Against Augsburg, Eintracht coach Albert Riera initially – once again – foregoes a lot of prominence. With manageable success. It’s only when he corrects some of his decisions that things start to go better.
The fact that Frankfurt Eintracht can afford to send their best goalscorer onto the field in an immensely important game at FC Augsburg only two minutes before the end of regular time, and a player who is in full swing and secretly has at least some residual hope of jumping on this World Cup train that is currently rushing past them, is both astonishing and significant.
It’s astonishing because it’s the Frankfurt Eintracht with a view to the result in the Fuggerstadt (1:1) could only afford to a limited extent. Significant because it shows the somewhat tense relationship in some places between the football-playing management axis and their boss, the coach Albert Riera. In Augsburg, Jonathan Burkardt, the man with ten league goals, had to sit outside at the start of the game for the third time in the idiosyncratic Spaniard’s era. Riera dismissed it as an interpersonal problem, but there was no such thing. “Jonny does a fantastic job.” Well, yes.
Frankfurter Teuer Bank in Augsburg
On the one hand, Burkardt really didn’t have the biggest influence on Eintracht’s game in the last few games, he was hanging in the air at the front. On the other hand, the 25-year-old is not someone who doesn’t recognize the seriousness of the situation. He never has a problem with a lack of attitude; he is a model professional who is never above doing legwork or giving honest and accurate analyses. In the past few weeks, it was Burkardt who was the most vocal of the kicking staff to put his finger in the open wound.
The relationship between the attacker who was signed as a leading player, who was after all a respected captain in Mainz, and coach Riera is a complicated one – and that is reportedly putting it in a friendly way. It is striking that Riera seems to have difficulties with a whole series of supposed pillars of the team. While the coach surprisingly helped Love Arrhov make his starting eleven debut in Augsburg, in a position on the outside left that was unfamiliar to the 17-year-old, there has rarely been a more prominent substitute bench in Frankfurt’s history.
Given the past few weeks, the fact that Mario Götze didn’t play a minute in Augsburg is basically not worth mentioning if he weren’t Mario Götze. Arthur Theate had to move out of the defensive line for Ellyes Skhiri. Ritsu Doan, the other 20 million plus acquisition alongside Burkardt, was on the bench for the fourth time under Riera. There are also other well-known staff: Younes Ebnoutalib, Rasmus Kristensen and Farès Chaibi. Market value of the illustrious group: exactly 128.5 million euros.
Doan and Knauff turn things around
In itself, all of this is a coach’s right, especially since the season has gone the way it has so far. Breaking down structures to achieve improvement – a legitimate approach. Of course, not someone who has been admired too often in a Bundesliga team four match days before the end. Maybe summer would be a better time.
Although Frankfurt’s leading players have struggled a lot with themselves in this round, the game in Augsburg showed that they are needed. It was Doan, who came on as a substitute in the second half, who not only equalized, but also gave a lot of impetus in his optimal position on the right line (finally!). Doan celebrated his goal with noticeable restraint.
Together with Ansgar Knauff, who came with Doan, the often underestimated mentality player, they at least secured one point for the Hessians, which could still be valuable in the race for Europe. The return of Kristensen, who was previously injured, also fit in. Annoying: Goalscorer Doan, of all people, will be missing next week against HSV due to a yellow card suspension.
Uzun is considered difference player needed
And finally there is Can Uzun, who at 20 years old is of course not one of the leading men, but who is undisputedly one of the team’s best kickers alongside people like Götze, Doan and Arnaud Kalimuendo. Riera had recently pretty much punished him too by not taking him into account. In Augsburg, Uzun spoiled promising attacks here and there with playful carelessness, but he had several more.
If things got dangerous, Uzun was involved. It was not for nothing that he collected his eleventh scorer point of the season with the assist for Doan. In total, he fired six shots on goal and prepared four more – a record in each case. Especially in the second half he became the driving force in the Eintracht game. Given these strengths, the fact that the Turkish international is not the most diligent back worker should (largely) matter. An Eintracht coach should not voluntarily forego such a difference player.
