The Kostic Situation: Just Diva Drama, no need to worry here.

*Note: This is not a serious article, this is not investigative reporting, it's sarcasm. I just wanted to have some fun with this. I hope you have fun with it too, and maybe laugh a little.  

If you step back and think about it, it almost makes you laugh.  A Diva, a suiter, and a fake email address.  A reported strike from our star winger, and some really weird details that don't add up.  In a rather boring overall Transfer Window (even with CR7 and Messi moving), this added excitement to the end.  It was like the end of the marathon at the Olympics, where everyone is sprinting that final 100 yards and are neck and neck, but then one of them falls on their face on national TV.  This is tragically funny. Don't think so?  Let's have a re-look at the timeline:

June 22nd: Roma Press reports that Lazio is in negotiations with Eintracht for Kostic.  The reported offer could be worth €15mil, but no actual number is posted.

August 8th: Rumors heat back up, with TuttoMurcatoWeb.com reporting that Lazio is intensifying their negotiations with Eintracht. Alfredo Pedulla reports that Kostic has come to personal terms with the club for around €2.5 per season, plus incentives. Pedulla reports that the agreement is for a loan deal, worth between €18-20million.

August 11th: Markus Krösche states he has yet to receive any offer from Lazio in a press conference.

August 14th:  This Tweet:

August 20th: Pedulla reports again that Lazio and Kostic are in complete agreement, Christopher Michel questions on Twitter how Lazio can afford Kostic for that price.

August 23rd: Oliver Glasner assures that Kostic is staying with them.

August 26th: Lazio moves Joaquín Correa for €35mil.  SkySport speculates that the Kostic situation is hot.

August 27th: Glasner states again that Kostic is staying in Frankfurt.  Also, Filip Kostic walks off the pitch during training and is not available for the Bielefeld game. Glasner and Krösche publicly state they are frustrated with his actions.

August 28th:  Krösche confirms Kostic has asked to move but reiterates that there has been no offer received from Lazio.

August 29th: Lazio reportedly makes a formal offer for €10 to buy Kostic outright, Eintracht reject the offer.  

Roman Murphy says the only real truth in the entire ordeal.

August 30th: Multiple media outlets report that Eintracht and Lazio are in conference calls trying to finalize the deal. Lazio increases the size of the deal to (reportedly) €15mil + €3mil in add ons.

August 31st: SkySports reports that the deal with Lazio is officially off. Kroesche makes the following statement: "Our task is to ensure the economic and sporting stability of Eintracht Frankfurt. Obviously, this is also the case in this case. Kostic is a good man & a great footballer. We believe he can continue to be an important pillar of our team as well in the future".

Sept 1st: According to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, Eintracht gave them the wrong email address in order to sabotage the deal. Apparently, Kostic's agent receives a screenshot of the email and shows it to him.

Sept 2nd: News reports state that Lazio simply left the K out of Frankfurt and made a typo, costing them the deal.

Here's the real story, this deal was a ridiculous one.  The fact that the best offer reported was either a loan deal worth half of Kostic's worth, or an outright buy worth a third tells me Lazio wasn't really that serious about it, to begin with.  Either that or they don't actually know what they were trying to buy.

Seriously?  This doesn't seem fishy to anyone?  Let's have a little fun here.  With Disney's "What If" playing in the background as I write this, let's play The Scenario Game.  Let's walk through a couple of actual scenarios and play this out.

Scenario 1: The gorgeous something at the bar.

We've all been there.  You have your eye on that certain extremely attractive person across the bar, they make eyes back at you, and you walk over to work your magic.  You are soo confident that you offer to buy them a drink, and when they ask for that $20 cocktail you almost spit yours through your nose.  Their friend says they like you, and you are sure you are leaving with that person.  They come back, you chat for a while, exchange numbers and you're sure that there could be a  future with this one.  At the end of the night, you play it cool instead of being super aggressive and decide to leave with a number and a hug.  When you get your place, it's then, and only then that you realized you actually had no chance at all because the phone number you got was for a dry cleaning service in the strip mall across the street from the bar.  

Lazio made a terribly low offer for Kostic, Eintracht was like "Yeah, sure, we'll hop right on accepting that offer (sarcasm).......here's our email address." and Lazio actually thought it was done.  They were soo excited they told all their friends.  They pulled a Good Will Hunting "You like apples?  Well I got her number, how you like them apples?" to everyone through the press. It wasn't until later that night when they decided to hit the Diva up they realized they were given the wrong number. Then they realized that they had no chance after the transfer window expired.  

