Against VfL Wolfsburg, Eintracht attacker Bas Dost (right) will have to do without André Silva in the storm.
(Photos: dpa)
FRANKFURT – VfL Wolfsburg can look forward to an old friend at the guest appearance of Frankfurter Eintracht on Friday evening (8.30 p.m.). Eintracht will storm with Bas Dost, who was under contract with the “Wolves” from 2012 to 2016. “Bas will play,” announced coach Adi Hütter. And this initially has nothing to do with the feared failure of André Silva. The Portuguese striker (7 hits) is suffering from a hardened muscle and was only able to train individually in the end. “Let’s see if it still works,” says Hütter. Whether Silva can be there in Wolfsburg will probably only be decided on Friday morning, when the Frankfurters fly to Braunschweig on a charter flight and then take the bus to Wolfsburg from there. The Frankfurt coach is of course not known to take any health risks when setting up individual players. Especially since all other professionals are fit and ready to go. “I only have two strikers available so I have to be extra careful not to end up without one,” he said. So Dost will play, and at best Silva will sit on the bench.
After five straight draws, the Frankfurt team long for a win. Everyone is just annoyed by the plague of draws. This was also felt at the official press conference on Thursday. “Everyone is waiting for a threesome, there is no question about that,” said Hütter at the beginning, “if we continue like this, we will one day be rewarded.” But that was too fatalistic for the coach itself. So he added: “I’m one hundred percent convinced that it won’t be long before we win”. The Austrian soccer teacher has been very satisfied with the performance of his team for a few weeks, but not with the results. After all, the unity against international top teams Leipzig and Dortmundwho have just made it through to the Champions League round of 16 played at eye level. “Except against Bayern we always kept up and always had a chance to win,” he says. It is now a matter of “defending more consistently and sometimes playing to zero”, he demands.
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The respect for the opponent is very great. Wolfsburg are the only team in the league to have not lost a single game this season. “They have a good structure, a good goalkeeper, a stable defense, a good midfield and one of the most dangerous strikers in the league in Weghorst”, the Eintracht coach enthuses, “that will be a real challenge for us.” The Eintracht passed well a few months ago. The Frankfurt team won the last game in Wolfsburg on May 30th 2-1 (goals: Silva and Kamada). “We need a very strong performance to do that again,” says Hütter.
Erik Durm has fought for his place
Despite the many possibilities, he will not change much about the staff at first. In the attack Dost for Silva, that seems clear. Others who have recently fought for a place, such as Djbril Sow and Erik Durm, will stay there. “Erik was completely gone for months and has shown incredible stamina,” Hütter praised the former national player, “now he’s in.” Makoto Hasebe has been outside for three games. The Japanese was probably less surprised about this than about a statement by the coach after the Dortmund game that the career of the currently oldest Bundesliga player (36) could end next summer. Hasebe didn’t want to leave it like that. “I haven’t decided that yet,” he said, “maybe I’ll extend it again in the spring. Maybe I’ll stop. ”Hütter also rowed back. “That didn’t come across well in communication,” he admitted, “I definitely don’t want to determine when Makoto will end his career.” In the spring, talks will take place between sports director Fredi Bobic and Hasebe. “Then we’ll see,” says Hasebe.
Eintracht: Trapp – Abraham, Hinteregger, Ndicka – Durm, Rode, Ilsanker, Sow, Kostic – Kamada – Dost.- Bank: Schubert, Touré, Da Costa, Hasebe, Kohr, Hrustic, Zuber, Younes, Chandler (Silva).
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