Glasner's Angry, Gotze is complaining, but how does Eintracht get back on track?

 The newspapers (at least the usual German Newspapers that I read) all have the same things to say: (1) Glasner is angry and thin-skinned. (2) Mario Gotze complains too much. (3) This drop at the end of the season was predictable and is an almost yearly occurrence.  But what no one is talking about is how Eintracht gets back on track?  This is not your usual Eintracht squad.  This one has depth, experience, and the talent necessary to be in a top 6 spot. While tired legs and (probably) some bruised egos are to blame for the current fall from a European contention, the currently sit only 2 points behind Leverkusen for the 6th and final European spot.  Yes, they still have life to qualify for Europe through the Pokal, but for the sake of this article, let's just focus on getting Eintracht back to winning in the league and moving back up the table with 7 games left to play.

Run!

Very simply put, the loss of Jesper Lindstrøm has really hurt this team.  There are many reasons why the slip has happened since last year's Bundesliga Rookie of the Year went down with a ligament injury.  Lindstrøm's value to Eintracht was multidimensional, but none of those dimensions made more of an impact than his ability to run.  Lindstrøm's legs helped press the opponent's back line, wreak havoc in the transition game, and create huge holes for his teammates to run into.  Look at the picture above, right before Mario Gotze blows past Schalke's back line, finding Lindstrøm at the back post for a goal. All three are pressing the gaps of Schalke's back line with Embibe, Kamada, Sow and Knauf filling in behind them.  The front three, all set like loaded springs ready to uncoil unleashed fear on the opposing backlines for the majority of the season.  They were playing at track meet pace, but over the last few weeks that's changed.  Look below at his first goal against Borussia Monchengladbach on Match Day 11.

The pure speed of the front three, running tactically and in concert is 2/3rds of this goal.  Lindstrøm's quality and daringness make up the other 1/3rd.  This isn't a solitary moment though.  Jesper ran so fast and so often that his average position was actually slightly higher than RKM's. This was actually a common occurrence through the early portions of the year.

Jesper is still among the leaders in the Bundesliga in Intensive runs.  That's a credit to his work rate, and how running was opening up a large amount of space for Sow, Rode, and Kamada behind them. Without him, the timing, spacing, and directness of the offense have changed.  Borre is often playing closer to the mid-line, or more out wide than Jesper played which is changing the pace and directness that froze defenses all across Europe.  

Rafael Borré is also a much different player than Lindstrom.  Rafael is better in pockets of space, distributing and working meticulously towards the net.  Rafael is a very good back-to-the-net player and a smart and heady passer.  Jesper plays best when he plays like his hair is on fire, screaming down the field like an angry banshee.  He's more direct and has a much higher top-end speed than Borre.  

The second part of this is applying pressure to the opposing team's back line. Look here in the early part of the game against Leverkusen, you can see RKM trying to get Borre higher up the pitch to take away the other CB.

And granted, this is one possession within the first 1:15 of the game, but it was a trend in this game that led to his positioning being so low in this game.  By dropping and taking the holding midfielder away, Borre pushed Rode further back and as well and slowed down the transition game. This also may have been by design, because both he and Gotze are leaving the fullbacks wide open.   Whether by design or not, Eintracht is better when they are putting pressure on the opponents' ball handlers and covering the next pass.  Their biggest strength is their ability to cover ground quickly (especially with their front 7) and make the opponents play 70-80 yards under pressure.  When the opponents are able to sit back and make easy relief passes, Oliver Glasner's defense begins to break down.  They are also a deadly transition team with RKM, Gotze, Sow, and both wingback positions.  To really get back on track, Eintracht need to simply do what they do best and run.

The back line is in shambles.

The backline has been the most inconsistent part of this team all year.  Coming into the year, many were hoping that Tuta would be in the form that led Eintracht to the Europa league title last year.  He's been extremely disappointing this year.  The back three of Tuta, Toure, and N'Dicka have been in constant flux since Tuta went down with a quad injury early in the year.  Their size and athleticism had begun to be matched with game experience and instincts, but Tuta has seem to taken a step back (especially since his ankle injury in the game against Lech Poznan in January), and N'Dicka seems to be exhausted.  N'Dicka is missing plays he used to make easily.

1-0

2-0 and game.  This of course doesn't even cover the horrendous play by Jakic on the third goal, where he was completely unaware of the situation and allowed a ball to drop that he never should have.  Jakic is has been playing somewhat out of position at RCB most of the year, but this doesn't give him a pass.  He's a veteran, he should know better. With Max and N'Dicka both being down with injury, the left side of this team is in trouble if Jonas Hoffman plays.  

Final Thoughts:

It's not all doom and gloom as many prognosticators say.  But it's also not going to be an easy road to climb the table and catch Leverkusen, Freiburg or Leipzig.  It all starts with one game, and let's go get it on Saturday.  

Thanks again for reading.

Forza S.G.E.

Brian.