Season Preview: 2022/2023

 

Bundesliga Season Preview (2022/2023) – Eintracht Frankfurt

Basics: Full Name: Eintracht Frankfurt e.V.
Nicknames: Die Adler (The Eagles); S.G.E.; Launische Diva (Moody Diva) Founded: March 8th, 1899 

Club Colors: Black, White,(Schwarz - Weiss Vie Schnee!) and Red.
Primary Rivals: Kickers Offenbach, Mainz ‘05, 1. FC Kaiserslautern,
Fan Friendship: Oldham Athletic (England)
Stadium: Duetsche Bank Park (Das Waldstadion)

Year Built: 1925 Capacity: 51,500 2017-2018
Attendance: 444,750 (26,162 per match; 5th in Bundesliga)
Trophies: 

• German Championship – 1959 
• DFB Pokal – 1974, 1975, 1981, 1988, 2018 
• 2.Bundesliga – 1997/1998 
• UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League – 1979-80 , 2021-22
• UEFA Intertoto Cup – 1967 2019/2020

Kits:

Coach: Oliver Glasner

2020/21 Bundesliga Position: 5th DFB

Pokal Result: Lost in Second Round

Roster Changes:

Additions: Lucas Alario, Jens Petter Hauge, Mario Götze, Kristijan Jakic, Hrvoje Smolčić, Randal Kolo Muani, Aurélio Buta, Faride Alidou, Marcel Wenig.

Returning from Loan: Ali Akman, Fynn Otto, 

Players Leaving: Steven Zuber, Dominik Kohr, Rodrigo Zalazar, Danny da Costa, Aymen Barkok, Stefan Ilsanker, Martin Hinteregger, Erik Durm, Enrique Herrero, Martin Pecar, Elias Bördner, Ragnar Ache, Antonio Foti, Sam Lammers

2021/2022 Overview: 

It was a season of two faces......as if Jekyll-and-Hyde had enchanted our beloved Diva and turned her into something better, and worse.  The magical run through Europa League was the most exhilarating experience I had ever had as a fan of Eintracht Frankfurt.  The 11th place finish in the Bundesliga Table was among the most disappointing.  Along the way were historic victories (2-1 vs. Bayern in Munich), and heartburn-causing defeats (SV Waldhof in the DFB Pokal, the opener vs. Dortmund, Hertha, Bochum, Bielefeld).  The season had more good than bad, however, as Die Adler qualified for Champions League for the first time.  

While it was a season with ups and downs, it was also a season of refinement for the Eagles as new players, a new system, a new coach, and a new Front Office began to reshape the Eagles after the departure of Adi Hutter, Fredi Bobic, and Andre Silva. Oliver Glasner worked hard to create continuity and install his system, and in the end had a team that didn't really excel at anything.  11th in Goals Scored, 7th in Goals Against, and Eintracht's -4 Goal Differential was 10th in the Bundesliga.  Despite Kevin Trapp's brilliant and often Super Heroic play, Eintracht kept only 5 clean sheets on the year, ranking 14th in the league.  What really hurt the most was the fact they scored 25 goals less than the year before, and newcomer Rafael Santos Borre continuously struggled to find footing and space in front of the net.  Borre's 8 goals paced the team, however, it was a far cry from the productivity we've seen at the striker position over the last decade.  Couple that with inconsistent performances from key playmaker Daichi Kamada and Eintracht were constantly chasing goals they couldn't get, only to give one up by chasing the goal.  

There were bright spots.  Newcomers Jesper Lindstrøm, Angsar Knauff, and Kristijan Jakić were terrific additions to the team and helped carry Eintracht to an unbeaten Europa League run.  Filip Kostic was......well....Filip Kostic, and the combination of Tuta and Evan N'Dicka were solid all year long.  The culmination of the season, a trophy-winning performance in the Europa League, a performance this fan base has been yearning for, was almost worth the 4 decades' wait.  Borre and Trapp secured their statues outside Deutsche Bank Park, and the Frankfurter Römer was soo festive it made Mardi Gras look tame.  

2022-23 Outlook:

The biggest story of this offseason is a part of the squad that has been desperately missing: depth.  Most importantly attacking depth.  The additions of Kolo Mauni, Gotze, and Alario will give Oliver Glasner a myriad of weapons to bring in late-game energy, adjust tactics and the starting 11, and give flexibility in squad rotations.  For the last several years, Eintracht hasn't had the depth of squad to compete in two or three competitions at once.  With the depth added this offseason, there shouldn't be much drop-off from game to game and will allow Glasner to keep fresh legs for all three fronts.

The additions of Smolčić and Onguéné are much needed after the departures of Martin Hintiregger and Stefan Ilsanker.  Overall, this squad should be in much better shape than it has been at any point in the last 12 years, and the amazing part is how much of it came on free transfers.  

