F-Hoop
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A solid debut by Vasoski characterised Eintracht’s 1-0 win last night. Aachen started brightly. Their tight pressing game allowed them to dominate the opening 15 minutes, but Frankfurt started to get into gear and make breaks. Half-way through the first half a long pass from Chris to Cha on the wing saw an Aachen defender misdirect his clearance into his own penalty area. Van Lent was first to the ball and bundled it past the keeper.
After that Frankfurt controlled the game, creating quite a few chances, without adding to the goal tally. Aachen rarely threatened and Pröll had a quiet evening at the other end. With no way through that rarest of sights, a tight Frankfurt defence, Aachen were reduced to hopeless long range shots by the end.
While it wasn’t spectacular, and not everybody had a great game, the work-rate throughout the team was impressive. More of the same over the next few weeks should see us getting closer to the promotion places. All in all, a good nights work in front of 19,000 frozen spectators.
Keep the Faith!
After that Frankfurt controlled the game, creating quite a few chances, without adding to the goal tally. Aachen rarely threatened and Pröll had a quiet evening at the other end. With no way through that rarest of sights, a tight Frankfurt defence, Aachen were reduced to hopeless long range shots by the end.
While it wasn’t spectacular, and not everybody had a great game, the work-rate throughout the team was impressive. More of the same over the next few weeks should see us getting closer to the promotion places. All in all, a good nights work in front of 19,000 frozen spectators.
Keep the Faith!
Eintracht have strengthened their defence by signing Macedonian international Aleksander Vasovski from Vardar Skopje. From what I have read he acquitted himself quite well for Macedonia in recent World Cup qualifiers against the likes of Holland and Romania. He looks like a useful recruit.
L'affaire Chris is now over. The Court of Arbitration in Sport have thrown out FIFA's four month ban and Chris is now free to play again. The other good news is that Lexa has resumed training and could be fit for the restart against Aachen.
Nico Frommer has gone on loan to Oberhausen. There is no word as yet about any of the trial players who trained with Frankfurt before Christmas.
I'd still like to see us sign a quality striker before the transfer window closes.
Keep the Faith.
L'affaire Chris is now over. The Court of Arbitration in Sport have thrown out FIFA's four month ban and Chris is now free to play again. The other good news is that Lexa has resumed training and could be fit for the restart against Aachen.
Nico Frommer has gone on loan to Oberhausen. There is no word as yet about any of the trial players who trained with Frankfurt before Christmas.
I'd still like to see us sign a quality striker before the transfer window closes.
Keep the Faith.
Frankfurt will probably play some local teams in what are essentially warm-up games. It won't be much to get excited about.
Faysal Antar completed his trial week along with two Uzbecks and an out of contract Dutch player. If Funkel was impressed, I'd imagine there'll be news in January, as everyone is out to lunch for Christmas and the New Year.
Enjoy the festivities!
Faysal Antar completed his trial week along with two Uzbecks and an out of contract Dutch player. If Funkel was impressed, I'd imagine there'll be news in January, as everyone is out to lunch for Christmas and the New Year.
Enjoy the festivities!
I think you're right, dasabu. 58-60 points should see us go up. Köln got lucky against us, Duisberg and Aachen only managed home draws against us, and we're better than Fürth. A couple of those teams will fall away.
At the start of the season I would have said that us, Köln and Aachen go up. If there were proper bookies in Germany I would be doubling that bet now.
We should be going after Copado, all the same. A fantastic player, though Haching would be really doomed without him.
At the start of the season I would have said that us, Köln and Aachen go up. If there were proper bookies in Germany I would be doubling that bet now.
We should be going after Copado, all the same. A fantastic player, though Haching would be really doomed without him.
After our emphatic win in Burghausen on Friday, and favourable results elsewhere over the weekend – who believes we can go up?
In recent years many teams have done it with 27 points at half-way, two more than we have. But we are only 8 points off a promotion place, we have 9 home games in the second round, and, crucially, all the teams ahead of us have still to come to Frankfurt.
While we still need to strengthen the squad (are the players on trial any good?), I don't think we have anything to fear from the other teams in this division.
