Bundesliga End of Season Awards: Eintracht Frankfurt's Player of the Season
Before a ball rolled this season many doubted the appointment of Dino Toppmöller as coach of Eintracht Frankfurt. The man who once made 16 appearances for the Hessen giants in a relatively short career now took his place in the dugout. Fast forward to June and who can doubt the 43-year-old now after leading Die Adler to their joint second-best finish of 6th-place in the Bundesliga since their return to the top-flight in 2012-13. An achievement made all the more remarkable given the sale of talismanic presence of Randal Kolo Muani to PSG which pocketed a cool €95million euros alongside Jesper Lindstrøm who joined Napoli for €30 million.
With a combined goal involvement of 40 in the 2022/23 season, it was hard to know where returns would come for Toppmöller’s side. Not to mention who would they look to replace them with. Those questions were promptly answered when a shrewd bit of business acquired them the services of Omar Marmoush on a free transfer from VfL Wolfsburg. Although not known for his goalscoring prior to the move, the Egyptian clearly showed sparks during his time in green. With his best season to date, Marmoush finished as top-scorer for the Hessen club netting 12 times and providing a further 6 assists in 29 outings to cement himself as a fans favourite.
With excellent positional awareness, Marmoush presented a serious threat towards all opposition. Clocking in as the 14th-fastest Bundesliga player of the campaign with 35.77 kilometres per hour, it's clear to see why he strikes fear into his markers. Speed is the name of his game and the Egyptian even registered 844 sprints this season. A mighty workload which highlights his offensive threat as well as his astute pressing without the ball. A figure which places him joint 12th overall in German top-flight statistics for 2023-24. Priced at €6million before his arrival, Marmoush is now valued at €22million per Transfermarkt. It becomes clear to understand why when you look at his superb output.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCE:
Omar Marmoush offered up some otherworldly performances this year, but perhaps coupled with the result none stood out more than his central role in Frankfurt’s 5-1 thrashing of Bayern Munich. Matchday 14 served up a delight for Die Adler fans who broke the deadlock via the Egyptian on 12 minutes. Farès Chaibï’s effort cannoned off the crossbar, but Marmoush controlled the rebound with his chest. Allowing it to fall to earth, he swung a right-footed volley which precisely sailed through the crowd of Bayern bodies from the edge of the six-yard box.
Dina-Ebimbe added a second while Marmoush supplied the assist for Frankfrurt’s third before the break. Carrying the ball to the edge of the penalty box, he slid a perfectly weighted pass into Hugo Larsson who whipped past Neuer on the angle. Although Joshua Kimmich responded for the Bavarians, Dina-Ebimbe struck again. Before the night was out, Marmoush could bag his second assist for the fifth Adler goal. The Egyptian’s deft flick fell kindly for Ansgar Knauff who nipped in to fizz the ball to the net. Marmoush naturally looked to pull the trigger himself but for his teammate’s opportunistic timing. Regardless, a memorable night at the Deutsche Bank Park.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
The remaining 2 votes fell the way of Willian Pacho. The young Ecuadorian centre-half also arrived for a snip at €9million in summer from Royal Antwerp. He made himself at home on the left of Frankfurt’s back-three, picking up 7 clean sheets and 2 assists in 33 outings for Dino Toppmoller’s men. Strong performances worthy of his €35million price point per Transfermarkt.com.