Who guided Jessic Ngankam on the right path when the new signing from Hertha BSC wandered through the extensive professional camp on his first day at Eintracht Frankfurt? Timothy Chandler, of course. The 33-year-old professional soccer player is something like Eintracht’s integration officer. “It’s just in my heart to approach other people,” says the German-American who grew up in Altenstadt.
His abilities as a mood cannon, his social skills and his team spirit have clearly surpassed his effectiveness as a football player on the green turf in the past two years. Without his secondary virtues, Chandler’s contract would certainly not have been extended to July 1, 2025.
And that’s how he is perceived by most fans, more as a bear in a good mood, less as a high-performance athlete who decisively advances Eintracht. Does that bother him? “No, because it’s in my person. I was like that when I was still a regular player. I don’t have to play to be in a good mood.”
Almost withered
In the second half of last season, it almost happened that Chandler lost his positive mood. Coach Oliver Glasner let him wither away on the substitutes’ bench, although many players were injured and many representatives disappointed. “Everyone got their chance, just not me,” said the flexible defender, who says of himself: “In a five-man defense I can play everything, from right to left.”
The professional, otherwise calibrated for communication, did not seek a clarifying conversation with Glasner. “I had worked in every training session to get my chance, but I didn’t get it. I don’t have to start a conversation there.” But Chandler remained true to himself in that he didn’t start to get angry, but continued to play the sunny boy. “If I needed minimum minutes to keep my spirits up, I would have lost it last season.”
“There was laughter too”
That would only happen if? “If the players in the dressing room don’t treat each other with respect.” When ego is put above the collective, Chandler becomes uncomfortable. But that didn’t happen for a long time, although he admits that not everything went well in the past second half of the season. “The mood wasn’t really bad, there was also laughter, but many players were no longer fully involved, there were many other topics, who goes to which club, what about the coach?” That led to ” that the last bit of energy was missing on the pitch, which is what otherwise distinguished us”.
With the change of coach to Dino Toppmöller, there has been a fundamental change in mood. Chandler reports “a lot of fresh wind”. Toppmöller’s opening speech made a very good impression on the team.
Chandler integrated Jessic Ngankam. : Image: dpa
A breath of fresh air is guaranteed solely by the seven newcomers that Eintracht have already signed, plus Jens Petter Hauge and Ali Akman, two returning from loan deals. So Chandler’s integrative skills are more in demand than ever in a roster of 35 professionals at the moment.
Jessic Ngankam also trained for the first time on Friday, having passed the medical test on Thursday evening, completing the transfer. Frankfurt agreed with relegated Hertha on a fee of around four million euros plus possible bonus payments.
Confident professional
With the striker, who will be 23 next week, Eintracht will have a self-confident professional who is not afraid to name his strengths: “I like to go deep, I can assert myself, get the ball fixed and score goals.” So far there were eight in 43 Bundesliga games. He scored one goal in five international matches for the U-21 youth national team.
Ngankam has played for Hertha since he was a child, like Chandler for Eintracht, and was only loaned out to Greuther Fürth once for a year. He was relegated with the Franks in May 2022, after returning to Hertha he had the same mishap with the Berliners in May 2023.
“Robustness and Speed”
In Frankfurt, of course, nobody thinks of a bad omen, the expectations are completely different, you think European in the heart of Europe: Sport director Markus Krösche is convinced of the qualities of the striker: “He brings robustness and speed and depth. Exactly what we need. Jessic fits in perfectly with our strategy. We are pleased that he has decided to join Eintracht Frankfurt despite other interesting offers.”
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And Timothy Chandler will tell him what it takes to assert yourself as a young player in a large squad at Eintracht: “For young players, the most important thing is self-confidence. They have to come out of their shells, show that they belong here, they have to give everything, even when they lie in bed with cramps at night. They are allowed to make mistakes, so I’ll keep my protective hand over them.”