Position Outlook:

Goalkeeper

Kevin Trapp, Jens Grahl, Diant Ramaj, Matteo Bignetti

Kevin Trapp returns between the posts for his 8th term in Black and White.  Trapp was simply brilliant last season and was arguably the best Keeper in Germany.  Trapp's fiery leadership and intensive style are the driving force behind Eintracht's success over the last 4 years.  Trapp posted his best statistical season since he returned to Frankfurt, allowing a Frankfurt-best 1.31 goals against/game, posted a save percentage of 73.7% (best ever for him at Eintracht, third best in the Bundesliga), stopped  152 shots (1 off his career high), and posted a career-best 17 wins on the year.  He was THE reason Eintracht won the Europa Pokal against Rangers. Not only his penalty stop but also the unbelievable save he had to keep the game 1-1 in the 119th minute.  Trapp should be able to write whatever history here he wants, as he's signed through 2024, and should end his career at Deutsche Bank Park.  Grahl, Ramaj, and 18-year-old Matteo Banetti may see some spot time as the year goes on, but don't look for any of them to make any noise.

Central Defense:

Evan N'Dicka, Tuta, Almamy Touré, Jérôme Onguéné, Hrvoje Smolčić, Makoto Hasebe. 

Evan N'Dicka returns to lead the backline for the 2022 season.  N'Dicka is an enormously talented and highly underrated defender.  The tall (6'4"), super athletic defender is the cornerstone to the Eintracht defense.  N'Dicka led all defenders and was second in the Bundesliga in Arial Duels won (151, 184 across all competitions), led Eintracht in dribblers tackled (49), blocks (104), balls recovered (457) clearances (160), tackles (89), passes completed (2028), and ranked fourth in interceptions (90) across all competitions. Add to that his 4 goals, 4 assists, 85.4% passing efficiency, and 100 progressive passes completed and N'Dicka is as talented and well-rounded a defender as you will find in Germany. He is also a workhorse, posting 43 starts (44 appearances) and playing 3,916 minutes.  Only Kevin Trapp posted more.  

N'Dicka will be coupled with two lightning-quick and extremely smart defenders: Tuta and Toure.  The latter two are tough gritty defenders, locking down the right side of attacks.  Toure had a very low-key but excellent season last year, spending much of the time on the bench in favor of Makato Hasebe and Martin Hintiregger.  It wasn't until October he began to see any regular playing time, and he took over for the injured Hinteregger late in the year.  Toure started both legs of the matchups against Barcelona and West Ham, and started the final over Rangers after not seeing the field for almost all of January, February, and March. Tuta started last year off rough, losing time after the defeats to Manhoff and Dortmund.  He managed to work his way into solid form, and after October was a mainstay in the starting 11.  Tuta managed to pitch in over 3,000 minutes on 37 starts, both better than his accumulated career total entering the season.  With these three, Eintracht has a young and athletic back line they can grow with.  

The ageless Makato Hasebe returns for what is most likely his last season as a player.  Signing an agreement to play one more year with the Eagles before moving into a coaching role, the 38-year-old will provide quality depth in the starting 11 and off the bench.  Onguéné has the chance to be dynamic. He's tall, fast, has good instincts, and has the physicality to win the ball back in the box.  He is very reminiscent of a right-footed, slightly shorter, Evan N'Dicka.  Smolčić is a steady, left-footed veteran defender that will add depth and can hopefully take some of the workload off of N'Dicka.  Despite the loss of #HintiArmy, this unit is very deep and extremely talented.

Midfield.

Sebastian Rode, Djibril Sow, Makoto Hasebe, Daichi Kamada, Jesper Lindstrøm, Ajden Hrustic, Mario Götze, Kristijan Jakić, Mehdi Loune, Marcel Wenig

Is there a bigger sign that this is not the same ol' Eintracht way of doing business than the bringing in of Mario Götze?  While far from the Götze of the World Cup-winning DFB, Götze is a smart veteran who will bring experience, toughness, and lots of energy to this midfield.  This move is basically a higher-powered version of the Sebastian Rode move that has worked out soo well for Eintracht.  Götze has the ability to revitalize his career in Germany after a two-year stint with PSV Eindhoven.  Super Mario can still make plays, posting 10 assists in over 3,000 minutes in 2022, and with the weapons around him in Frankfurt, you can expect for Götze to really cause problems to the opposing defense.  The key piece of this offseason, Götze and Eintracht are a perfect pairing.  Eintracht doesn't NEED Götze to be the star, they just need him to be a piece of the puzzle.  There are enough players around him that all he needs to do is relax and make the right play, and there should be plenty of opportunities for him to do that this year.  What Eintracht needs the most out of Götze is consistency, something they desperately lacked last year with Daichi Kamada and Jesper Lindstrøm.  While both made plays and Lindstrøm was named  Bundesliga Rookie of the Year, they both had a bucketload of plays they simply didn't make.  

Kamada, much like Eintracht over the years, has been a player of two faces.  There's "Bundesliga Kamada", who is wildly inconsistent and often unable to make the final play.  Then There's "Every Other Competition Kamada", who is a star.  In the last two European Campaigns, (2019/20; 2021/22) Kamada has 11 goals and 3 assists in 1,800 minutes played. In 2021/22, Daichi had 4 goals and 3 assists in 2,100 Bundesliga Minutes, in 2019/2020, he had 2 goals and 4 assists in 1,900 Bundesliga minutes.  His best season in Frankfurt came with no European competition.  Jesper needs to make a big jump this season, and while he flashed the ability to hit scorchers into the back of the net, he also seemed to struggle with the physicality and pace of play that the Bundesliga brings.  Aidjen Hrustic will also be in the mix, look for him to add rotational/bench minutes throughout the year.  