Scenario 2: The fish that got away.

It's very possible that Lazio was soo embarrassed about getting turned down, that they made the whole thing up, like a guy that's bragged all day about catching everyone's dinner only to come home empty-handed.

Lazio:  "Listen, Filip (and our entire fanbase)......hear us out......this deal was COMPLETELY DONE.....except for the fact that we opened our bidding at 1/4th of what you're worth......oh, and the fact that we emailed the bid instead of flying to Frankfurt and hammering out a deal in person.......oh, and that part where we didn't have the right email address.  Also, our bid was soo low the first time Eintracht rejected it.....OTHER THAN THAT IT WAS CONCRETE!"

Scenario 3: What Hinti Said.

Hinteregger didn't mix words recently whenever he spoke about the entire situation.  It's highly likely that a ton of those details were fake, made-up stories by News Media sites.  It's most likely that people were just trying to get a story and not reporting the truth.  Like the soccer tabloids never do that?  They're worse than National Enquirer at times.

To sum this nonsense up:

First of all, this is a professional business run by professional businessmen?  WHO EMAILS THIS BID?  Why didn't Lazio put their feet in Frankfurt and hammer out a deal?  Who sends an email to a wrong address and doesn't immediately pick up a phone and call to correct it?  Who was reporting for months that the deal was done, posting ridiculously terrible deals while Eintracht's front office is reporting they never received a deal?  All of this is too crazy to be fake.......I'm not heartbroken that Kostic is staying here for a while longer.  He's signed until 2023, and he's the most important player in our attack.  Whatever happened in the way the deal didn't get done......I don't really care.  The fact that Kostic left training and didn't suit up against Bielefeld.  I don't like it, but I understand it.  It's no secret that he would like to play in Italy.  I would imagine Lazio offered him a pretty nice raise from what he's making now.  If my employer blocked me from going to my dream job and taking a hefty raise, I'd probably be pretty mad too.  Regardless of how we feel about anything, he's an Eagle for the foreseeable future.  I'm happy that he got a warm welcome against VfB, and I almost jumped through the roof when he scored that goal.  Let's just put all this craziness behind us and get to work.  Maybe Lazio should take some of that money they saved and invest in some IT and Technology infrastructure.

Press on, 

Forza S.G.E.

Brian

Eintracht 1:1 VfB Stuttgart - Recap

 

And just like that.....poof!  The magicians made magic.  Die Adler have a habit of turning 3 points into 1 in the blink of an eye, and a side effect of the trick is a punch in my stomach.  Eintracht has been soo good at this during the early parts of the 2021/2022 season, you almost have to believe they are doing it on purpose. In yet another game against one of the bottom-table Bundesliga sides, Eintracht made magic happen.  Not good magic, this isn't Harry Potter, this is grey magic.  It's neither good nor bad, it's just riding the fence on both sides.  This team is being drawn by the dark side to be spiraled into oblivion, but we all know the potential it has to be great.  Either that, or we've been cursed by witchcraft.  I don't know what the German version of "mojo" is, but we need Eintracht Internationale to start pulling out their charms and warding these evil spirits off.

The most difficult thing about the early part of this year is that the games have required absolute defensive perfection.  We all know that is almost impossible in any sport, amateur or professional.  Mistakes happen, balls bounce weird, and sometimes lady fortune smiles on one player over another.  In the Bundesliga, it's exceptionally hard.  Even the worst of teams are capable of scoring goals at the drop of a hat.  You know why?  Because it's a really good league.  The problem with this team isn't the defense.  I've been reading it, I've been heard people talking about it, I don't think it's correct.  Has Evan N'Dicka struggled with his angles on the right side of the back line?  Sure, a little.  He was beaten bad by Omar Mamoush at the 17 minute mark with no help behind him.  Luckily Trapp....well....Trapped it.

It took a lucky bounce and a perfect strike for Armenia Bielefeld to score, and it took an unbelievable lucky bounce through Evan N'Dicka and under Kevin Trapp......in perfect time to meet the right foot of Omar Marmoush......for him to toe flick one into the goal.  VfB managed only 7 shots from open play, and 3 of those found an Eintracht defender before it even got to the target.  Two of their shots, and two shots on target, came on the play that scored the goal.  The defense has been good enough to win the last three games.  Honestly, if Hinti just realizes he has time and blasts the ball downfield we aren't even talking about this right now.  If Hinti gets a solid head on the ball one of the two times, we aren't talking about this.  And if any of the other defenders on the pitch weren't completely frozen by what was taken place, we aren't talking about this.  But that's expecting perfection in unperfect circumstances.  These plays happen in almost every single Bundesliga game every single week.  Do you know what else would have solved this problem?  The ability to put the ball in the back of the net.

