In the pitch-black press room of the Frankfurt Arena, Thomas Reis didn’t even bother to conceal the disappointment of what was once again a sobering Bundesliga matchday. “A very, very bitter afternoon for us. I think you saw brutally today why we’re down there and Eintracht is so high up,” said the FC Schalke 04 coach, summing up the next blow to the neck from a Royal Blue perspective season together.
Meanwhile, Oliver Glasner, despite Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-0 win in the freshly snow-covered city forest, didn’t want to let any enthusiasm arise. “It’s a win that wasn’t deserved at this level. I liked Schalke almost better than what we showed.” His eleven were “not consistent, a bit sluggish”, which is why the Frankfurt football coach preferred to give the guests plenty of compliments – even if nobody in Gelsenkirchen can hear them anymore.
Because after the long break in the World Cup, the new year also began with a failure, which, given some of the successes of the competition in the table basement – above all the victory of Ruhr rivals VfL Bochum – increases the likelihood of Schalke being relegated again. “Of course you’re bottom of the table, so most teams are a bit better,” Reis noted with a pinch of fatalism.
Frankfurt’s coach Oliver Glasner doesn’t care about the jump to second place: It’s “completely irrelevant”.
Meanwhile, colleague Glasner preferred to disconnect from the tabular realities. Despite the jump to second place, nobody should come up with the term Bayern hunter. “If we play every game like this, we won’t score as many points,” criticized the 48-year-old Austrian, who even described the ranking as “completely irrelevant”. The efficiency of his ensemble, in which World Cup discovery Randal Kolo Muani appeared despite symptoms of illness and was no help, was masterful.
Ultimately, the individual class was enough for the Hessians to make the difference: the agile Jesper Lindström used a rehearsed move to simply overrun Schalke defender Henning Matriciani before the 1-0 (22nd). Substitute Rafael Borré (84′) and Aurelio Buta (90’+2), who made his debut after a long period of suffering, scored in the closing stages, both of whom were rewarded for their perseverance in the pre-season.
Otherwise, manager Markus Krösche also had a few things to criticize about the sometimes erratic performance: “It wasn’t a good game from us: the way it’s not what we imagine. We have to improve.” Otherwise the next two “difficult games” at SC Freiburg (Wednesday) and FC Bayern (Saturday) would not end well.
A clear sign of the conditions on the pitch: goalkeeper Trapp is the best Frankfurter
In fact, the best Frankfurt player was between the posts: National goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who had been gambling for weeks about an early contract extension, turned a Simon Terodde header against the post with his fingertips (28th), fended off attempts by Soichiro Kozuki (47th) or saved against substitute Michael Frey (90+4). He would have had no chance against Kozuki, but the post saved (32nd).
“Of course you despair outside, you would prefer to create the chances yourself,” said Reis, who found it difficult to console himself with the fact that “the team tried everything and mostly played at eye level”. The 49-year-old has long since identified the weakness in the final as a cardinal problem in his mission: “Frankfurt have made a lot of money from a few opportunities. We probably need eight chances for that.” Perhaps the home games against RB Leipzig (Tuesday) and 1. FC Köln (Sunday) are an opportunity to test alternatives for Terodde, who has once again been quite unlucky in the promotion, in the front line.
At least three goals prevented: Simon Terodde’s chance was also thwarted by Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
(Photo: Jan Huebner/Imago)
Both Kozuki, who was brought up by the U23s and equipped with a professional contract, and Frey, who had just been signed and tried out with a short assignment, showed hope-inspiring approaches. Reis emphasized her carelessness, which could perhaps be useful “when you’re standing against the wall with your ass.”
Loaned from Royal Antwerp, Switzerland’s Frey also seems to have been blessed with a lot of confidence. “I’ve scored over 40 goals in Belgium in the last two years. I think I can help. I’ve seen a team tearing themselves apart,” said the 28-year-old, who allegedly answered the request from the “huge traditional club”. was immediately seized by helper syndrome. At least one of them sounded as if it wasn’t pitch black for the royal blues in the table cellar.