Anyone else have an opinion?
In recent years many teams have done it with 27 points at half-way, two more than we have. But we are only 8 points off a promotion place, we have 9 home games in the second round, and, crucially, all the teams ahead of us have still to come to Frankfurt.
While we still need to strengthen the squad (are the players on trial any good?), I don't think we have anything to fear from the other teams in this division.
Anyone else have an opinion?
Chris was man of the match in Eintracht’s 3-1 win over Cottbus this afternoon.Eintracht owned the first half, due to their dominance in midfield. Most of this was due to the way Chris pushed forward and the fact that Ari Van Lent was winning most of the high balls. Van Lent got Frankfurt’s first, nodding in, unmarked, from a left wing cross.
Despite numerous chances we didn’t get a second until a period of sustained pressure, including two good chances for the marauding Chris, ended up with a loose ball in front of Van Lent. Ari has rediscovered his goal-poaching roots and is no longer missing chances like this. 2-0 Frankfurt at the interval and Cottbus looked dead and buried.
Cottbus, however, like to grind teams down. Our young braves were a bit panicky after the interval and really let their opponents into the game. We couldn’t put a pass together and Cottbus started creating chances. Eventually one of their players was brought down inside the box and they got a penalty. It was well saved by Oka Nikolov (standing in for the injured Marcus Pröll).
Oka had no chance with their goal, which came some minutes later. A perfect volley from 25m. It was very well taken. Strangely, it signalled the end for Cottbus. Cha, who had come on for the injured Reinhard, was finally getting to the pace of the game, and starting to cause problems down the right wing. Cottbus players who had been seeing a wagging finger for seventy minutes suddenly started seeing yellow cards and eventually red cards.
Two Cottbus players quickly saw red for bringing down Eintracht players. Then, with five minutes to go Kohler scored a cheeky goal to make the scoreline a representative 3-1.
We are now only 9 points off promotion. If we can hold that until after our trip to the Alps on Friday then all bets are off!
I was in Unterhaching for the appaling scenes on the field, and off it. Hopefully that was our nadir.We are five games unbeaten since then (not counting Schalke in the cup), let’s make it six!
Despite numerous chances we didn’t get a second until a period of sustained pressure, including two good chances for the marauding Chris, ended up with a loose ball in front of Van Lent. Ari has rediscovered his goal-poaching roots and is no longer missing chances like this. 2-0 Frankfurt at the interval and Cottbus looked dead and buried.
Cottbus, however, like to grind teams down. Our young braves were a bit panicky after the interval and really let their opponents into the game. We couldn’t put a pass together and Cottbus started creating chances. Eventually one of their players was brought down inside the box and they got a penalty. It was well saved by Oka Nikolov (standing in for the injured Marcus Pröll).
Oka had no chance with their goal, which came some minutes later. A perfect volley from 25m. It was very well taken. Strangely, it signalled the end for Cottbus. Cha, who had come on for the injured Reinhard, was finally getting to the pace of the game, and starting to cause problems down the right wing. Cottbus players who had been seeing a wagging finger for seventy minutes suddenly started seeing yellow cards and eventually red cards.
Two Cottbus players quickly saw red for bringing down Eintracht players. Then, with five minutes to go Kohler scored a cheeky goal to make the scoreline a representative 3-1.
We are now only 9 points off promotion. If we can hold that until after our trip to the Alps on Friday then all bets are off!
I was in Unterhaching for the appaling scenes on the field, and off it. Hopefully that was our nadir.We are five games unbeaten since then (not counting Schalke in the cup), let’s make it six!
Just when you think it can’t get worse, it does! We are out of the drop zone on goal difference only, and on this performance that’s exactly where we deserve to be.
We nearly conceded an early goal, and while we steadied the ship for a bit, the only surprise was how Haching went ahead. A stupid hand-ball gave supposed Frankfurt player, Copado, the chance to convert a penalty on 15 minutes. After that it was an uphill struggle. We were never going to win. We couldn’t keep the ball to save our lives! Our only hopes lay in Pröll’s excellence in goal and the thought that Frommer (starting instead of Van Lent) might get to the pitch of the ball later in the game. He didn’t get that chance.
