Youand then he moved Dino Toppmöller your upper body forward and back in the chair. It was clear that the Frankfurt coach, who was sitting on the podium in the Waldstadion press room on Saturday, was annoyed by the journalist's question (“Was the 1-1 win against Bochum an improvement compared to the 0-0? 2 defeat in Cologne?”).

That it was important for him to go into attack mode so he could verbally defend himself and his team. “You always have to take the circumstances into account a little,” Toppmöller asked, looking at the big picture and listing the “circumstances” himself. He cited the absence of Sasa Kalajdzic (birth of his son), Kevin Trapp (back problems) and Hugo Larsson (early withdrawal due to injury due to muscle problems).

He also had to replace the newcomer Hugo Ekitiké (physical fitness deficit) earlier than expected. All difficult circumstances for the work processes at Eintracht and new challenges that had to be “mastered”. Seen from that point of view, his players did “well,” the coach summarized.

Melodious music of the future.

With the words “We have to accept it as it is now,” the 43-year-old asked for understanding for the situation, but not without promising improvements. “I'm looking forward to the time when the players are really in the shape and level necessary to be able to play a game like the one in the second half for 90 minutes. Then we can look forward to many more good matches,” said Toppmöller with conviction.

For now, this sounds like a dream of the future. The present seems quite sad in the cosmos of Eintracht, taking into account the high demands that the inhabitants of Frankfurt impose on themselves and which they have always made offensively noticeable. They just can't do them justice right now. The draw against the determined Bochum team revealed how alarming the emotional situation around Eintracht currently is.

The mood threatens to change and the patience of the fans is noticeably wearing thin. The discordant ones in turn: as By Mario Götze In the first half, which was bad on the part of the Hessians, who once again were not active enough and seemed quite nervous, the ball was returned to goalkeeper Jens Grahl and for the first time in time isolated whistles were heard. stadium: 57,500 football fans attended.

When the players were 1:1 (Omar Marmush, a bright spot for the team, gave Frankfurt a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute with the only shot on goal in the first half, before Moritz Broschinski equalized for Bochum three minutes later). After the final whistle it became louder: some spectators expressed their disappointment and dissatisfaction with a concert of loud whistles. Reactions of this type are rare in Frankfurt.

The annoyance of the followers can Markus Krösche understand. “The demands are increasing, we all have high standards, the demands in the environment are also high. That is why we have to live with the fact that this dissatisfaction is made known,” said the sports director. “I see it now. relatively relaxed”, with these words he gave an insight into his deeper self on Saturday. A week ago, after the 2-0 defeat in Cologne, Krösche sounded completely different.