The strength of this Eintracht team will be in its defensive midfield.  With Rode, Jakic, and Sow Eintracht have a high-energy, hard-nosed, blue-collar midfield that will fight for the ball all over the pitch.  Sow was one of the Bundesliga's most productive defensive midfielders last year:

548 Pressures - 7th Best among midfielders.

69 Tackles - 8th 

70 Interceptions - 5th 

302 Recoveries - 10th 

Sow is a gnat in the midfield, buzzing around and making everyone uncomfortable.  He's the most important part of the midfield, he sets the tone with his energy and work rate.  Rode and Jakic are both rough, rugged defenders who bring tenacity and physicality to the midfield, and the ability to break lines with the pass.  I mean, who doesn't remember this?

Loune and Wenig are both intriguing young prospects who may see time in friendlies or Pokal matches but would be surprised if either passes 100 minutes played.

Wings/Wingbacks:

Filip Kostic, Timmy Chandler, Ajden Hrustic, Jens Petter Hauge, Feride Alidou, Ansgar Knauff, Aurélio Buta, Jan Schröder, Christopher Lenz.

The best news of this offseason is that Filip Kostic is still here.  2021/22 was the first year since his arrival that Kostic didn't lead the Bundesliga in crosses from open play, and still managed to get in 71 more than the 3rd place finisher.  He is the machine that drives the attack, but Eintracht has become less reliant on him in a good way.  Ansgar Knauff has helped balance out the attack, giving the Eagles the ability to attack down both sidelines.  Both Kostic and Knauff are two-way players, tracking back and attacking opposing ball carriers and playing the passing lanes like angry dogs.  The duo help stretch the field both vertically and horizontally because they are a constant threat to beat teams in behind.  As big as Kostic has been for Eintracht over the last 3 years, the best signing of last year was bringing Knauff in on loan from Dortmund.  Knauff's right-footed laser beam in the 48th minute of the second leg against Barcelona secured advancement by Die Adler, and his header 48 seconds into the opening matchup against West Ham helped pave the path to the Championship, and his perfect square back that found Borre right in front of the net secured it.  Knauff made big plays in big moments from the moment he put on the Black and White.

While this pair streaks up and down the touchline like banshees, there is a notable dropoff in ability between them and their relief.  Lenz, Hauge, and Hrustic are a large step down from the two above them, and Timmy Chandler has lost a step or two along the way.  While Hauge and Hrustic can get forward and threaten the defense, they aren't quite as fast and are not the crossing threats of the first group.  Lenz and Chandler are solid defenders, but not quite as dangerous going forward.  The newcomers, Alidou and Buta, offer the same athleticism but are young and unproven.  Alidou did manage 1,200 minutes and posted 2 goals and 3 assists last year for Hamburg in the 2. BLiga, but will need to make a jump to the next level if he hopes to make an impact. Buta should be a depth/rotational piece who could work his way into the rotation as the year goes on.

Striker:

Rafael Borré, Randal Kolo Muani, Lucas Alario, Gonçalo Paciência, Ali Akman

Quality depth at striker was the largest need of the offseason.  While Borre struggled to adjust to the Bundesliga and find the back of the net with consistency, there was no one behind him that could offer any form of help.  The additions of Lucas Alario and Randal Kolo Mauni are not only huge depth pieces but give Glasner guys that can actually push Borre for playing time.  RKM is electric, his straight-line speed is world-class, and has good feet for a player of his size (6'2").  He's not only tall, but has a good frame and while the physicality of Bundesliga defenders will take some time to adjust to, he's not scared to throw a shoulder into a defender while fighting for the ball.  He can also do something this team has sorely missed since Sebastian Haller: simply go get the ball.  He has excellent leaping ability and at 6'2" he can get to balls most Bundesliga defenders won't be able to and his speed allows him to run past most defenders and get to balls others can't. It should be much more shocking that Eintracht was able to get him on a free transfer than it was, but it's a story that hasn't had much publicity.

 Alario is an also excellent addition.  The veteran Bundesliga striker scored .81 goals per 90 minutes over the last two years, which would have placed him 4th in the Bundesliga if he'd had enough minutes to qualify.  Alario is smart, finds positions well, and can really put his head on the ball.  He's a fantastically accurate shooter, posting shot-on-target percentages of 48.6% and 56.5% the last two years.  Behind them is the ever-dependable Gonçalo Paciência.  Paciência will see a drastic drop off in playing time during these campaigns, but is a terrific locker room guy and needs to be around.  Ali Akman returns after his stint in the Netherlands.  The 19-year-old knocked home 6 goals and 0 assists in just over 1500 minutes played for NEC Nijmegen in 2022.  With this group, Eintracht has a very talented, very deep group that will allow Glasner to play 1,2, or even 3 of them together if he wants.  With Alario, Muani, and Gotze in tow, Eintracht will add roughly 15 goals this year in league play.

