Sometimes one face is enough to convey the disappointment of an entire club. Kevin Trapp has already been through a lot with Eintracht Frankfurt, but the fact that the people in front of him throw away progress in the European Cup like walkers throw away chewing gum stunned the capable goalkeeper. “It’s very difficult to analyze it rationally,” said the 33-year-old after the 2-1 defeat in the Conference League play-off second leg against Union Saint-Gilloise. The representative listed highest by the Uefa coefficient has said goodbye to the third-tier competition before the round of 16 really gets started.
Trapp seemed close to tears as he squeezed out his words on the RTL microphone: “We’re having a very difficult time creating chances at the moment. Overall, that wasn’t enough.” Many of the more than 57,300 eyewitnesses appeared similarly dismayed. “We deserved to be eliminated. And just the way we played in the first half, we simply can’t play football – and certainly not internationally,” said sports director Markus Krösche, who has actually made himself a characteristic after good and weak games to stay level-headed. But this time he seemed frustrated: “That was the worst game we’ve played so far.”
The rumblings about the Frankfurt squad’s lack of consistency have long since reached the highest club level. Board spokesman Axel Hellmann had already used critical words in his annual report and in particular described the cup embarrassment at 1. FC Saarbrücken as hardly excusable. Hellmann knows that Eintracht’s rapid sporting and economic development in recent years has primarily come about through the cup competitions.
After all, Eintracht is still on target as sixth in everyday league play.
The celebrated DFB Cup victory in 2018 under coach Niko Kovac as the first title in 30 years, then the exhilarating Europa League triumph in 2022 with coach Oliver Glasner were more than just milestones: a symbol of the fact that this club is pushing boundaries especially when it’s all or nothing in knockout duels. Eintracht has lost this DNA under Dino Toppmöller this season. And that inevitably increases the pressure on the football teacher, who is still quite inexperienced in the role of boss, who is supposed to be well received by the team, but can’t really convey his style to them. “We didn’t bring what we planned to do on the pitch,” he admitted: “That’s very bitter for us.” The fact that the 43-year-old later even quoted the legendary Dragoslav Stepanovic (“Lebbe goes again”) manifested his helplessness.
There were constant ups and downs both in the 2-2 draw in the first leg against the Belgians and in the recent 3-3 draw in Freiburg. There were hardly any logical explanations for the erratic, initially lifeless performance on Thursday evening; In general, the team under Toppmöller is finding it difficult to complete the development process towards more possession football and less transition play. “We were eliminated in the DFB Cup, we were eliminated in the Conference League – now it counts in the Bundesliga. We have to do everything we can to ensure that we play internationally again next season,” said Krösche. After all, Eintracht is still on target as sixth in everyday league play.
The Eintracht fan doesn’t really care whether it’s the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League – the main thing is the European Cup. After the “step back” in the fifth competitive game without a win in a row, Krösche would certainly have taken an even harsher tone if he hadn’t been largely responsible for the coaching swap. In the end, the relationship with Glasner cooled down a lot, and in Toppmöller he brought in his preferred candidate, who had previously worked as an assistant coach under Julian Nagelsmann at FC Bayern and RB Leipzig. “The coach is doing a good job with the team and trying to develop them further,” explained the manager, before adding: “We have to see together that we can put in a different performance.”
There will be an opportunity to do so on Sunday: Then VfL Wolfsburg comes with Niko Kovac, who to this day maintains a very close connection to Frankfurt – and has certainly thought of something to spoil the game.