To expect a Team like Eintracht to be able to find the net twice against Stuttgart shouldn't be unreasonable.  Sam Lammers had opportunities.  Sam Lammers should have had at least a couple on target, and for a guy touting that he wanted to come here and help with the goal scoring, he sure looked shaky with the ball in front of the net.  Lammers was slow to make decisions and slow to pull the trigger on two really good opportunities in the second half.  He was mostly unnoticeable in the first half, looked lost on the field, and never got in between the defender and the ball.  The attack actually looked better once he came off for Borre.  

And while the attack picked up once Borre came on (but really mostly because of Kostic), Borre missed a dead-to-rights chance of his own.  With a play that almost defied the laws of physics, Borre hit the post and the keeper's back on the carom and found the perfect amount of English (sidespin) tonestle down on the goal line and not roll into the goal.  It was a trick you couldn't do on purpose, it had to be by accident.  It should have never come to that though: Borre has to put that home.  Wide-open from 7 yards out directly in front of the net?  That should be automatic for any starter in the Bundesliga.  It should be automatic for a guy trying to earn a starting spot on a traditional European Club.  It should be automatic for a guy that wants to play in a European competition.  But on this attack this year, the only thing that is guaranteed is Filip Kostic's effort.

Speaking of Kostic, I loved the way the Frankfurt Faithful welcomed him.  He immediately changed the game and I wish he would have started.  As a coach of 14-year-olds, I get sitting him, but don't think I would have done that in this situation.  I'm working on a piece that will explain my thoughts here, so more on this later.  It wasn't just that he scored a massive goal, it was the energy he brought with him.  I've been saying all along the easiest way to fix this situation is to put him back on the pitch, and his minutes on Sunday are precisely why I've been saying that.  Kostic is a competitor.  He's not scared of any situation, he's not scared of any opposition, he doesn't even seem to care about the score or what else is going on in the world.  When Kostic steps on the field he comes to play, and he gives it his all. It took him less than a minute to show he was ready to deliver, and I'm extremely happy he's staying.

There is enough in this squad that you can easily observe that between Kostic, Kamada, and Hauge, the team is starting to figure things out.  Sow and Hrustic connected better to Kamada, Hauge, and Lindstrom than in previous games.  It's just that final play.  Against Stuttgart, we were much better at finding guys in shooting positions.  We just didn't finish off those plays.  Guys had gaping wholes and 2 v 1's in the attacking third with regularity but didn't finish off the play.  That will come.  You know it, I know it, Glasner knows it, the team knows it.  We are 4 games in, there are 90 points left on the table.  It's not time to make a final decision on this team yet.  This will take time. Until then, let's hope that the defense continues to play well enough to win games. Let's get it straight and go get Fenerbache.

Until Then,

Thanks again for Reading 

Forza S.G.E.

Let's all stop, relax, and take a break......

 

Liebe Eintracht Fans:  Let's just relax for a minute.  It's been a rough start to the season, and we all need to regroup.  With Eintracht sitting on 0 wins, 2 points, and looking rough in the early part of the year it's easy to lose hope.  But this season is going to be a marathon and we are still trying to get loose and shake the rust off.  From the complete debacle in Mannheim to the defensive nightmare in Dortmund to the flat, uninspired attacking play of the last two weeks, there's a lot to digest.  Let's take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly through the early goings of the season.

Oliver Glasner's slowly adjusting tactics:

Glasner opened the season in a familiar 3 in-the-back formation.  Trying to recreate last year's "Dopplezehn", we saw a familiar problem:  Too many cracks in the back.  However, this rendition was also punchless in the front.  Glasner utilized a 4-2-3-1 against both Augsburg and Armenia Bielefeld.  While the defense has been better than we've seen in quite some time, keeping Kevin Trapp mostly clean, it wasn't enough to earn three points in either game. Both games were very winnable and honestly should have resulted in 6 points.  