 

Synopsis:

This is the most talented group of Eintracht players, top to bottom, that we've seen here in a while.  They have plenty of depth at most key positions, especially the midfield, forwards, and back line. While there have been better top-end individuals, this group has a chance to be special.  If they can gel and come together, this could easily be the best Eintracht group since the 1990s.  The fact that there was addition without subtraction should help, and some of the additions should ensure that Eintracht can have a high-energy squad for 90 minutes on a day-in, day-out basis.  Glasner should have a lot of fun with this group, and it should be a ton of fun to watch.  This team should be about 10-15 goals better than last year, and while losing Martin Hintiregger will change the defense a little, they are actually more athletic in covering space without him.  Playing in 3 campaigns could wear down some of the positions without much help (Kostic, Knauff), the other positions are more than equipped to handle the load.  Glasner's high-pressing system with this group will wear down opponents, and you'll see Eintracht pick up 3 points more often than last year, especially in league play.  One of the major problems last year was the inability to consistently pick up 3 points against the team below them in the table, especially in Deutsche Bank Park.  This year's team will be different.

The Eagles have proven over the years that they are up to the task of playing with Europe's best, especially La Liga and English Premier League opponents. There is enough firepower here to make noise in their Champions League group, and the early rounds of the knockout stage.  Today's win over Magdeburg in the DFB Pokal was convincing, and Eintracht should be looking for another deep run in this competition as well.  This has a chance to be a magical year, as long as the Diva doesn't rear her head too often.

Prediction: 

Eintracht has the talent to be a top 4 team, but with the stress of balancing their first Champions League appearance and making a run in the DFB Pokal, they will finish 8th. They will make it to the round of 16 in both Champion's League and the DFB Pokal.

Key Stretch: Match Days 1-4. Eintracht should pick up 7-9 points from this stretch, and will need it to kick the season off right.  Versus Bayern in Frankfort is a great test to start the season, and Eintracht have 3 very winnable games after that.  The Eagles need to 

Thanks again for reading,

#ForzaSGE

Brian

Europa's beste Mannschaft: „heute ist es mehr als nur ein Lied“

 

When I first started following Eintracht in December of 2013, I didn't know anything about anything. I didn't understand what a relegation battle was, I didn't understand what it meant to stay up, I didn't know the history of this club or any of it's players.  I barely knew anything about soccer! I only knew one thing: the supporters that followed this club were unlike anything I'd ever seen and I wanted to be a part of it.  Along the way, I fell in love with players, coaches, this sport, and this club.  Being an American, we just don't have this kind of experience here (at the Professional level at least).  10 years, and much heartbreak later, Eintracht Frankfurt has found the PERFECT way to bless it's supporters.  The Europa League win was a perfect ending to this ride, and hopefully the mark of great things to come.  I'm hoping this isn't the finish line, Die Adler are marked in their starting blocks.

Europa's Beste Mannschaft:

You better believe we are.  We have been for a while, only now we have some hardware to prove it.  In a hard-fought battle against a good squad, Eintracht went out and earned the title. In Europa League, Eintracht was perfect.  8-5-0, outscoring their opponents 20-13 along the way, and slaying every giant that had the audacity to step in their path.  Fenerbahçe?  Not good enough to beat us.  Real Betis?  So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen goodni-ight.  Barcelona?  Not only did we take you down, but we also now have the paperwork for Camp Nou. You should know by now that Spanish clubs can't beat us.  Tschüß! West Ham?  Knauf and Kamada wrapped that one up real quick.  It's been nice seeing you here, but this is our party.  And finally, Rangers.  Legendary traditional powerhouse.  Much respect, you put up a tremendous fight, but we're here to prove that Europa's beste Mannschaft: „heute ist es mehr als nur ein Lied“.  

As I sat in my apartment in Houston, Tx, screaming at the top of my lungs for every second of that match, pacing back and forth, pointing at the television, and fighting back tears when it was over, I couldn't help but think about what all the fans in Germany were feeling.  Eintracht Internationale, after all, is a global enterprise.  I can't imagine what this means to soo many Mitglieder who have been with this club for generations.  As I sit and watch this celebration on Eintracht.Tv I can kind of grasp the concept, and oh how I wish I was there!  You are what make Eintracht Frankfurt Europa's Beste Mannschaft after all. This team, this club, these fans, from Peter Fischer to the grounds crew, every single bit of it is first class.  We don't need a trophy to say how great we are, but it feels good to get one!  It's a beauty too.

Schwarz-Weiss wie Schnee!

