The separation of trainer Oliver Glasner heated up at Eintracht Frankfurt. Sports director Markus Krösche, who was heavily criticized in the environment, classifies his decision.
Eintracht Frankfurt supporters vented their anger at the separation from coach Oliver Glasner after the DFB Cup final on social networks. In surveys, with Twitter pictures or clear words, they backed the Austrians and sometimes even threatened to terminate their membership.
Krösche is the bogeyman for parts of the environment
Sports director Markus Krösche knows that his decision is considered unpopular in the environment. “I make decisions out of conviction, not out of emotion”; said Krösche on Wednesday in a media round. “I have an overview of the overall situation. I bring together everything that I’ve noticed. That’s ultimately my job.”
According to the Eintracht sports director – now a bogeyman for some supporters – he could not make his decision dependent on everyone understanding: “Everyone can have an opinion, express it and discuss it. If you work in football, then it will your work is evaluated and discussed. That’s what makes the sport so interesting.” The clarity of how things will continue with Glasner from the summer was important.
A process led to Glasner’s end in the summer
“We want to join forces in the last three games of the season and in the cup final,” emphasized Krösche. Those responsible assume that the team can now get back on the road to success after ten Bundesliga games without a win. The question of the future has been clarified, “we have left the past behind us”.
The development of the past few weeks still leaves many questions unanswered. How did it happen that the so popular and well respected Europa League hero couldn’t get the hang of it in the league? When did the two parties take different turns? Why didn’t the team perform more like they did in the Hinserie? “It was a process. Glasner was offered a contract at the end of February with full conviction. But then things developed differently,” said Krösche. Instead of an extension until 2026, there is now even a separation one year before the end of the contract period.
Krösche: “I had to make an unpopular decision”
Nothing has worked out in the Bundesliga since February, the Champions League defeat against SSC Napoli was a crash, and belief in one’s own strength was increasingly decreasing. Glasner also vented his anger more and more publicly, above all criticizing the fact that in winter there were no reinforcements for the defense, which was sometimes very weakened by bad luck with injuries. For a long time, Krösche took the trainer’s criticism calmly, he didn’t weigh every word he said at press conferences.
But the 42-year-old has to make clear decisions, he is responsible for the strategy and has to decide what is “best for the club”: “It developed like this and then you have to make unpopular decisions. It’s not about Oliver Glasner or Markus Krösche – it’s about Eintracht Frankfurt.”