Filip Kostic is a footballer with excellent qualities.
Fast, strong in two combat, powerful gunshots.
He has given the playful ideas of Eintracht that certain something on many occasions over the past three years.
It is good for Oliver Glasner to have a professional of this format in his own ranks.
Despite everything: The communicative and psychological skills of the trainer will be more important than ever in order to reintegrate the renegade, who has violated the team's unwritten code of ethics with his behavior.
Kostic's misconduct cannot go unpunished.
Otherwise the fragile peace inside the cabin, in which it has been rumbling for weeks anyway, threatens to burst, if envy and resentment would develop a disastrous effect that would be more difficult to defeat than any of the upcoming opponents.
The club have a number of ways to show Kostic that they are still welcome.
And it is needed with full force more than ever.
Football is a team sport
Everyone makes mistakes, but his refusal to take part in the training and thus force the move to Lazio has not caused anyone harm or irreparable damage; Its reputation, which had been impeccable until then, suffered in particular. He can best polish this up with presentable performance. But Glasner must also have an interest in ensuring that the self-centeredness of each individual is limited and that egoism does not come at the expense of the community.
Football is a team sport in which a soloist gets sidelined if he has no teammates by his side who can fight for him and with him or from whom he can benefit through a clever pass. Kostic is a seasoned professional. He will soon be 29 years old, he is no longer a youngster who does not know how things are going, and has earned millions of euros over the course of his career. The punishment imposed by Eintracht must be accordingly.
Otherwise she runs the risk that in winter, when the transfer window is open again, the next ones will test how far they can and are allowed to go in order to increase their own well-being. As always in sport, there are winners and losers in this matter too. It remains to be said: Sports director Markus Krösche, who immediately jumped aside Glasner with arguments and at the same time showed Kostic the limits of the (im) possible, has passed a first test at the top of Eintracht.