Das ist der S.G.E. indeed.  We don't just have the D.F.B. Pokal, we have (another) Europa Pokal trophy to add to the collection.  Seeing the scenes of the 10's of thousands of Eintracht fans marching to the stadium, and seeing the end of the stadium filled with white shirts (and a few of my friends who made the trip from America to be there) was beautiful.  At kickoff, you could tell this was going to be a fight.  Rangers is a physically tuff, strong team, and they play with the pride of a powerhouse club.  They wanted it just as bad as we did and they didn't lay down.  Eintracht completely dominated the run of play for the first 30 minutes of play.  Firing 10 shots (3 on target) to Rangers 2.  It seemed that not even a boot to the head was going to stop them (how was this not at least a Yellow Card by the way?????). Eintracht was punishing Rangers on the counter, they were hitting them with combo play in the midfield, and they were ending almost every possession with a shot.  11 minutes in when Toure found Daichi Kamada behind Rangers' backline, the first serious threat appeared.  Daichi couldn't get the ball back to his right foot, but Djibril Sow managed to find the rebound and fired a good one to the top corner of the back post which Allan McGregor (as he was most of the night) was on top of.  Knauff (19:29), N'Dicka off an errant shot by Lindstrøm (20:07), and Sow again less than a minute later (20:53) all had clean looks to put the Eagles in front. Filip Kostic blasted a deflection just over the goal (29:46) and minutes later snatched a terrible Rangers pass off his chest and raced down the left touchline to fire a patented far post bender that just went just wide.  Over the first 45 minutes of play, Eintracht was by far the most dangerous team.  Rangers threatened seriously only once when Joe Aribo found a pocket of space in front of the 18 and blasted a left-footer about 3 feet wide of the goal.  You had a feeling it was just a matter of time.

Eintracht vom Main, nur du sollst heute siegen:

Even when Rangers capitalized on an untimely Tuta injury to sneak one past Kevin Trapp (56:19) I never felt we were losing.  Sow and Rode were dominating the midfield, and we were killing them on the counter.  We were going to find a way through.  You could see the mood of the players change after Aribo found the back of the net, but the team didn't look disparaged or down, they seemed to look more focused.  The lads immediately came right back. Kostic hit a deep cross to Knauf who stuck a beautiful ball to Lindstrøm in the middle of the box.  Lindstrøm hit a laser that found the stomach of Calvin Bassey right in front of the net (58:39).  Kamada had the best chance of the game (66:22) but he floated the shot on top of McGregor's net after he rushed a shot with time and space.  The chance was set up by tremendous pressure by Rafael Borré, who rushed Connor Goldsten after a back pass and a poor touch.  Borré forced a bad pass, which Rode broke and made an amazing play on.  In one motion, he slid in front of John Lundstram (who was breaking back to the ball), stretched out his right foot and flicked the ball to Kamada in the pocket.  Daichi tried to go far post, but McGregor had cut off that angle and left the near post wide open.

Schiess noch ein Tor, dem Gegner ist den Kasten rein:

It didn't take long for Eintracht to finally level the score.  In the biggest game of this club in 40 years, who better to combine for the equalizer than Kostic and Borré.  (68:56) Kostic fired a low cross in a place that only Rafael Borré's right big toe could reach.  Borré bullied his way in between Rangers center-back pairing and just managed to flick it to the near corner.  For these two to make this play, in this game, at this moment was beautifully poetic.  While their work was far from finished, it was the setup for things to come.  

Even though almost an hour of play would come after this, Eintracht needed this moment.  Borré had one last chance to win it (94:50), as he had found his way in behind the Rangers defense and was streaking towards the goal.  You could tell that he just ran out of steam, the defense caught up and managed to knock the right footer out of bounds.  The defense had set in.  Makato Hasabe, Evan N'Dicka, and Almamy Toure were almost unbreakable.  Almost.....with one exception.  117 minutes, 33 seconds into the game Super Man made an appearance.  With Rangers seriously threatening on the counter, Kemar Roofe raced behind the defense to track down a ball just before it crossed the end line.  Roofe fired a cross that took a slight deflection off Makato Hasebe's leg and bounced across the front of goal with Ryan Kent racing to it.  Trapp tracked the ball and just managed to flying kick his right leg to block it.  The man who saved Eintracht game after game this year had just made the biggest and most unbelievable save of his career.  The save without a doubt secured the game, and he had two more in his bag.  Trapp secured Ranger's last threat (120:00), and while it didn't seriously challenge him it put a stamp on a game that he was about to win.

In diesem Jahr:

It all came down to penalties.  What was one of the most beautiful penalty battles I've ever seen, Eintracht was flawless.  

Rangers: James Tavernier hits right at Trapp, Trapp dives right.  1:0

Eintracht: Christopher Lenz goes upper right corner, McGregor guesses wrong 1:1

Rangers: Steven Davis perfectly places one in the top right corner, Trapp guesses wrong, 2:1

Eintracht:Ajdin Hrustic blasts one lower-left corner, McGregor guesses wrong 2:2

Rangers:Scott Arfield crushes one top left corner, Trapp guesses correctly, but still can't stop the shot 3:2

Eintracht:Daichi Kamada equals Arfield, hits the right post on a scorcher, ball gets around McGregor who guessed correctly 3:3

Wasn't it perfect, that the end of this season, and the end of this Pokal, ended in the hands of Kostić, Borré, and Trapp?  The game was about to turn, and two players secured their fate as Eintracht legends, one opened his page.

