Glasner hopeful for continued momentum against depleted Bochum: "Sending a message to the top of the table."
Firmly recalling his team's defeat to Bochum in this season's reverse fixture, Eintracht Frankfurt head-coach Oliver Glasner vowed that his team could avoid another potential stumbling block on Sunday.
Frankfurt's opponents find themselves without three regular starters in Thomas Reis' back-four.
Frankfurt's opponents find themselves without three regular starters in Thomas Reis' back-four.
| Oliver Glasner. |
Glasner's Adler hope to make it three-in-a-row at home against a Bochum side plagued by multiple COVID absences on Sunday evening.
"I'm not in the mood for mucking about," Glasner tritely noted at his Friday press conference when asked about his goals for the rest of the season.
"How many games do we have left?" he asked rhetorically, "Nine. Right. So I want 27 points. We're doing well. After the [loss] against Bayern, we bottomed out. We showed ourselves [back on track] against Berlin and Sevilla."
Hosting Eintracht will retain some emotional advantages whilst hosting the often hard-fighting 1848ers this weekend. The match at Deutsche Bank Park is expected to attract the fully allowed allotment of 25,000 spectators. Additionally, there will be some pre-match tributes to club icon Jürgen Grabowski. The 15-year SGE veteran passed away this week at the age of 77.
Bochum head-coach Thomas Reis enters the match missing several of his regular starters. Central defender Maxim Leitsch must sit the encounter out due to a positive COVID test. So too must talismanic fullback Danilo Soares. Cristian Gamboa, often the other fullback opposite Soares, is suspended on his fifth yellow card. Newly acquired attacker Jürgen Locadia is not fit enough to start.
Speaking at his own pre-match presser, Reis obviously didn't wish to commit to specific players or a system change when it came time to address his three missing defenders. Ostensibly, Ehran Masovic, Konstantinos Stafylidis, and Herbert Bockhorn would be the replacements should the VfL gaffer wish to retain a back-four.
Reis deflected the questions. The trainer of one of the two 2021/22 Bundesliga's promoted sides instead spoke on Frankfurt. Reis divulged that he gave his upcoming opponent a good deep scout whilst watching the Wednesday Europa League fixture. Exuding a quite confidence, Reis noted that he did see some weaknesses.
Insofar as patterns are concerned, Glasner made clear that he hadn't forgotten the 0-2 defeat his team suffered against Bochum in the reverse fixture. At the time, Frankfurt were riding fairly high after a big Europa League win. Immediately thereafter, however, Reis' Westphalians knocked the SGE flat. Unable to get the team off the ground, many expected that Glasner would soon be sacked following the Bochum loss.
"One can run into a closed door once, but it's best to open it on your second try," Glasner noted when asked about the reverse fixture, "Perhaps we can send a small message to those at the top [of the table] with a win."