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.
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.
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