Confirming Haching’s superiority, Copado got his second ten minutes into the second half, ending the game as a contest. On the hour we made a weird pair of substitutions. The useless Van Lent came in for the perhaps tiring Frommer. Meier, who should have started, came in for Schur, who had been playing well.
2-0 up, Haching were happy to let us play the ball around in the third quarter of the pitch, and take their chances on the counter. Our killer pass never came, of course. And they countered well. Only, man of the match, Pröll’s, brilliance and bravery kept them out. For example, Copado should have had a hat-trick when his number 9 went for glory. Poor old number 9 got done by Pröll when he could have passed to an unmarked Copado for a tap-in.
Our best chances were a couple of long range efforts from Meier. When we needed some movement in the oppo box the only player we have capable of that, Marcus Beierle, was yet again sat on the bench. I wonder why!
In the last couple of minutes the 500+ Frankfurt fans started to give the team hell. It became quite vitriolic after the whistle. While I can understand it, I don’t think it helps a team that seem devoid of confidence.
So what’s gone wrong?
We started the season with a simple 4-4-2 pressing game. It brought rewards. And we’ve left that simple game behind. I couldn’t figure out what configuration we played in the last few games. The players all looked like they had no idea either.
Let’s get back to a simple game and impose it on the opposition. We’re capable of it.
Keep the Faith!
We nearly conceded an early goal, and while we steadied the ship for a bit, the only surprise was how Haching went ahead. A stupid hand-ball gave supposed Frankfurt player, Copado, the chance to convert a penalty on 15 minutes. After that it was an uphill struggle. We were never going to win. We couldn’t keep the ball to save our lives! Our only hopes lay in Pröll’s excellence in goal and the thought that Frommer (starting instead of Van Lent) might get to the pitch of the ball later in the game. He didn’t get that chance.
Confirming Haching’s superiority, Copado got his second ten minutes into the second half, ending the game as a contest. On the hour we made a weird pair of substitutions. The useless Van Lent came in for the perhaps tiring Frommer. Meier, who should have started, came in for Schur, who had been playing well.
2-0 up, Haching were happy to let us play the ball around in the third quarter of the pitch, and take their chances on the counter. Our killer pass never came, of course. And they countered well. Only, man of the match, Pröll’s, brilliance and bravery kept them out. For example, Copado should have had a hat-trick when his number 9 went for glory. Poor old number 9 got done by Pröll when he could have passed to an unmarked Copado for a tap-in.
Our best chances were a couple of long range efforts from Meier. When we needed some movement in the oppo box the only player we have capable of that, Marcus Beierle, was yet again sat on the bench. I wonder why!
In the last couple of minutes the 500+ Frankfurt fans started to give the team hell. It became quite vitriolic after the whistle. While I can understand it, I don’t think it helps a team that seem devoid of confidence.
So what’s gone wrong?
We started the season with a simple 4-4-2 pressing game. It brought rewards. And we’ve left that simple game behind. I couldn’t figure out what configuration we played in the last few games. The players all looked like they had no idea either.
Let’s get back to a simple game and impose it on the opposition. We’re capable of it.
Keep the Faith!
That was atrocious. 3-2 winners, LR Ahlen are patently the worst team to have visited the Waldstadion for a long time and the game was all theirs. Gifted an early goal, on ten minutes they were 2-1 up and then went to five at the back. This allowed them to stifle Meier, our only effective player. A period of Eintracht pressure at the end of the first half yielded an equaliser. And Cha may have had the ball in the net to make it 3-2, but the ref wasn't happpy.
Ahlen, however, stuck to their guns and comfortably soaked up everything Eintracht could throw at them in the second half. It was all too easy for them. When a small number of chances came their way towards the end of the game they took one and could easily have made it 4-2.
The 12,000 attendance booed the team off the pitch at the end and rightly so. It is still October and the season is all but over. Funkel's persistance with underachievers sees the team in freefall and staring Reagionaliga in the face.
