Mario Götze contributed a goal and an assist to Eintracht’s 3-1 win. No surprise for Dino Toppmöller, after all, the veteran had performed well in training – and met his coach’s demands.
Mario Götze’s performance was no surprise in Dino Toppmöller’s eyes. Getty Images
The 3-1 win against TSG Hoffenheim is symbolic for Eintracht Frankfurt in many ways. On the one hand, because the SGE was able to distance its direct rivals in the race for Europe by seven points, and on the other hand, because they showed a confident performance after the recent flattering 2-1 win in Heidenheim and, despite an early deficit, there are no doubts about a sense of success let. And all of this on the day that the club celebrated its 125th anniversary.
“We knew we were playing against a team that was playing for these places. We really wanted to win and give ourselves and the fans a nice birthday present. We managed to do that, now everyone can end the day with a beer or two.” said coach Dino Toppmöller happily after the game DAZN.
SGE coach hopes for the flow
Toppmöller did not want to comment on the fact that criticism of Eintracht’s game had arisen in recent weeks, especially in February, when they remained winless in six games. Instead, he tried to explain the misery and the recovery achieved against Hoffenheim. “Before that we had a lot of system and position changes because of the Africa Cup drivers,” said the coach. “That’s why I hope that we’re slowly getting into a flow. We’ll be the fifth-best team in 2024, even if it didn’t feel like it at times.”
Frankfurt have particularly missed the midfield axis consisting of Hugo Larsson and Ellyes Skhiri recently. Both returned to the starting line-up and brought noticeable stability to the game. And Toppmöller’s third change compared to the Heidenheim game also worked: Mario Götze was omnipresent as third in the line of midfielders, offered running routes and always caused unrest. With a goal and an assist, he played a decisive role in the victory. This came as no surprise to his coach.
What Toppmöller expects from Götze
“It became apparent with Mario during the week. On Thursday he was the best player in the entire training session in eleven-on-eleven and logically earned this starting eleven,” said Toppmöller, explaining the veteran’s inclusion. “I said to him before the game that I demand what he showed in training. That he goes forward, that he shows more boxing presence, takes responsibility and simply has a high level of activity in the game.”
It wasn’t important for Toppmöller that Götze was immortalized on the score sheet. “He had a great chance to take the lead in the first half. Whether he takes the lead or not isn’t that bad. But it’s important that he goes into the box eighth.” Which he did and was rewarded with two goals. Toppmöller also knew why he played from the start on the 22nd matchday against Freiburg (3:3): “We hadn’t put him in the starting line-up twice before, because he was always in the starting line-up for a lot of games before that and seemed a bit overplayed.”
The man of the evening himself did not want to single himself out afterwards. “It was very good as a collective today. A lot came together offensively and defensively today,” praised the 31-year-old. “All in all, it was a very good game. Plus 125 years of Eintracht Frankfurt, incredible atmosphere here – it could have gone worse.”
2024-03-10 20:44:43
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