The third lucky punch within a week lets Eintracht breathe a collective sigh of relief. However, many fundamental problems remain even after the fortunate 2-1 win in Fürth. Without a significant improvement, uncomfortable weeks are looming until Christmas.
A year ago, Eintracht lost 2-1 in Wolfsburg on matchday 11 and had just one more point on their account than they currently have with 13 points – dissatisfaction grew and the environment rumbled. Afterwards, however, the team blossomed more and more and in the end would probably even have stormed into the Champions League had there not been so much turbulence surrounding the poorly communicated departures of Fredi Bobic and Adi Hütter. Nevertheless, 60 points was a new record in the club’s history. The last time Eintracht played more successfully was in 1991/92, when they blew the German championship on the last matchday in Rostock. Back then, Frankfurt had 68 points after 38 matchdays – converted to the three-point system introduced as recently as 1995 – and 61 points after 34 games.
Glasner’s analysis falls short
Can Eintracht now achieve a similar turnaround to last season? Doubts are warranted. “If the players wore neutral jerseys, it would be hard to decipher which team it was – the Eintracht DNA has been lost to some extent”, However, there was also hope for improvement: “You don’t need much imagination to imagine how well the footballing triangle of Younes-Kamada-Silva could harmonise in a 3-4-2-1 formation. If Djibril Sow continues his upward trend alongside Sebastian Rode and Filip Kostic finds his way back to his old strength, the team is still capable of a positive surprise. This dormant potential should not go unnoticed despite all the criticism.” In the following match against Gladbach, Hütter actually changed his eleven to a basic order with two tens, initially Aymen Barkok still played alongside Amin Younes, but Kamada soon asserted himself alongside Younes. In the strongest phase of the season, which lasted until the 2-1 defeat against Bayern on matchday 22, Makoto Hasebe, who was moved to the six, also strengthened the midfield.
That is why Glasner’s analysis falls short when he refers to Eintracht’s cross-heavy play in the past. It is true that against some deep and compact opponents it was indeed an expression of a lack of ideas when rows and rows of harmless crosses came flying out of the half-field. But in the good phases of the season, Eintracht often found playful solutions through the middle, especially via Kamada and Younes. This double ten, in combination with top striker André Silva and left winger Filip Kostic, stood for exceptional quality in the offensive. It was difficult to stop Eintracht because this required taking out four outstanding offensive players with very different qualities. Kamada and Kostic are still there, but the loss of substance is considerable. The newcomers Rafael Borré, Sam Lammers, Jesper Lindström and Jens Petter Hauge cannot even come close to compensating for the loss of Silva and Younes. The rest of the season will also depend on whether and how quickly this quartet develops.
Just one normal training week until the winter break
Glasner appeals for patience until the winter break. “Until then, we will only make progress in very small steps,” he predicted after the win in Fürth. 14 professionals are currently with their national teams, after which eight games in four weeks are on the agenda. There is only a normal training week between the 13th and 14th matchday. This is a major problem for Glasner, because the way his team has performed for long periods this season cannot be allowed to continue. The positive results last week cannot conceal the many deficits. With a performance like the one in Fürth, Eintracht would probably be almost without a chance in the upcoming away game in Freiburg. “If we have whole weeks to train in January and February, I expect us and especially me to make clearly recognisable steps forward. At the moment, we are living off the mentality of the boys,” says Glasner. That sounds like a pious wish, and it seems questionable whether that will be enough to have a quiet Christmas. You can’t permanently rely on a last-minute lucky punch.