Something radical has to happen if we are not travelling to away games by S-Bahn next season.
Keep the Faith!
Ahlen, however, stuck to their guns and comfortably soaked up everything Eintracht could throw at them in the second half. It was all too easy for them. When a small number of chances came their way towards the end of the game they took one and could easily have made it 4-2.
The 12,000 attendance booed the team off the pitch at the end and rightly so. It is still October and the season is all but over. Funkel's persistance with underachievers sees the team in freefall and staring Reagionaliga in the face.
Something radical has to happen if we are not travelling to away games by S-Bahn next season.
Keep the Faith!
Last night’s referee capped an appalling week for Frankfurt. 1860’s early goal on Monday night set them on their way, inflicting our first home defeat since April. That was quickly followed by the news that Lexa is out until the next round at least. To round off a miserable five days that has seen us tumble down the table, the ref disallowed Beierle’s late equaliser in Fürth for no good reason whatsoever.
While pure misfortune is at the source of some of our woes, much of it is of our own making. Playing with Van Lent is like playing with ten men. If Funkel doesn’t wake up and realise this quickly, we wont be seeing 1. Liga football in Frankfurt anytime soon.
Our style of play, moving the ball forward quickly, can make the game get very stretched. This in turn requires the forwards to have a good first touch (so they can create their own chances) and/or an ability to hold the ball and distribute it to incoming midfielders. Needless to say, Van Lent has shown that he possesses neither of these qualities. The result is that the ball comes back at us twice as fast and consequently we ship a lot of goals.
The next few games are vital. Promotion is still within shooting distance and we’re still in the cup. Failure to stop the rot could see our season being over in little more than three weeks. Beierle must start on Tuesday.
Keep the Faith.
While pure misfortune is at the source of some of our woes, much of it is of our own making. Playing with Van Lent is like playing with ten men. If Funkel doesn’t wake up and realise this quickly, we wont be seeing 1. Liga football in Frankfurt anytime soon.
Our style of play, moving the ball forward quickly, can make the game get very stretched. This in turn requires the forwards to have a good first touch (so they can create their own chances) and/or an ability to hold the ball and distribute it to incoming midfielders. Needless to say, Van Lent has shown that he possesses neither of these qualities. The result is that the ball comes back at us twice as fast and consequently we ship a lot of goals.
The next few games are vital. Promotion is still within shooting distance and we’re still in the cup. Failure to stop the rot could see our season being over in little more than three weeks. Beierle must start on Tuesday.
Keep the Faith.
The cliché says that football is a game of two halves. That was certainly the case in the Waldstadion today. The first half was apppalling. Oberhausen are easily the worst team to have visited Frankfurt in years, yet it was no surprise that they went ahead. Cha had failed to cover when Ochs joined the attack and we were hit with a simple goal on the counter. Ouch!
Meier, who grows in stature game by game, equalised shortly after, but it was still an anaemic 45 minutes. His industry and the continuing rehabilitation of Chris were the only bright notes. Very little, then, to inspire the 1959 team who had turned up to be presented with a replica of their Championship Trophy during the interval.
Off the pitch, the paint must have been peeling off the dressing-room wall at half time! Funkel rang the changes, and the lifeless Cha and Dragusha made way for Lexa and Marcus Beierle at the start of the second half. With immediate effect.
What a pair of substitutions! Lexa raided down the right and Beierle profitted to make it 2-1 almost from the restart. Then Lexa scored an individual goal that marked his best performance in a Frankfurt shirt in a long, long time. Oberhausen were finished!
Beierle took his second, and was so unlucky over his 45 mins not to get a hat-trick. The Waldstadion’s newest hero “Ari-Ari” van Lent scored, much to his own disbelief! Hoffman popped in the sixth, and in the meantime we let in another soft goal. 6-2 then, though I’m sure if we got a seventh the team would have stood aside to let Oberhausen make it 7-3.
It’s hard to take much of such a facile victory. Oberhausen’s ‘keeper got a well deserved ovation from the crowd at the end. But for him it could easily have been 12 or 15 for Frankfurt.