Rangers:Aaron Ramsey slow runs up to the ball.  Kevin Trapp leans to his right.  Ramsey hits one right to Kevin Trapp's spot, guessing he's diving out of the way.  Trapp holds his ground, kicks out his left foot and knocks it away. 3:3

Eintracht:Filip Kostić goes lower right corner.  McGregor guesses correctly, but Kostic places it perfectly and puts enough on it the keeper has no chance.  3:4

Rangers:Kemar Roofe goes low left.  Trapp guesses correctly again, but Roofe blasted it and Trapp couldn't get to it. (4:4)

Eintracht:Rafael Borré goes upper left, McGregor guesses correctly again.  Rafael put it just high enough McGregor couldn't get it. (4:5) Good guys win.  GOOD GUYS WIN.

Final thoughts:

Players come, and players go, but Eintracht remains:  

The fondest and most heartfelt goodbyes to Stefan Illsanker, Danny da Costa, and Aymen Barkok.  May your next post find you the most success.  Danny da Costa has been one of my favorite Eagles, and I'm sad to see him go.  

This is going to be the best offseason:

Not only is all of Eintracht Internationale celebrating like we are Martin Hinteregger, we have some young, exciting players already on their way.  Let's hope we can keep the band together for this Champion's League run, and add a few more pieces to them.

Eintracht Internationale, this is but a step.  Dare to dream BIG:

You guys and this club have earned it.  One day in my lifetime, we will take down Bayern München and hoist the Meisterschale.  One day, we will look back in remembrance of this Europa Pokal, as we lift a Champions League trophy.  I don't know when, but it's going to happen.  Eintracht aus Frankfurt,du schaffst es wieder, Deutscher Meister zu sein.  

Bis zum nächsten Mal:

Next year is bringing much change for me, and hopefully a lot more time for writing this blog that I love soo much.  Thank you to everyone who reads.  It's crazy for me anyone reads this at all.  Love you guys, and love this team.  EUROPA'S BESTE MANNSCHAFT S.G.E.

Forza S.G.E.

Brian

I'm in love with a diva, and it hurts soo good.

So, full disclaimer: I'm fairly new to these grounds.  I've been following Eintracht Frankfurt for just under a decade, so you'll have to excuse me.  Being from across the pond, we didn't have large exposure to the beauty and passion of European football until recently.  Across the Atlantic, we also have a completely different perspective on professional Sports. When I discovered S.G.E. I latched on hard.  It was love at first sight and an affair forged through trial. The fans seduced me more than the players or style of play. It was the supporters and their passion that drew me in.  They seduced me to this diva, and I have no regrets.

Hurt sooo go-ood.  COME ON BABY MAKE IT HURT SO GOOD.

When I first saw her, she was just the girl next door, but had that something:

17th in the Bundesliga table, with a coach and a bunch of players I'd never heard of, and games I couldn't watch.  I'd made a promise to follow this club, and I was determined to do so.  As the club began to take shape, and I began to learn more about 50+1, promotion/relegation, this club's values, and where it stands on social issues it just really struck a chord.  You could see they were slowly building something here, and this time was full of guys people had given up on.  They fought, they battled, they were grinders, and they began to play some really exciting soccer.  They had Timmy Chandler, Marco Fabian, and Carlos Salcedo.  Omar Mascarall was great, but Alex Meier got me.  The style was exciting, the fans and the TIFO were like nothing I'd ever seen. I found myself sitting at home getting chills down my spine listening to the fans scream "HEY EINTRACHT FRANKFURT!" and learning the words to "Schwarz-Weiss wie Schnee" and "Im Hartzen von Europa".   She sucked me in, and then she broke my heart :)

With Divas, there are highs and lows and constant drama.

It was supposed to be the year we finally broke through.  On matchday 27, we were holding firm to a Champions League spot and our Coach had us flying high and performing well.  We had just lost a hard-fought battle to Borussia Dortmund the week before and were facing a struggling Mainz team.  That's when the rumors about the diva started circling.  It seems that a bigger, richer, fancier club had come calling.  The club became instant turmoil, as the rumors gathered in strength.  "There's no way this is true, Bayern Munich can have anyone they want!" Another loss, a draw, and my Eagles dropped from 4th to 7th.  By the time the news officially dropped on April 13th, Champions League was a long-gone memory.  Admittedly, we were playing over our skis for the better part of 3 months. But the 4-1 loss to Leverkusen sealed our fate. Eintracht finished the season collecting 4 points out of a possible 21 down the stretch, and 7th was the final resting spot. We had one last chance to qualify for Europe, but it was definitely a long shot.

Niko and the guys had one more performance in them that year.  "There's no one in the goal!", and we found ourselves in Europa League.  Die Adler became Die Pokal Sieger, for at least a while. That's when the Diva..Diva'd.  You don't earn the Diva moniker without having serious amounts of talent, and sometimes the Diva has to show you who they really are.  R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me.  I understood why Niko was leaving, even if I didn't respect it.  I mean, it was Bayern Munich and probably a truckload of money.  The bad thing about Divas though is history often repeats itself.  And each time it does, it gets a little bit worse.  

"Wait....Adi is leaving us for WHO?  No way."

"How is this news gonna break right before we play them......while we are fighting to seal a Champions League spot???"

