AOliver Glasner still has to tinker with the line-up. In his opinion, not the setting. After the defeat in Leverkusen and before the upcoming home game against Mönchengladbach, who were also victorious recently, on Saturday evening in the sold-out arena (kick-off 6:30 p.m.), Eintracht coach Glasner thought a lot about the condition of his players.
Unlike usual, the Frankfurt football coach even chose harsh words to assess the situation. “Everyone here at the club works their ass off for success. Everyone gives everything. I’ll put my hand in the fire for that.”
The fact that Eintracht strayed a little off course in the second half of the season and lost a lot of ground in the battle for Europe hurts the ambitious Glasner. “It’s not that easy for us to be successful again. And it wasn’t our intention to lose so many games to get out there and be in the hunter’s role,” said the 48-year-old Austrian on Thursday. But the negative trend of the past few weeks cannot be denied.
“In the norm”
Glasner’s approach: “It makes no sense to look at the table situation. We have to deal with the performance.” In his opinion, that would be correct. As proof, the Eintracht coach pulled out a prepared cheat sheet and named the respective final placements of Frankfurt Bundesliga teams since the successful relegation in 2016 against Nuremberg. 11 – 8 – 7 – 9 – 5 – 11. Long-time club companions know these numbers – and Eintracht supporters know them too. What Glasner wanted to express: As the current seventh in the table, “we’re within the norm,” he said.
In the first half of this Bundesliga season, Glasner scored 31 points with his team. In ten second half games so far only ten more points have been added. The momentum from autumn has clearly lost momentum. Daichi Kamada represents the development of Eintracht. The Japanese, who will leave Frankfurt in the summer after six years under contract, was a guarantee for goals, tricks and dreams in the strong first half of the season. “He had an incredible run,” Glasner recalled on Thursday.
“In the fall he still used everything. Now, for example, he has three top-class chances in Union” – and doesn’t hit. As long as Kamada is still wearing the Eintracht dress, Glasner assumes a full focus on Frankfurt. “He gives everything for Eintracht until June 3rd.” A date that Glasner chose carefully, but did not go into detail. Because the football fans who sympathize with the Frankfurters know, of course, that the DFB Cup final will kick off on June 2nd in the Berlin Olympic Stadium.
Going their separate ways after this season: Daichi Kamada, who is looking for a new challenge, and trainer Oliver Glasner.
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Image: dpa
The aspired final is only one game away. This Friday, the German Football Association will announce exactly whether Eintracht has to play at VfB Stuttgart on May 2nd or 3rd. Bad body language, lack of attitude? Glasner didn’t want to hear any of this. Instead, he said: “In terms of running values, Daichi Kamada is always in the top two to three at Eintracht.”
A decades-long classic
The situation on the left-hand side is anything but “top” at the moment. There is a threat of major personnel restructuring measures against Gladbach. It has been clear since Wednesday that Philipp Max will not be available to the team for “about three weeks”, according to his coach’s forecast. When standards were practiced at the end of the training session, “Philippe’s muscles got in touch”.
In concrete terms, this means that the left wingman is out against Gladbach because of the malaise on the thigh. It is conceivable that left foot Evan Ndicka will not be able to pursue his playful work either. The French are also plagued by muscular problems, as Glasner reported. On Thursday, when training was closed to the public, Ndicka was not there.
Eintracht against Borussia: In the Bundesliga canon, this is a decades-old classic. “In terms of performance, both teams are relatively similar,” said Glasner, who is certain: “Small things will decide. I’m expecting a hotly contested game.” The impressions of the past few days made him confident. “I am very satisfied with the commitment and the performance in training.”
Against Borussia, Eintracht must now also show in the competition that the attitude is right and the line-up, which Glasner wants to keep open until just before kick-off, meets the highest requirements. “Gladbach have a variable offensive,” Glasner praised the opponent. “They have very good footballers with robustness and pace. But they are also vulnerable and offer spaces.” Spaces in which Kamada, who is on his farewell tour, could play and push as a substitute for the suspended Mario Götze.