Krösche criticizes Frankfurt's lack of physicality after Pokal loss, Toppmöller claims squad is running thin
Eintracht Frankfurt sporting CEO Markus Krösche criticized his club's players for their tame approach to football following Wednesday night's Pokal elimination.
SGE trainer Dino Toppmöller, meanwhile, appealed for Krösche and the front office to bring in additional bodies during the coming winter transfer window.
As some had feared, Eintracht Frankfurt's suspect recent form carried over to the latest round of Germany's domestic cup. Dino Toppmöller's RheinMain Adler were eliminated from the DFB Pokal round-of-16 last night by third tier side 1. FC Saarbrücken. When it came time to deliver the post-mortem, SGE trainer Dino Toppmöller and club sporting CEO Markus Krösche delivered different assessments.
SGE trainer Dino Toppmöller, meanwhile, appealed for Krösche and the front office to bring in additional bodies during the coming winter transfer window.
"It's brutally annoying and unnecessary," Krösche noted in his post-match remarks, "Fundamentally, football is a game centered around tackles; engaging in them and winning them. We simply have to start there. We can't always play pretty football. We have to see that we get engaged physically with tackles."
"We failed to address basic issues and that's an annoying thing," Krösche continued, "I'm very angry. We didn't get into the game from the start. We didn't assert ourselves either offensively or defensively. These are basic issues that caused us to fail."
Both Krösche and Toppmöller emphasized that the focus of the team must now quickly shift to a massive encounter with a well-rested Bayern side in the league. The dream of reaching the Pokal Final for the 2022/23 finalists is now over. The team must now focus on ensuring that they remain in the hunt for Europe when the Bundesliga breaks off for the coming winter break.
Krösche called upon the team to prepare adequately for Bayern. Toppmöller spoke of "shaking off the defeat", yet also let it be known that he harbored serious concerns about his squad after injury issues and a packed schedule left them looking limp against their Pokal opponents.
"We're running on fumes both physically and in terms of personnel," Toppmöller noted, "One can tell that we lack freshness, also on a mental level. We simply have to do better on Saturday."