On the plus side: two goals for Beierle will do no harm to his confidence, Lexa was back to his devastating best (hey, Stephan, throw your shirt in my direction next time!), Meier gets better with every game, and Chris is playing himself back and is a street above 2. Liga level. Oh yeah, we really missed Schur’s leadership in the first half, but he’s back next week.
On the downside: we’re stuck with “Ari-Ari” van Lent up front, and even though he does his best, it’s not good enough at this level. Also, two soft goals, again.
Anyway we’re still looking okay for going up and have a very beatable Schalke at home in the Cup.
Keep the Faith!
Meier, who grows in stature game by game, equalised shortly after, but it was still an anaemic 45 minutes. His industry and the continuing rehabilitation of Chris were the only bright notes. Very little, then, to inspire the 1959 team who had turned up to be presented with a replica of their Championship Trophy during the interval.
Off the pitch, the paint must have been peeling off the dressing-room wall at half time! Funkel rang the changes, and the lifeless Cha and Dragusha made way for Lexa and Marcus Beierle at the start of the second half. With immediate effect.
What a pair of substitutions! Lexa raided down the right and Beierle profitted to make it 2-1 almost from the restart. Then Lexa scored an individual goal that marked his best performance in a Frankfurt shirt in a long, long time. Oberhausen were finished!
Beierle took his second, and was so unlucky over his 45 mins not to get a hat-trick. The Waldstadion’s newest hero “Ari-Ari” van Lent scored, much to his own disbelief! Hoffman popped in the sixth, and in the meantime we let in another soft goal. 6-2 then, though I’m sure if we got a seventh the team would have stood aside to let Oberhausen make it 7-3.
It’s hard to take much of such a facile victory. Oberhausen’s ‘keeper got a well deserved ovation from the crowd at the end. But for him it could easily have been 12 or 15 for Frankfurt.
On the plus side: two goals for Beierle will do no harm to his confidence, Lexa was back to his devastating best (hey, Stephan, throw your shirt in my direction next time!), Meier gets better with every game, and Chris is playing himself back and is a street above 2. Liga level. Oh yeah, we really missed Schur’s leadership in the first half, but he’s back next week.
On the downside: we’re stuck with “Ari-Ari” van Lent up front, and even though he does his best, it’s not good enough at this level. Also, two soft goals, again.
Anyway we’re still looking okay for going up and have a very beatable Schalke at home in the Cup.
Keep the Faith!
The 9,000 who braved the foul conditions last night were richly rewarded. We had the better of Fürth in the first half. Wiedener gave us the lead on 15 mins when he lashed home a poor clearance from a corner. Despite our continued dominance, in what was a scrappy game, Fürth equalised when a shot from Fuchs took a wicked deflection beyond the reach of Proll.
I feared we would pay for that bit of bad luck when Fürth came out fighting in the second half. For fifteen minutes they had us on the rack. But a combination of poor finishing from them and fine goalkeeping from Proll kept them at bay. We slowly got back into the game and when Lenze put us ahead with 14 mins left it seemed we could go home wet but happy. However, some sloppy defending let Fürth in for an equaliser in the dying minutes and extra time beckoned.
Meier and Cha both scored in extra time and Fürth couldn’t find an extra gear to catch up. All in all, a good fighting performance from Eintracht gave us our fifth win in a row at home and a place in the last sixteen of the cup. A great atmosphere, despite the small crowd and appalling weather.
A question for the locals: what’s the problem with the German Cup? We’ve been treated, this year, to two great and exciting games, yet the fans don’t seem all that interested?
Keep the Faith!
I feared we would pay for that bit of bad luck when Fürth came out fighting in the second half. For fifteen minutes they had us on the rack. But a combination of poor finishing from them and fine goalkeeping from Proll kept them at bay. We slowly got back into the game and when Lenze put us ahead with 14 mins left it seemed we could go home wet but happy. However, some sloppy defending let Fürth in for an equaliser in the dying minutes and extra time beckoned.
