I would like to tell you very briefly that there is nothing good to mention about the matches against Dortmund, Bremen or Bochum. The performance was devastating; I really don’t want to get into the details.
In Hannover we were the better team but didn’t manage to score more than one goal. It was (besides the 1:1 against Leverkusen in Duesseldorf and the 4:1 against Gladbach) one of the 3 best matches in the second half of the season. Korkmaz (picture above with Fenin) scored his first goal for Eintracht. It should once again be mentioned that Meier is more and more on his way to his old strength after a long time of injury. He was the leader who created nearly all our attacks.
The last match against Hamburg wasn’t successful but at least the team fought for a good result. Hamburg desperately tried to reach the European competition for next season scored twice and people were starting to wonder if they would beat us higher than Bremen 10 days before. But within 6 minutes our players came back and managed to score twice as well. What a shocking experience for Hamburg. They already felt safe because Gladbach was in the lead against Dortmund who collected a many points before the match but scored far more goals than Hamburg. But Dortmund scored as well. At the beginning of the last minute of the match, Hamburg seemed to be out until they scored an offside goal against us within the last seconds. All night the Hamburg fans were celebrating in and around Frankfurt. We don’t really dislike Hamburg; it was just annoying that the season had to end with another defeat.
Already 2 days before the Hamburg match, coach Friedhelm Funkel resigned after 5 years! In the 10 years before his time in Frankfurt, Eintracht had 16 (!) coaches. He did his work constantly well and led us from the 2. Bundesliga up to an average position 13 in the 1. Bundesliga. Plus one season of European matches because we reached the German cup final once in 2006. That is about what could be reached within 5 years. Eintracht, although some fans dream of higher ambitions is surely on of the top 15 teams in Germany and therefore has to play in the 1. Bundesliga. But we are – apart from some short exceptions for each a few years – no top 5 team. But I don’t want to criticize the decision of Funkel and Eintracht to break up. On the contrary, it seemed to be the best way for the next season. The miserable performance this season made some of the fans anxious. In the end, they shouted “Funkel Raus” (Funkel out) whenever they weren’t satisfied with the match – and there was not much to be satisfied with. With Funkel, it would have been a tough start into the new season. The supporters would have discussed allot after every defeat. So it seemed wise to retire at the right time. Funkel will be kept in best memories here in Frankfurt.
We hope to get a good new coach. There are allot of rumours, but in the end I’m sure that CEO Bruchhagen will choose the right one for us. After Funkel established us in the 1. Bundesliga, it should be the aim for the next 5 years to be established in the middle third of the league table (positions 7 – 12). In bad years we would be fighting relegation successful, in good years we would try to qualify for a European tournament. The future is wide open and we will all be glad to open the new season with fresh excitement in August.
I wish you a great summer, wherever you may read this! Here is a picture which shows supporters from Nashville (USA). We are always glad to receive your pictures.
Below (as always) Schobberobber’s corner and an interview with Nikos Liberopoulos by Tim Harris are waiting for you! Many thanks once again to Tim Harris for proofreading!