The fact that Eintracht didn't find the back of the net against Augsburg is pretty amazing.  21 shots, 5 on target, 63% possession, 6 corners, 6 set-piece chances.......and 0 goals.  Eintracht completely dominated everything about this game except the only thing that matters - the scoreboard.  You would have thought Eintracht would have "accidentlied" their way to a goal.  But focusing on 0 goals misses an important point, we defensively dominated Augsburg.  Augsburg was stifled by Djibril Sow, Adjen Hrustic, and the backline, managing only 4 chances, 0 of which was on target. Trapp posted a clean sheet and never even registered a save.  That's an amazing turnaround after giving up 5 goals to Dortmund.  The results were similar against Bielefeld, and it took a perfectly struck bender, around Djibril Sow and through three defenders to beat Trapp that day.  

While this goal resulted in dropping two points, Glasner's high pressing system and a super active midfield had dominated possession (65%) forced a multitude of bad passes (Bielefeld had a 66% passing rate on the day), and Eintracht dominated the first half again.  Bielefeld began to break through at about the 70th minute, and the insertion of Patrick Wimmer in the 86th minute changed the run of play.  Wimmer didn't score the goal from having more energy than the Eagle Defenders though.  He scored it from being in the right place at the right time (with a bit of luck). It all started with a cross into the box from Robin Hack that Martin Hinterigger headed away.  Fabian Klos won the second ball and got credit for an assist, but in all reality, he took a terrible touch and lost the ball.  He was actually trying to chase the ball down when it wound up at Wimmer's right foot who one-touch blasted it into the farside corner.  While you don't get by on moral victories, this game should give all of us confidence in what this Eintracht team is going to be: a solid backline coupled with a hyper-active midfield defensively.  The high pressing points from the front line are forcing teams to simply blast the ball downfield, or hit bad balls to the midfield which Sow, Hrustic, and Hauge are gobbling up with regularity in dangerous spots.  While this team is a work in progress, it appears one foundation has been laid.  

What is desperately missing is simply finishing off possessions in the final third.  Die Adler has shown some excellent combo and give-and-go play at times, only to come away with nothing.  The final pass, the final touch, the shot are all just a bit too much off-target.  The system and style are there, the final execution is not.  They are a great joke without a punchline, a sentence without a period.  Rafael Borré has had a hard time finding spaces in the middle of the pitch, and his teammates have had a difficult time finding him.  While Jens Petter Hauge has knocked home 2 goals in three games, there have been few threats otherwise.  Probably the best chance to beat Bielefeld can on Gonçalo Paciência's flying back-post header in the 92nd minute.  That shot went just wide but is a microcosm of Eintracht's failing attack.  Paciência was unmarked, unchecked, and was the only person at the back post.  The cross was just a tad bit off, so was the header, and the game ended in a 1:1 draw.  That's a play that a team with the aspirations of Eintracht has to complete.  

While I've read the woe and desperation that both fans and writers are producing on multiple platforms, it's not all woe and despair.  The backline has been much more organized the last two games than what we saw at almost any point last year, and Djibril Sow has been one of the best defensive midfielders in the entire Bundesliga so far.  While the beginning of this season smacked a lot of people with high expectations down, it should have been exactly what we expected.  New Coach, New Strikers, New Formation, New Wingers, and Diva Drama.  This will take time.  Eintracht still has plenty of year left to get into a top 4, and we'll look at the final steps that need to be taken in order to get there.

The Striker Situation:

Glasner now has an intriguing situation developing at Center Forward.  With Borré, Sam Lammers, Gonçalo Paciência, and Ragnar Ache, he has four completely different guys with completely different skillsets.  Finding the tip of the arrow is the most vital part of the equation right now.  Developing this system with these guys will require something that Eintracht really doesn't have: time.  With Borré, you have a timing-based player very similar to Andre Silva.  Borré is best when he has the ball in space, or when he is making runs between defenders.  As we saw with Silva, that takes a great deal of time to develop.  Silva didn't come to Eintracht has a 28 goal scorer, he had to develop the timing and cohesion with his playmakers.  Kostic and Kamada took time to learn where he would be and when he would be there.  It takes precision, accuracy, and anticipation by both the scorer and the passer, and those things take time.  Whether Borre has the ceiling of Silva or not is debatable, but what's not is that he can score goals and that it will take time for him to gel with the rest of the team.  He's also being asked to hold up play and work the Center Forward pivot more than his size dictates.  Borré is not a big Center Forward type (5'10" - 154lbs)

