Dino Toppmöller has not spoken to national coach candidate Julian Nagelsmann in the past few days. You leave the person alone “if you know that something is going on,” emphasized the Eintracht coach when asked on Friday. Toppmöller, who worked with Nagelsmann as an assistant coach at Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, spoke up for his prominent colleague, who is currently on everyone’s lips and whom he praised highly.
It would be an “extreme win-win situation” for the national team, said Toppmöller. “Julian is incredibly good professionally. He would prepare the team perfectly for the European Championships.” Football Germany can “look forward to a good time if Julian becomes coach.” But that is “all a thing of the future,” noted Toppmöller.
The present is taking Frankfurt’s coach and his team to Bochum this Saturday, where the Bundesliga game begins at 6:30 p.m. (in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky). The people of Bochum are in good spirits because one of their favorite opponents is presenting themselves in the “venerable Ruhrstadion” (Toppmöller). Because against no other first division club does VfL have as many wins (25, 20 of which are home wins) as against Eintracht.
“I don’t care at all”
VfL won the two previous meetings at home 3-0 and 2-0. The last time Frankfurt won was in Bochum in 2011, 2-0 in the second division. Today the Hessians are having problems with away games. In 2023 they are still abroad without any success. The last time they left the stadium as winners (2-1) was in the preseason in Augsburg – in November 2022. Since then, Eintracht’s record has included six defeats and six draws. And in each of the last ten away games, Frankfurt fell behind. It is high time for them to change this negative series.
Toppmöller doesn’t care about the many failures against Bochum before his time, “I don’t care at all,” he said. The 42-year-old remained unbeaten in his first six competitive games with Frankfurt – Armin Veh last managed that from July to October 2011. Like his predecessors Oliver Glasner and Adi Hütter, Toppmöller considers it “extremely difficult” to “win in Bochum. They will put us under pressure early. They play a lot of man-to-man and always have good transition moments. It will be a great challenge for us.” But Toppmöller and his coaching staff have an idea “what we have to do about it.”
Combat readiness
For the head coach it is important to “win the duels”. He is firmly convinced that his team will hold their own in Bochum. The duel in Mainz was also a “crucial away game”. “We showed willingness to fight,” said Toppmöller. Shortly before the end of the game, Eintracht managed to make it 1-1 through Omar Marmoush. However, the coach also demands “playful solutions” from his staff. In the 1-1 draw at home against Cologne, Frankfurt would have been in control of the game. Only: “We shouldn’t have too many games that we don’t win,” said Toppmöller.
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After the two-week international break, the coach does not see the return to play with the team, which will now remain together until the winter transfer period, as a new start. “We want to continue the development,” said Toppmöller. Because there are now six games in 23 days, Eintracht should be in the mood to play. “There are a lot of exciting encounters waiting for us. It’s happening in quick succession.” But Toppmöller would find the time to talk to Nagelsmann on the phone if necessary.
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