Sadness at Eintracht: perplexed faces after the exit from the DFB Cup in Saarbrücken. Image: Sportphoto by Laci Perenyi
Without leadership on the pitch, physically drained and mentally tired: Eintracht Frankfurt’s form these days is worrying. The focus is now on coach Dino Toppmöller.
Eintracht Frankfurt cannot offer consistency in what has been a disappointing football season for the club. Under the guidance of the new trainer Dino Toppmöller, things go up and down – with swings in both directions. After the Hessians gave away Randal Kolo Muani to Paris St. Germain for 95 million euros in the last transfer hour in the summer, Toppmöller carefully announced a likely transitional season in Frankfurt shortly afterwards. Without the French star striker and with a big gap in the attack because sports director Markus Krösche was unable to find a replacement, the 43-year-old – he largely kept his displeasure to himself – wanted to slow down the high expectations in the Eintracht environment and adapt them to reality.
But after a stuttering start, the Frankfurt team picked up speed. The 3-3 draw against Dortmund at the end of October was a furious football game. The newly strengthened unity, which at this point harmonized well with each other, seemed to be able to attack higher goals. From today’s perspective, a misjudgment. In the meantime, the Frankfurt team had played well for at least one half of each of their matches, but most recently in Augsburg (1:2) and now in the cup defeat at the third division club Saarbrücken (0:2) they failed to perform over the full distance.
