It was enough to look at the smiling faces to get an idea of how great the pressure must have been on the players. After the 2-0 win against the newcomer from Heidenheim, the Eintracht team, including the substitutes, took the opportunity to demonstrate their joy at the favor of the moment with a lap of honor. A burden was lifted.
No one in Frankfurt had thought that the renewed upheaval, the loss of many regular staff, the integration of 16 newcomers and the start of Dino Toppmöller as the new coach would all be so complicated. The bumpy intermediate stages since the start of the round in midsummer did not provide an ego boost, but rather fueled doubts. Now that seven games have been played at the beginning of autumn and Eintracht has at least ten points with their second win on Sunday after a defeat and four draws and has moved into the middle class of the table, the relief blew like the wind through an open window the catacombs of the arena.
Markus Krösche was barely intelligible when he drew his conclusion from Sunday evening, from which a lot of satisfaction could be heard. In the background of the sports directorate, in the hallway in front of the changing rooms, the professionals celebrated at their ceremony and loudly applauded their own performance. Krösche attested that the team, which had previously endured five winless league games, had taken a “step forward”. “It was important to win before the international break and go into the next two weeks with a good feeling. Our development has clearly been going in the right direction for a few games.”
Looking at the table, he called it “important that we didn’t let the upward contact break” and complimented the team because they always stick with it and try to “implement what the coach wants to see.” The 43-year-old also found words of praise for Toppmöller, who has been in charge at Eintracht for exactly 100 days on Monday – the message of which should not least reach all those in the club’s sometimes hyperventilating environment who are concerned with the slow progress Novices only partially agree: “You can see what game idea he has. What I like is the joy of playing we have now. We are very satisfied.” Eintracht has “many young players” in the squad, so time is needed to mature: “We are consciously taking that into account.”
In fact, the performance was a bright spot compared to the lackluster performances in front of their own crowd against Cologne (1:1) and Freiburg (0:0). The goals from Hugo Larsson (39th minute) and Ansgar Knauff (72nd) resulted from the increasing offensive momentum after the first half hour. “Today we were rewarded for our effort. The way we won this game is good for all of us,” said Kevin Trapp. The 33-year-old Eintracht player and spokesman admitted that “we have had intensive weeks behind us”, but now he has the feeling “that we are getting to know each other better and coming together”.
The keeper was also among those frustrated after the recent Conference League misstep in Greece. Trapp saw the red card, which annoyed him but also motivated him. With a save against Adrian Beck (74th), he made a significant contribution to the happy ending against Heidenheim. In the coming days “we will see a lot of smiling faces,” said Trapp, predicting an improvement in the mood around Eintracht. He himself set off on a trip to North America with the DFB team on Monday. After his return, he added, he and Eintracht would go into the game in Hoffenheim (October 21) with new “confidence”.
After a few unsuccessful attempts against Heidenheim, the result of the attack was good. For the first time in this Bundesliga season, the Hessians scored more than one goal – which Krösche explained by saying that the team “now does not use possession of the ball to have possession of the ball, but to prepare scoring opportunities. Just finding the moment to play deep, we didn’t do that before.”
Toppmöller said that “a weight has been lifted from all of our hearts.” He “takes my hat off to this team,” he added. “When you see how much the boys invest, it’s unbelievable. We ran 125 kilometers again after an extremely strenuous game on Thursday.” He believes the team is on the right track “because we are stable at the back.”
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But not everything was all sunshine and roses for him. Toppmöller spoke plainly about Junior Dina Ebimbe, whom he left out of the squad against Heidenheim. “I didn’t agree with his performance in the last two games. He is a player with incredible potential. But it’s primarily about being ready when I go on the pitch. If he doesn’t do that, others will play,” he explained the lesson.
And he also made a public announcement to Lucas Alario. “We also define ourselves through intensity. It’s up to him to impose himself. We as coaches do a lot to integrate him. But in the end he has to go through the door and show that he wants to.” When Eintracht plays the friendly against Chemie Leipzig this Friday (7 p.m.), Alario is likely to be there. Also due to a lack of alternatives. Ten colleagues are traveling with the national teams.
