Power struggles at management level, star players out of shape and a coach who tries to cover his frustration with humor.
Eintracht Frankfurt is in the most difficult phase of the season after the seventh winless competitive game in a row. Head coach Oliver Glasner was satisfied with the performance in the 1-1 draw against VfL Bochum, but had to moderate the next setback in the fight for the Champions League. After the Austrian made several jokes, he said – grinning but slightly annoyed – about the team of referees: “There were only seven referees at work today. That’s a bit too few.”
Even if Glasner explicitly referred to several controversial scenes, he spoke of all the dissatisfaction of the past few weeks. If the cup game against Union Berlin also goes wrong on Tuesday (6 p.m.), Eintracht is threatened with a low point this season. There is currently little to suggest that spring 2023 for the Europa League winners from Hesse could even begin to be as glorious as last year, when at the end there was a magical night at FC Barcelona and the triumph of Seville. “The result is annoying and doesn’t satisfy us,” said sporting director Markus Krösche about the lost points on Friday evening.
problems at management level
A year ago, the club looked like one big unit, but now it is struggling with a number of problems. At the management level around CEO Axel Hellmann and Supervisory Board boss Philip Holzer, there is so much squabbling that President Peter Fischer recently felt called upon to put his foot down.
“Differences and different opinions are part of it, but they shouldn’t be carried out in public. Divisive communication is harmful,” said Fischer. A sporting success against Bochum’s extremely defensive team would have helped to set the mood, but once again it didn’t happen given the usury of chances.
“It’s extremely frustrating, you can’t put it into words. The great effort isn’t leading to great success at the moment,” said Captain Sebastian Rode. A Randal Kolo Muani penalty was not enough to turn a deficit after Takuma Asano’s all-too-easy goal.
France striker Kolo Muani has already scored 12 goals this season but is something of a solo entertainer at this stage of the season. “Kolo can’t score two goals in every game either. It’s important to spread the load over several shoulders,” demanded Rode. Without the Dane Jesper Lindström, who has been injured for weeks, there is a lack of speed and often creativity. Former world champion Mario Götze has lost shape. With the Japanese Daichi Kamada, who is likely to leave the club in the summer, it is currently only enough for the substitute bench.
Before difficult Bundesliga weeks with games in Leverkusen, against Gladbach and in Dortmund, the quarter-finals of the cup will now be a key game. “After such a game in which you were overwhelmingly superior, it’s good that we’re playing in the DFB Cup again on Tuesday. Then of course we want to make it into the semi-finals,” said Krösche.
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