Coach Michael Skibbe's declared goal of 50 points for the campaign seemed to many rather ambitious before the action got underway. At the midway stage though, Eintracht are already slightly ahead of schedule, on 26 � good enough to put them in seventh place over the winter break.
Poor start
Improbable as that may have seemed in the pre-season, it became an even less likely scenario after Frankfurt lost their two opening games, despite playing well, at Hannover 96 and at home to Hamburger SV. By the end of Matchday 5, Skibbe's men were lodged in the relegation zone, but from there on results started going their way and they gradually shifted towards the healthier end of the table.
Matchday 13 heralded a short-lived but dramatic form slump, with a 4-1 home loss to 1899 Hoffenheim followed by a 4-0 thumping at FC Bayern, but Frankfurt once again responded manfully. Looking back at the half-way stage though, even the coach himself admits that, "after some of the games over the past few months, I hadn't reckoned with such a good outcome myself."
Gekas out on his own
It was built above all on a run of form that saw Frankfurt win five games and draw the other two between Matchdays 6 and 12, and underscored by the win against BVB in the final round of action before the winter recess. "We went out and played, and fought, as a team, with great commitment", said midfielder Patrick Ochs after an 87th-minute goal from Theofanis Gekas had shattered Dortmund's incredible 100 percent away record in the league this season.
Gekas, indeed, has been an integral part of the Eintracht success story. Skibbe made signing his former charge at Bayer Leverkusen a priority over the summer, and the 30-year-old Greek goalgetter has repaid that faith in kind, hitting the net no less than 14 times to top the scorers' chart going into 2011. "One of Fani's great strengths is that he can seem to disappear for stretches of the match and then strike like lightning when it's least expected", Skibbe has explained.
International ambitions
Pirmin Schwegler has been another stand-out contributor to Frankfurt's fine season-half. In his second year at the club, the 23-year-old holding midfielder has developed into one of the team's onfield leaders and it is down in no small part to him that Eintracht boast the fourth-best defence in the league, six clean sheets included. All the more remarkable given the absence since Matchday 9 of defensive linchpin and captain Chris, with a trapped nerve in the spine.
If they can stay largely injury-free and keep operating with the same level of commitment shown thus far, this Eintracht team will be good for a few more surprises yet. Frontman Gekas at any rate is looking up, rather than back down the table, and believes the side have "a very good chance" of earning a place in Europe this season.