"Bobic is going where??? He must REALLY want to leave, this isn't going away."

The thing about Divas is, everything is beautiful...until it isn't:

Beautiful voice, beautiful clothes, beautiful appearance. This club has beautiful fans, plays a style that is both beautiful and blue-collar, and has fans that make the whole thing pop.  That's what really got me.  Der Waldstadion explodes, but so does every single stadium Eintracht plays in.  The club has a message of togetherness and acceptance and aren't ashamed of it.  I love that, all of it.  They sucked me in with their grit and determination.  The fans enticed me with their passion and songs.   They seduced me with the wins over Bayern and Dortmund, and their exciting play.  Then they ripped my heart out...every single year.  Sure, we got a decent consolation this year.  We actually qualified for Europa on Bundesliga positioning for only the third time ever.  But.....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.....ugh.  And the way it all went down at the end of the year just hurt.  

Divas will sell off all your favorite things when they're angry:

Players come and go, but Eintracht fans always push the team - Taka Inui

I kind of fear any of my favorite players breaking out, even though I'm desperate for them to.  You just get a feeling they'll leave you for someone else.  Someone bigger, flashier, makes more money, and drives a nicer car.  They might even have a bigger and fancier house, but they'll never have a better home. I understand why Jovic would want to go to Real Madrid, or why Niko Kovac left for Bayern, but I'll never understand why Adi Hutter did what he did this year.  Gladbach?  Is he even serious with this?  I'll never understand why Haller left us for West Ham, even if they paid him a ton of money.  Mostly because.....it's West Ham.  I'm not leaving my job teaching to scrape sewers, even if they tripled my salary.  Being there was soo great, he left during a champions league run and they took a 20 million dollar loss on him.  I don't even really understand Rebic leaving for A.C. Milan.  Sure they're a big and storied club.  We're a traditional club notching our way up. We have the greatest fans of any sport on the planet, and we've become a constant European qualifier of late.  Rebic left for a club that rejected an offer to play in Europe because they were financially strapped.  In the blink of an eye, the Buffalo Herd were all gone.  You could make a good case that all three worsened their situation, but were chasing something bigger.  Kevin Trapp went down that road, only to find his way back.  Sebastien Rode too.

Not only do your players get sold, but they sometimes just leave:  Lukas Hradecky, Kevin Prinz-Boateng just......left.  Bruda, slag den ball lang packed his suitcase and left for Italy.  Hradecky took his beer-drinking, fun-loving, Pokal winning attitude with him to Leverkusen.  I understand, players come and players go, but the way some of these left just.....hurt.  

The Endpoint:

In a vacuum, this season should be seen as a success.  European qualification based on final standing has only happened 3 times in the last 25 years.  This is the highest final position in the table that Eintracht has seen since I started following them.  Andre Silva tied the club record for goals and transformed from a decent striker to a dominant force.  Djibril Sow took the leap to solid Bundesliga player and Amin Younes completely changed the squad and style of play on the pitch.  In a span of These are all things we should be celebrating.  But, it's really hard to see all the good with the way the season ended.

I'm not shocked that Fredi Bobic and Adi Hutter are leaving Eintracht; I'm shocked at how.  Bobic was outspoken when Kovac was announced midseason to Bayern a few years back, but I guess it's different if the Sporting Director does it in the middle of the season?  After the work that Eintracht put in during the Europa League run his first year here I really had a lot of respect for Adi Hutter, but the way he announced his departure I lost all of it.  Is it all he and Bobic's fault?  No, the players didn't perform.  But, it also felt like they were underprepared and lackadaisical.  The movement in attack suddenly stopped, and instead of the fluid, free-flowing attack going forward, Eintracht had to chug and churn for every inch they got.  The defending became more and more sloppy, and players weren't tracking back as hard or pressing as high.  The desperation suddenly left the club.  They looked like married couples "just staying together for the kids." The daily routine was there, but the fire and passion we had seen for most of the year weren't. As much good as happened this season, the ending was severely disappointing.  We thought it was a masterpiece, it turned out to be "Game of Thrones."  This is also part of loving a diva, this is part of loving Eintracht. Bring on the Kroshke/Glasner era, and lets finish what we started. 

Thanks again for reading,

Forza S.G.E.

Brian

Eintracht look half-hearted as they enter the final stretch.

"Lame Ducks" is how the headline described them.  While it described the outgoing Coach, Sporting Director, and CEO, you have to wonder if it's matriculating to the men down on the pitch. Eintracht Frankfurt, who last week locked up European Qualification even in a 3:1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen, lacked the one thing that has made this season soo special: Fight. Leon Bailey exposed and exploited huge gaps in the Eintracht defense, and the fact that Eintracht only picked up 1 Yellow (N'Dicka, in the 87th minute) is highly uncharacteristic of this club.  All season long Eintracht has made opponents EARN every inch of the pitch.  If you blow by one, there is another line waiting for you.  If you have the audacity to beat the next line, you can expect a very unfriendly tactical foul on the other end of it.  To beat this defense has taken exceptional play, a little luck, and a lot of guts.  The last three games don't just show a different story, they look like they were written in a completely different book.

