Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp’s all-round attack and Toppmöller’s warning

SGE winless in four games

After Frankfurt’s third 1-2 defeat at the end of a completely messed up week, national goalkeeper Kevin Trapp sent a warning to his team in Augsburg. “This is a defeat that we have to blame entirely on ourselves because we actually didn’t make it 2-1,” said the keeper. SGE trainer Dino Toppmöller also attested that the FCA had “bought the edge of the Hessians in all respects.”

Frankfurt’s result trend is currently not looking good, with three defeats and one draw on the balance sheet from the last four games. With a view to the upcoming DFB Cup round of 16 against third division club and Bayern conqueror 1. FC Saarbrücken, captain Trapp said: “We have a difficult game on Wednesday. But we can decide where the direction goes.” The SGE is in 7th place in the Bundesliga table and has survived the group phase in the UEFA Conference League.

“We played a bit of football in the first half but didn’t win any duels. We didn’t play forward, we had the ball in our own half a lot, but that doesn’t help us much. We had a lot of gaps in the midfield that were too big. It was easy for Augsburg to play behind us. That was simply completely not enough. The two goals we conceded were deserved because we didn’t defend well. In the last quarter of an hour I had the feeling that we had woken up, but that’s just not enough at this level,” Trapp gave vent to his anger.

“We have to remember that we won the games we won because we were aggressive, because we played quickly forward, without frills. Didn’t die beautifully. It started in Bremen, we conceded a goal in the first minute against Stuttgart, we woke up too late against PAOK and the same thing again today. We have to address that. We have to get it in our heads that it will be very, very difficult at this level.”

Eintracht coach Toppmöller: “Augsburg bought our grit”

With double-digit temperatures in Augsburg, the Hessians were clearly inferior to their opponents for long stretches of the game. “Augsburg simply brought a different emotionality to the pitch and had a different grit to win the game,” commented coach Toppmöller. Only after Augsburg’s captain Ermedin Demirovic’s penalty saved by von Trapp and the goal that followed shortly afterwards to make it 1-2 did the Frankfurt team rebel again. But Toppmöller admitted after the final whistle: “The equalizer would not have been deserved. Augsburg has taken our edge in every respect, in duels and emotionality.”

Sports director Markus Krösche also criticized the inadequate performance. “Augsburg was the much more aggressive and active team. We have to put more pressure on the front in the game, play more purposefully and consistently and at the same time regain more stability in defense,” said Krösche. “We didn’t make it to 1:2,” said Trapp clearly.

Former Augsburg player Philipp Max, who scored FCA goalkeeper Finn Dahmen’s own goal with a sharp cross, also looked ahead to the cup task: “Now it’s time to show a different face in Saarbrücken and move into the quarter-finals.” Toppmöller sees the matter similarly to Trapp: “It’s up to us how we go into the game, how we accept it. The people of Saarbrücken will be maximally motivated. But we should do that too, because we also have a dream.” The aim is to “give it all and get through to the next round” in an incredibly great competition.

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