After an actually harmless question, Oliver Glasner finally lost his composure. The head coach of Eintracht Frankfurt, who has been appearing thin-skinned for weeks, launched into a memorable angry speech that made the clear 1: 3 (0: 3) at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and the following interview boycott of the Frankfurt professionals almost a minor matter.
“Stop accusing the team of something like ‘don’t get it’. Old Makoto Hasebe is 39 years old, he’s playing 90 minutes for the third time this week. He has blood in his urine,” said the 48-year-old Glasner loud voice. He had previously seen the red card for his behavior in the tenth league game without a win in a row. Glasner was then asked during the press conference whether his team hadn’t seen the chance of a place in the European Cup after the defeats of Bayer Leverkusen and FSV Mainz 05.
At Eintracht Frankfurt the nerves are on edge
Glasner’s anger became ever greater and more visible, his loud speech resembled an instructive rebuke. “Stop me with this rubbish. I know what the guys are doing here. This team is contesting the second final in their second year. Of course they got it,” said Glasner. When he was asked to answer another question immediately afterwards, whose idea the professional press boycott was, the Austrian suddenly answered quietly: “I was in the stands.” A short time later he was gone.
Cup final or not: Eintracht Frankfurt’s nerves are on edge. And there is more and more evidence that the path of the coach from Austria will end with the Hessian Europa League winner with the cup final on June 3 against RB Leipzig. Ten Bundesliga games without a win are a huge sporting burden, and the discord within the club seems to be growing. The fact that shortly after Glasner’s red card no other manager or professional wanted to speak seemed like a symbol in these turbulent days.
Especially since Glasner doesn’t seem to enjoy being the Eintracht coach anymore. Snooty press conferences have been repeated for weeks. He admitted as a mistake that he saw referee Harm Osmers red because of his misconduct on the sidelines. “I wanted to express my displeasure, that wasn’t right. I accept the consequences,” said Glasner. He casually described the ball shot into the field as “his silent protest against the referee’s performance”.
Matarazzo and TSG shortly before remaining in the class
Kevin Trapp and Mario Götze also attacked Osmers harshly on the field after goals conceded by Christoph Baumgartner (9th), Andrej Kramaric (41st, penalty kick) and Ihlas Bebou (45th, 3). When asked what the referee did wrong, Glasner replied: “You were all in the stadium anyway.” Götze’s goal (54th) and the red card from Hoffenheim’s Stanley Nsoki (49th) after the break remained marginal.
After the massive turbulence in Frankfurt, that was also the victory of TSG, which gained massive air in the relegation battle. “We showed a lot of heart when we were outnumbered. All in all, it’s a deserved win. I’m glad that the boys were finally able to reward themselves again,” said coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, who was about to be released in March – and now just before leaving the class.
World Cup bronze medalist Kramaric, Baumgartner and returnee Grischa Prömel were decisive factors on the way to the home win, which was further enhanced by the defeats in Bochum (0:2 in Gladbach) and Stuttgart (1:2 at Hertha BSC). Prömel deserved special praise after a month-long injury break. “He’s a player who exudes a lot. He communicates. He’s clever in his actions, brings robustness to his actions. He brings a lot to his team,” enthused Matarazzo.
