This was a dreadful game. 20,000 braved freezing conditions to watch a display of muddled football that could have come from two pub teams.
It started brightly for Eintracht. A great piece of ball-control from Meier in the centre of the pitch released Cha on the right. After a powerful run Cha fired in a low cross. Two defenders converged on Jermaine Jones in the six yard box and one of them, Goldbaek, knocked it past his keeper. The only goal of the game. Both sides had chances after that, the woodwork saving Frankfurt twice in the first twenty minutes.
Van Lent and Beierle were both unavailable so Frankfurt started with what looked like a combination of Meier and Cha up front. However both quickly drifted into midfield and we ended up with a very unfocussed 4-6-0 formation. This gave Essen plenty of space and time to build their attacks. A better team would have punished us severely.
Cimen (who had been mysteriously dropped) came in for Chris at the start of the second half. It was just as well because Schur, who has become a bit of a liability recently, picked up a second yellow for a really rash challenge and walked twenty minutes into the half. Lexa had just come on but he had no chance to turn things around. Against ten men, Essen smelled blood. Pröll pulled off a succession of saves to make sure they didn’t get it.
It wasn’t all bad news. Vasowski, sporting a Roy Keane haircut to go with his No. 16 shirt was solid as ever, and also showed that he likes to get forward a bit. Jones was impressive again, initially credited with the goal, he also put in a fantastic saving tackle in his own box! Cimen looks to be a real find. Despite being dropped, he immediately looked to assert some authority on the game when he came in. Lexa now looks fit enough to start in Munich next week. Man of the Match, Pröll, was simply magnificent. Other players drifted in and out of the game, but there was simply no pattern to our play and collectively we were rubbish.
Funkel said afterwards that he was going to give the team a hard week and treat them as if they had lost. He should have a quiet moment with himself about team selection. He also played down any talk of promotion. For the record, Fürth lost in Cottbus and we are now 3 points off a promotion place. If we can get a point in Munich then it is really “game on”.
All in all, we were lucky. But you need a bit of luck from time to time. We had an “off day” today and still got three points. We can’t play as badly again, I hope.
It started brightly for Eintracht. A great piece of ball-control from Meier in the centre of the pitch released Cha on the right. After a powerful run Cha fired in a low cross. Two defenders converged on Jermaine Jones in the six yard box and one of them, Goldbaek, knocked it past his keeper. The only goal of the game. Both sides had chances after that, the woodwork saving Frankfurt twice in the first twenty minutes.
Van Lent and Beierle were both unavailable so Frankfurt started with what looked like a combination of Meier and Cha up front. However both quickly drifted into midfield and we ended up with a very unfocussed 4-6-0 formation. This gave Essen plenty of space and time to build their attacks. A better team would have punished us severely.
Cimen (who had been mysteriously dropped) came in for Chris at the start of the second half. It was just as well because Schur, who has become a bit of a liability recently, picked up a second yellow for a really rash challenge and walked twenty minutes into the half. Lexa had just come on but he had no chance to turn things around. Against ten men, Essen smelled blood. Pröll pulled off a succession of saves to make sure they didn’t get it.
It wasn’t all bad news. Vasowski, sporting a Roy Keane haircut to go with his No. 16 shirt was solid as ever, and also showed that he likes to get forward a bit. Jones was impressive again, initially credited with the goal, he also put in a fantastic saving tackle in his own box! Cimen looks to be a real find. Despite being dropped, he immediately looked to assert some authority on the game when he came in. Lexa now looks fit enough to start in Munich next week. Man of the Match, Pröll, was simply magnificent. Other players drifted in and out of the game, but there was simply no pattern to our play and collectively we were rubbish.
Funkel said afterwards that he was going to give the team a hard week and treat them as if they had lost. He should have a quiet moment with himself about team selection. He also played down any talk of promotion. For the record, Fürth lost in Cottbus and we are now 3 points off a promotion place. If we can get a point in Munich then it is really “game on”.
All in all, we were lucky. But you need a bit of luck from time to time. We had an “off day” today and still got three points. We can’t play as badly again, I hope.
Keep the Faith,
F-Hoop