TOAll Frankfurter Eintracht football professionals, who have a positive attitude towards life, in which there are no problems but only opportunities to overcome challenges, are looking forward to the event. VfL Bochumwhich takes place this Saturday (3:30 p.m. in FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and in Sky) in the Frankfurt urban forest you will step on the grass and probably be trampled. The “flower in the territory”, as Herbert Grönemeyer once sang, is more of a cactus in football terms and therefore exactly the right opponent to demonstrate learning effects after Eintracht had a lot of problems against equally teams unpleasant and thorny like Mainz, Darmstadt. and Cologne.
The lesson for the Frankfurt professionals from unsatisfactory performances against teams with limited play can only be: without passion and determination, values such as game culture and tactical order cannot come into play. That's why he chose the Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller Before Bochum, the preparation for the match was focused differently than, for example, against Mainz: less tactical input, more emotional focus. After the match against Rheinhessen, Toppmöller feared that some had exceeded the tactical guidelines.
The often hesitant behavior in the offensive game could be explained by a certain level of uncertainty. Instead of “we're done,” “what's the best I can do now?”, team captain Sebastian Rode's explanation for the strange playing style of recent weeks also goes in this direction: “During the winter break, some players came and some stayed. It's incredibly difficult to convey your style of play to them in such a short time. That takes time again. But we don't have that,” said the 33-year-old midfielder in an interview with Sky television. .
Marmoush again
And Toppmöller's style of play is demanding: creating scoring chances from possession of the ball after longer combinations. The ball relays worked quite well even in the weaker games, but they did not become goal-oriented attacks at the top. Which was also because Omar Marmush I was not there.
Describing the Egyptian as the only protagonist of Eintracht's attack in the first half of the season would perhaps be a bit of an exaggeration. But due to his incredible activity in the opposing field, he was exactly the player who directed the offensive actions towards the opposing goal. The fact that he has achieved by far the most points of all Frankfurt players in the Bundesliga (seven goals, four assists) underlines the importance of Eintracht's offensive play.
Against Bochum Marmoush is finally back after returning ill from the African Cup of Nations. Which can definitely make fans feel optimistic. His mere presence will give more context to Eintracht's actions. It will be interesting to see how he interacts with new center forward Sasa Kalajdzic, who should benefit from Marmoush. The Austrian lacked much connection with the rest of the team.
Kalajdzic is ready, but his use is still questionable. His partner is expecting a child. If he is born on a Saturday, the striker will be in or in front of the delivery room and not on the soccer field. The same goes for Aurélio Buta. His absence would mean important changes in Eintracht's formation.
After Tuta's suspension, the bottom four favorites were missing a right back. So a return to the three-man chain and the return of the old man would be an option. After Hrvoje Smolcic recently made a serious mistake, he was able Makoto Hasebe At the age of 40 he joined the starting eleven as an intermediary between Koch and Pacho.
Hasebe's team reminds us once again that the winter newcomers, apart from Kalajdzic, are not the first choice at the moment. They were obviously signed for future seasons and not as an emergency measure for the second half of the season, although Ekitike's poor fitness was not expected up to this point.
The transfer policy speaks of the foresight of the sports management and a certain confidence in the preliminary team and in the abilities of coach Toppmöller. Basically, the team is expected to finish sixth, which is enough to get a place in the international business and which had been set as a goal for the season. The table situation in the league is favorable this season. Now the team just has to perform, ideally against Bochum.