Even though it was 0:0 at the break, Kevin Trapp had his hands full.  His double save at the 4:00 mark showed not one, but two Leverkusen players find wide spaces inside the box with clear sights on the goal.  The pass found Schick far too easily, and no-one marked Bailey on the backside.  Time and time again over the first 45 minutes of play, you saw Leverkusen spring to open spaces while Eintracht defenders seemed in no hurry to mark them.  We saw players give minimal effort to go track down loose balls, or pick up deflections, and if it wasn't for an amazing first-half effort from Kevin Trapp this game would have been 5-0 at the break.  Erik Durm was caught many times on the jog, in no man's land, while his mark was flying down the sideline.  He was caught too as he watched Leon Bailey's blast at the 8-minute mark that Trapp luckily recovered and got a foot on. Durm followed this lackluster effort by not even bothering to chase down the deflection, even though 30 yards closer to the ball than anyone else.  Evan N'Dicka didn't even try to step in front of either the pass or the shot.  

When Leverkusen finally broke through in the 70th minute, the flood gates opened.  Trapp could only

hold on for soo long.  Was Trapp unfortunate? Absolutely, if Bailey hits the ball square Trapp boots it away.  Could Trapp have anticipated it better?  Without Question.  Did everyone else just stand around and watch the ball go in the net.  Yup.  Kamada completely gave up on the play.  Ilsanker, we see you as well.  10 minutes later, after a decent Eintracht buildup, the effort was even worse.  It was a decent counterattack. Leon Bailey streaking down the left.  But when Lucas Alario flew behind the entire Eintracht defense, no one reacted.  Shoulders down, slight tamp of the foot, and the lads just looked defeated.  Djibril Sow was either too tired to get back, or just didn't care enough.  Ilsanker provided no pressure on the ball, and it looked like something from a training session. Minutes later, Trapp had to make another admirable stop as Nadiem Amiri took has time, sized up the situation, tested the wind, and blasted one from just outside the 18.  The little fight the team showed up with was all but gone at this point. Andre Silva tried to pull them back.  Steven Zuber made a nice play on the ball and found Silva's head for a sure fire goal, but it was too little too late.  Kerem Demirbay's blast that took an unfortunate deflection off of Tuta and into the net.  Silva mounted one more attack, but Zuber fired it wide. 

What is most disappointing with this run, is that despite all the levels of disappointment that have stacked against them the last few weeks you had to believe that the players on the pitch were bigger than the off-field noise, better than a late-season collapse, and stronger than a coach who negotiated with an in-league rival during the heart of a Champions League run.  There's no way guys like Hinti, Trapp, Kostic, and Rode will let this team fall apart........right?  I understand they might feel abandoned by Adi Hutter, or even worse betrayed, but this team is bigger than that......isn't it?  The return of Martin Hintiregger would surely spark this team on an unprecedented run to the Champions League....wouldn't it?  The team that just bested Bayern, Wolfsburg, Dortmund, and annihilated Union Berlin would show its backbone and step up and win this game....it was just a one-week letdown against Gladbach.....right? 

The defense isn't the only side of the ball that looks poor. Silva's miss right in front of the 6-yard box was one we've seen him hammer home with ease all year.  It shows a lack of focus. While the attack generated 10 shots from open play, it's difficult to say they were a threat.  Maybe it was inserting Amon Barkok into the starting lineup in place of Jovic or Younes, maybe it was Daichi Kamada's bonk of one in the opening minutes of the second half. Maybe it's the mounting pressure of an untested team trying to notch their way up. Maybe, it's exactly as it looks and the team just is just done.  Whatever it is, it's up to them to sort things out.  Unless the "lame ducks" aren't relegated to the office building at Mörfelder Landstraße 362.  Maybe there's some in the locker room as well. 

If it wasn't coming from Filip Kostic, it wasn't coming.  That's not a shock, Eintracht has relied heavily on Kostic for 3 years, but not to this extent.  With Durm trying to protect against Bailey's speed, he was providing almost nothing from the right flank.  There was no balance or push up the middle, and Barkok gave the ball away far too often. The Eagles didn't just look unready, they looked poorly organised.  They can't rely on a voice from their coach at the moment.  Whether Hutter has lost the locker room or not doesn't matter at this point, the locker room needs to keep itself together.  The only way this doesn't matter to the guys in that room is if they don't plan on being here to see the fruits of this labor.

Eintracht is no stranger to late-season collapses.  They saw a massive one at the end of the 2018/2019 season (pulling only 2 points from the final 6 games to fall from 4th to 7th). The year before they went 3-1-7 over the last 11 matchdays to fall from 4th to 8th.  But this year, this team is supposed to be of higher quality.  You could understand before, how lack of depth and a highly demanding style of play led them to fade down the stretch while playing in two or three competitions.  But this is a different group.  This team is more tested, this team has more depth, and this team doesn't have to deal with two competitions.  They have all they need to finish this run off, with our without a coach.  Now they just need to fight.

Thanks again for reading.

Brian

Nur Die SGE. #EintrachtInternationale