The Eintracht midfield is prominent. But one of the stars Götze, Rode, Kamada and Sow will probably have to stay out in the premier class against Marseille. Who does Oliver Glasner choose?
The central midfield is the showpiece of Eintracht Frankfurt in the now well-established 3-4-3 system. With Mario Götze, Daichi Kamada, Djibril Sow and captain Sebastian Rode, coach Oliver Glasner has four top-class footballers at his disposal. Since the lightning-fast attacking duo of Jesper Lindström and Randal Kolo Muani have searched and found each other, the question arises: who will stay in Champions League duel on Wednesday (9 p.m.) against Olympique Marseille on the bench and which midfield trio can spin? The task is to make three out of four.
Eintracht coach leaves midfield occupation open
Glasner did not allow himself to be looked at at the press conference before the important group game against the French representative. “I have a plan that I don’t want to reveal just yet,” he said. The Austrian nevertheless gave an insight into his train of thought: “We take a close look at the impression the players make. We now had two four-day periods between the games. We could see from the values that the players have recovered very well. That So physical isn’t an issue yet.”
But the program is tight until the Winter World Cup in Qatar. There are another six competitive games in 18 days. Even at this early stage at the end of October, the Frankfurters have fought for points or titles 17 times. There are no breaks and Glasner needs top performance from his pros in every game.
Lots of quality with Götze, Kamada, Rode and Sow
But who can he do without against Marseille? Götze is the lynchpin of unity. The 30-year-old shines with ball and pass security, his running strength and number of intensive runs (950 are only surpassed by Hoffenheim’s Grischa Prömel) stand out. Sow is again the marathon man in front of the defense this season. The Swiss runs an average of 11.85 kilometers in the Bundesliga. Sow was in Duel in Gladbach with 12.5 unwound kilometers the strongest running player of the game.
Kamada, on the other hand, brings a completely different element to the Eintracht game. The technically highly gifted Japanese has meanwhile become biting in duels and has improved his defensive work enormously. Unpack the tackle? That too is no longer taboo for the national team player. Kamada is also extremely dangerous with nine competitive goals. The “Mister Europa League” of the past years was also allowed in the premier class at the narrow defeat at Tottenham Hotspur to cheer. And then there is the leading figure, Rode, who, in addition to mentality and fighting spirit, also has footballing class.
Glasner spoiled for choice
Normally, Glasner cannot do without any of these players. That’s called being spoiled for choice. “We will take a close look and field the players who have the greatest freshness,” announced Glasner. Will there be another mini-rotation against Marseille? Or does Rode, who came off the bench against Leverkusen and Gladbach, have to reconcile himself to the role of the number one substitute? The quality in Eintracht midfield hasn’t been that great for a long time.
