot be the claim of Eintracht.
