Nagelsmann, Kahn, Rode, and Krösche react to draw: "We need to step on the gas."
Even though the points were shared, there were obviously vastly different assessments from the Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern München camps following Saturday night's 1-1 draw at the Allianz.
Eintracht skipper Sebastian Rode and SGE sporting director Markus Krösche pulled plenty of positives out of the performance while Julian Nagelsmann and Oliver Kahn were left to lament their team's failure to take off in the new calendar year.
Eintracht skipper Sebastian Rode and SGE sporting director Markus Krösche pulled plenty of positives out of the performance while Julian Nagelsmann and Oliver Kahn were left to lament their team's failure to take off in the new calendar year.
| Oliver Kahn. | Photo: Steffen Prößdorf, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
"To be able to play big games [such as the forthcoming Pokal and Champions' League fixtures, you also have to play the smaller ones in such a way that you are in a good run from a psychological point of view," Nagelsmann told Sky Germany afterwards, "However, we don't have too much time left before the really big games to get into that run. We have to start at some point. The first step is the hardest."
Nagelsmann was especially critical of his team's tendency to try and play through the wings too often whilst not utilizing the center in attack. Another point the young gaffer sought to emphasize concerned "acceleration". Nagelsmann conveyed that he felt his team couldn't get into gear against deep-sitting opponents. Club boss Oliver Kahn agreed.
"We're not really getting our horsepower going on the pitch," Kahn remarked afterwards, while also stating "I'd rather we'd go through a tough phase now that at the end of the season. Against Mainz [in the Pokal on Wednesday, we really need to step on the gas pedal."
The mood remained quite different in the SGE camp. Eintracht actors found themselves more pleased that they had stood toe-to-toe with the mighty Bavarians and nicked a point off them. Those representing the Rhein-Main metropolis certainly didn't consider this, as Nagelsmann called it, a "smaller match".
"We played a very, very good away game," Eintracht skipper Sebastian Rode said in his post-match remarks, ""We defended passionately, kept our strength on the pitch and that's why we deserved the point. In the end, it would have been even more if we had played better in the final third. But that's a lot to ask in light of all the possession Bayern had."
"We have an incredible striker in Randal [Kolo Muani]," Rode continued, "who again created many situations for us today and also scored that outstanding goal. He picks up the ball at the back, virtually puts the ball in front of himself and then knocks it in ice-veined. That's brutal quality."
SGE sporting director Markus Krösche was also agast at Kolo Muani's ability to spin straw into gold. After praising Japanese internationals Makoto Hasebe and Daichi Kamada for their contributions to the match, Krösche made it clear that Muani's play had him almost forgetting that the team had merely earned just a point.
"We still have a lot to improve on and don't want to congratulate ourselves too much," Krösche said before adding with a smirk, "but he's [Muani] definitely on course."
