It rarely happens, but the otherwise friendly Oliver Glasner can get a little harsh at press conferences. When the word “distortion of competition” circulated on Sunday, the Eintracht coach reacted clearly. “Everyone should take care of their club, I don’t comment on other teams either,” said the Austrian.
So far, no one has spoken out against him and his team, but the general murmur naturally increases in the final spurt of the season. On Saturday, Hertha’s coach Felix Magath denounced Bayern Munich’s lax approach after the team had already been crowned champions. Eintracht ranks in the gray midfield of the Bundesliga and will tend to conserve (regular) staff with regard to the Europa League tasks. Eintracht’s opponents on Monday (8:30 p.m.) Bayer Leverkusen are still in the middle of the Champions League race against Freiburg and Leipzig.
Tedesco: “It’s legitimate”
The latter club will not blame the Frankfurters if they lose focus. “It’s all legitimate,” said Leipzig coach Domenico Tedesco. “Eintracht have to play their season. Frankfurt makes the decisions they have to make.” His colleague Glasner saw it very similarly, saying: “I just have to do what is best for Eintracht Frankfurt.” And that means: “West Ham has top priority.”
That’s why six players didn’t even make the trip to Leverkusen: Rafael Borré (suspended), Martin Hinteregger, Erik Durm (both ill, no corona), Jesper Lindstrom, Christopher Lenz (both injured) and Sebastian Rode (load control). Glasner also announced further personnel changes in the starting XI. It’s very likely that’s why Attacker Ragnar Ache make his starting XI debut.
Ache and Hrustic have a chance to start
Makoto Hasebe could step into defense for Hinteregger, who then complete Evan N’Dicka and Almamy Toure. N’Dicka was suspended in London, Toure could do well with the rhythm of the game after being a reserve player for a long time. Kristijan Jakic, who is also suspended in London, could play in defensive midfield, while Djibril Sow is likely to be given a break in consideration of his recent medial ligament strain.
Up front, Jens Petter Hauge should have his chance right from the start and thus set the stage for Thursday should regular offensive player Lindström drop out. Other rotation candidates from the bench are Danny da Costa, Timothy Chandler, and Goncalo Paciencia. Too many changes? Glasner sounded pretty clear on Sunday: “The line-up will be geared towards West Ham’s load management.” However, he will not fall back on players from the U19s.
“No parallel world” between Bundesliga and Europa League
And because he was in defensive mode anyway, Glasner also commented on the sometimes criticized performance differences between his team in the Bundesliga and the Europa League. “I don’t see a parallel world there.” He referred to what he saw as a good performance against Hoffenheim and Fribourg and his team’s top physical stats in the league.
So the commitment was always good, but the European Cup would set other emotional stimuli. “Every one of you has a bad day at the office,” said Glasner. And that was the right picture for the coming week: Eintracht in Leverkusen has an office job on Monday, but another day of celebration in your own living room on Thursday.
Source: HR