There are only a few constants in the Eintracht Frankfurt squad. Of the 16 players who took the field in the 2022 Europa League final, which Frankfurt won 5-4 on penalties against Glasgow Rangers, only three remain: goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, Ansgar Knauff and Tuta. The latter has surprisingly developed into a key player this season.
The central defender has often been criticized for his performance fluctuations. Former coach Oliver Glasner railed against Tuta and his defensive colleagues: “It’s a question of quality. I don’t know how you can train quality.” Tuta also put in very mixed performances last season under Glasner’s successor Dino Toppmöller. Many expected that the defender would no longer be able to rise above the role of a substitute.
The 150th competitive game for Eintracht
But Tuta is not letting himself be put down. The central defender Aurele Amenda, brought in from Bern for a transfer fee of nine million euros, has to take a back seat for now. Tuta has been on the pitch from the first to the last minute in all seven competitive games, and last Sunday in Kiel he made his 150th appearance in an Adler shirt. Only club stalwart Timothy Chandler (195) and the currently injured Trapp (351) are ahead of him. Tuta has been unusually solid so far, winning 60 percent of his duels in the first five matchdays. By comparison, in 2023/24 it was 54 percent.
Sporting director Timmo Hardung knows that the defender’s formative years on the Main were no walk in the park. “At the beginning of the 2021/22 season, he had a very difficult time and was out of the squad for several weeks. But he came out of that tough period and has been a regular starter ever since. His versatility is extremely important for us: he has also played in the center of the park and at right-back,” explains Hardung.
Good technique, risky decisions?
Hardung attributes the 25-year-old’s occasional high error rate to an unusual reason: Tuta’s footballing quality. “It may sound a bit strange, but some of his mistakes resulted from him wanting too much and making risky decisions,” the 34-year-old analyzed. Tuta is a ‘very good footballer,’ but he also shows the necessary ‘defense mentality.’
Surprising deployment in the number six role
The fact that the defender, who joined us from Sao Paulo in 2019, has settled in is also down to his new teammates: Rasmus Kristensen (27) and Arthur Theate (24) are helping out with their international experience and leadership qualities. Meanwhile, Tuta is also brimming with confidence. In Kiel, he surprisingly played in the six-man midfield in the first half, then switched back to center-back, where he replaced Amenda, who was at risk of being sent off.
He did an excellent job in both positions. He set up the 1-0 by Omar Marmoush with a strong ball into the depth, and scored the 4-2 himself after coming forward on a corner. There is no getting around Tuta in the upcoming away game at Besiktas either. He will likely start in the center of defense alongside Robin Koch, unless Mother Nature has something against it. Tuta’s wife is heavily pregnant and expecting a child…
