On the first day of the new working week, Dino Toppmöller did not fundamentally correct Frankfurt Eintracht’s goal for the season. But the coach of the Bundesliga tenth (one win and two draws) reassessed the overall situation following the departure of star striker Randal Kolo Muani to Paris St-Germain and dampened high expectations.
“Fighting for fourth place would be a bit exaggerated,” said the 42-year-old with a straight face after training on Monday and used words to promote a realistic assessment of the new situation. Because Frankfurt, headed by sports director Markus Krösche, did not manage to get a replacement for the French international.
Now there is a big gap in attack early in the season, which Eintracht will probably not be able to close so quickly in view of the performance of their lost exceptional attacker.
Topmöller’s warning
The Hessians will continue to strive for a starting place in international business if possible, even without their top scorer. Only those who, under these circumstances, believe that the young Frankfurt team must aim for the highest possible goal, the Champions League, are on the wrong track – that was Toppmöller’s core message under the new sign.
The football teacher, who holds his first head coaching position in the Bundesliga in Frankfurt, warned against excessive demands. He had already done so in a weakened form when Kolo Muani was still wearing the Eintracht jersey. Toppmöller asked for patience and development time for the newly assembled team in important positions.
In the future he will have to do without goalkeeper Kolo Muani in addition to the dangerous pros Daichi Kamada and Jesper Lindström. “It’s not easy for any team when their three best offensive players break away with the most goals,” says Toppmöller.
Two former Eintracht guarantors of success: Daichi Kamada (left) and Randal Kolo Munai : Image: Reuters
Football is about “result goals or development goals”. “This year is about development for Eintracht,” emphasized Toppmöller at the beginning of the two-week international break. “You have to acknowledge that.” His assessment sounds as if the club had to calculate a transition year.
The bang of last Friday, when Kolo Muani switched to Paris in the late evening hours for the Frankfurt record transfer fee of around 95 million euros and thus the clout of Eintracht was significantly weakened in one fell swoop, has Toppmöller’s working basis and prospects changed from day to day.
The coach had to reckon with the departure of Kolo Muani to a financially strong club by the end of the transfer period. However, he should have firmly assumed that he would get a replacement in this case. In the person of a powerful attacker who is capable of a decent hit rate. Now the reality is very different. Toppmöller’s task has become much more difficult. And the fact that striker Rafael Borré was loaned to Bremen at the last minute doesn’t make the coach’s work any easier.
“Would be good”
One day after the unsatisfactory 1-1 draw at home against Cologne, Toppmöller couldn’t hide his dissatisfaction. It was felt that the new constellation without Kolo Muani gnawed at him. From Frankfurt’s point of view, the final on the transfer market was very “unfortunate” without a new signing, the coach admitted. Toppmöller is required now. And he is ready to face the challenge with all his might.
Whining is out of the question for him. “We accept it. Fire at will!” he shouted to the journalists. The coach emphasized that he has “the greatest confidence” in the players “who are there. The boys have their hearts in the right place. We have to solve it together,” said Toppmöller. Nevertheless, it is “of course my problem” if he has one less important player in the squad.
Especially with regard to the English weeks that Eintracht is about to face. With the question of whether it would make sense to sign a striker without a contract, he was not able to deal with it last weekend because of the Cologne game. “It would be nice if we had someone else. We are one striker short.
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A double storm is already difficult. At the end of the day it’s about quality,” said Toppmöller on Monday. As for the existing offensive line-up, with players like Paxten Aaronson, Jens Petter Hauge and Jessic Ngankam, he would be happy to see it “develop faster”. Then Eintracht would have a good chance of “attacking top places” in the first division, said Toppmöller. “But to say that from the start would be presumptuous.”
2023-09-05 04:55:00
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