Lammers is a big (6'3" - 180lb) Center Forward type player who can get in front of defenders and make plays with his feet.  Lammers has good ball skills and can work his way out of tight spaces and make plays.  He's had the more productive seasons between the two and has logged more minutes at Heerenveen in 2019 than Borré had in the last two years combined.  Both are fairly young, but Lammers fits more of the Wout Weghorst model that Glasner had in Wolfsburg.  A large, skilled, athletic Center Forward that can make plays, press, and find the back of the net.  After a disappointing turn at Atalanta, he comes to a team hungry for a big playmaker in the middle of the pitch.  Sebastien Haller wreaked havoc in that role, Baz Dost was mostly disappointing (I'm being kind here, he's a good guy that didn't work out), and Paciencia has been mostly non-existent.  This could be the perfect fit for a guy like Lammers, but he has a lot to learn with little time to get there.  Lammers could also be the easiest transition to a goal-scoring option since he can make plays in between the lines and can get physical with defenders inside the box. Lammers can get his big body on defenders and fend them off to win the ball in dangerous positions. It's also easier for Kostic and crew to find the head of a 6'3 athlete than it is to find a 5'10" timing-based player.  It also brings up the question of if Glasner plays them together.  What system will he use, how do they play off each other, and if he goes with two strikers, what happens to Kamada, Lindstrom, and Younes?  I think the most likely scenario is one wins the starting job, the other is a rotation/situational starter.  This to me is the most intriguing storyline of the rest of the year.

Ache is fast, and I believe will likely spend time transitioning between Striker and Right-Wing.  I think he'll play, but his minutes will be sparing and his position inconsistent.  Paciência will factor in as a sub in some games, but most likely is the man left out with the signing of Lammers.  Gonçalo has lost a lot of burst and athleticism that he had (which wasn't much) with the injuries he's sustained over the last few years but is a smart player with a good-sized frame and decent skills.  He's not going to strike fear in any Bundesliga defense, but can still make plays from time to time.  

Djibril Sow's overlooked brilliance:

Sow has simply been phenomenal. You don't need a stat geek like me to tell you how good he's been, you just need to watch the games.  But, a stat geek's going to stat geek so here we go.  Djibril is tied for 4th in tackles (10), tied for 2nd in tackles won (7), 7th in Interceptions (10) 4th in balls recovered (39), has won 100% of his areal duels and has completed 89% of his passes, including 87% (27/31) of his passes 30 yards or longer.  His 4.7 Long balls per game rank 21st in the league, and first among all midfielders.  He's shut down opponents before they even cross midfield and is a major reason why Eintracht has dominated possession in the last two games.  Bielefeld only began to break Eintrachts defenses when they began to bypass the midfield altogether and play balls down the sideline to Fabian Klos.  They only scored by somehow missing the back of Sow's legs on a perfectly struck ball.  

It's also hard to see because of the 5 goals conceded against Dortmund, but if you think of every one of those goals, it was Erling Haaland busting between the backline, and many of the passes he recieved went over Makoto Hasebe's head. Even in this debacle Sow had 4 tackles, 7 interceptions, and 13 recoveries.  He more than did his part in this job.  Since then Sow has dropped deeper and is playing much more of a deep pivot than a forward attacking player.  He has to connect better with the front line, but he's been spectacular this year.

The problem with the new-look backline:

While the back four of Christopher Lenz, Martin Hinterigger, Evan N'Dicka, and Erik Durm have been exceptionally solid the last two games, the biggest problem is that 3 of the four are left-footed.  While that doesn't sound like that big of a problem, and Hinti can play with either foot in short and medium ranges, having two left-footed center-backs slows down counterattacking possibilities on the right side of the pitch.  It's hard for either N'Dicka or Hinti to play the ball through the lines from the right side, so you have to play through Durm or the midfield.  Hitting Hauge on a quick strike becomes highly unlikely.  

Final Thoughts:

As we have a little time on international break to regather and refocus, let's hope our Liebe Eintracht can hit the training ground and sort out some of these issues.  With Europa League group stages starting on September 16 and Eintracht needing a win, the Sept. 12th game against Stuttgart needs to see some improvements in the attack.  Stuttgart has one of the worst defenses in the Bundesliga currently but has scored 7 goals in three games. After a 0:4 defeat to Leipzig and a 2:3 defeat at the hands of Freiburg, Stuttgart will be working to solidify their backline.  Granted that 5 of their goals came against Greuther Furth, Stuttgart has the ability to score in bunches also.  Five different players have found the back of the net for Die Roten this year, and Eintracht must be ready.  I firmly believe that Eintracht will find a way to start netting goals over the 6 game stretch that is coming up.  The game with Fenerbache is concerning considering the quality of their squad.  But, let's all just relax for the time being and trust in our Eagles.  Let's take the next 7 days to just breathe.

Thanks again for reading,

Forza S.G.E.

Brian