Meier and Cha both scored in extra time and Fürth couldn’t find an extra gear to catch up. All in all, a good fighting performance from Eintracht gave us our fifth win in a row at home and a place in the last sixteen of the cup. A great atmosphere, despite the small crowd and appalling weather.
A question for the locals: what’s the problem with the German Cup? We’ve been treated, this year, to two great and exciting games, yet the fans don’t seem all that interested?
Keep the Faith!
Another game which we dominated and failed to kill off. Maybe it's our theme for this season.
We created no end of chances in the first half but just couldn't finish any of them. Hoffman's goal, came, predictably, from second phase possession after a corner. Dresden were limited to two chances in the first half and Proll had no problem with them.
The second half was more open. Our second goal resulted from a great run with the ball by Lexa, and Reinhard, after a great sprint from defence, slotted it past the keeper.
At 2-0, we weren't as nervous as we were against KSC. Even when they pulled one back, with a fantastic effort from Beuchel. One had the impression that Dresden were a beaten team. We got 3 points and that's all that really matters.
Plus points: The team have a good work ethic even though we seem to have given up the pressing game. Lexa was more lively tonight, his injury must be getting better.
Minus points: Van Lent is a stick. His first touch is bad, he is too slow, and he is poor in the air.
We created no end of chances in the first half but just couldn't finish any of them. Hoffman's goal, came, predictably, from second phase possession after a corner. Dresden were limited to two chances in the first half and Proll had no problem with them.
The second half was more open. Our second goal resulted from a great run with the ball by Lexa, and Reinhard, after a great sprint from defence, slotted it past the keeper.
At 2-0, we weren't as nervous as we were against KSC. Even when they pulled one back, with a fantastic effort from Beuchel. One had the impression that Dresden were a beaten team. We got 3 points and that's all that really matters.
Plus points: The team have a good work ethic even though we seem to have given up the pressing game. Lexa was more lively tonight, his injury must be getting better.
Minus points: Van Lent is a stick. His first touch is bad, he is too slow, and he is poor in the air.
No need to get too despondent, ladies and gentlemen. We were unlucky last night. Their first goal came at the wrong time. Their crowd were starting to get impatient, and getting on the backs of their own team. Then one of our lads slips on a greasy pitch, gets caught in possession and they get in for a soft goal. Goals change matches, as the saying goes. That one certainly did.
To be positive: we owned most of the game and created many clear cut chances last night, we just couldn't finish them. That'll come.
The only negatve was the continuous pumping of high balls into van Lent when it was clear the Köln centre-backs were having him for lunch. We looked much more of a threat when Beierle came on.
We deserved to get something from this game and we got nothing – that's football!
Bring on Dresden!
Keep the Faith.
To be positive: we owned most of the game and created many clear cut chances last night, we just couldn't finish them. That'll come.
The only negatve was the continuous pumping of high balls into van Lent when it was clear the Köln centre-backs were having him for lunch. We looked much more of a threat when Beierle came on.
We deserved to get something from this game and we got nothing – that's football!
Bring on Dresden!
Keep the Faith.
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We'll have at least 5,000 – for a Monday night away game!
I don't know about Köln, except they were crap last season, even when we lost up there.
I'd take the 9/4 Oddest are giving on Frankfurt. It'll be cool (18C) on Monday night, and I think Funkel's possession/pressing game will reap dividends.
Karlsruhe and Erfurt were both solid performances from a team that are still learning. All IMHO. I'll be hoping to recoup my costs of travelling to the game, from Oddset, of course!
We'll have at least 5,000 – for a Monday night away game!
I don't know about Köln, except they were crap last season, even when we lost up there.
I'd take the 9/4 Oddest are giving on Frankfurt. It'll be cool (18C) on Monday night, and I think Funkel's possession/pressing game will reap dividends.
Karlsruhe and Erfurt were both solid performances from a team that are still learning. All IMHO. I'll be hoping to recoup my costs of travelling to the game, from Oddset, of course!
Welcome and good luck Alex
Sorry for my english, it isn´t my first language
He had a great game last night. I was very impressed, nothing got past him, and the players around him had a lot of confidence as a result.
Regarding your English – you had me worried for a while