The question of the language, which had preoccupied some, quickly turned out to be unnecessary.

Oliver Glasner, born in Salzburg, socialized in football in Upper Austria and matured into a coach of stature at ASK Linz, speaks High German without a dialect that is difficult to understand.

And also fluent English.

So that it is easy for him to make himself heard.

Marc Heinrich

Sports editor.

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His predecessor, compatriot Adi Hütter, often consulted the club interpreter when he wanted to make himself understood in the multinational Frankfurt troupe because he was unsure whether he would choose the right words and preferred to play it safe as soon as things got complicated are threatened. Glasner, who can only be described as shy, who lets himself be misled by his juvenile appearance, is less reticent than Hütter, who now works in Gladbach, of a gripping manner, audibly more impulsive in his daily work at the practice area.

Players and officials do not save with positive comments when they are asked about the 46-year-old and the beginning of the cooperation, which is everywhere again characterized by a trusting tone.

After three years of sporting success, the connection between Vorarlberger Hütter and the traditional Hessian club broke up when the coach first publicly acknowledged the former diva from Main in the spring - only to say yes at the next possible opportunity to Borussia from Niederrhein -Give word.

Krösche: Younes has "all options"

Hardly anyone in Frankfurt cries a tear after Hütter today.

Also because they are convinced that they have made a splendid catch with his successor.

Or as Sebastian Rode put it: “So far everything has been very positive”.

The 30-year-old, who had criticized Hütter as clearly as no other from the internal circle after Easter, because, contrary to his own admission, his change did his part in the fact that the team went off course in the possible qualification for the premier class ennobled by Glasner: Rode will lead Eintracht as captain in the future. A decision that the person concerned described as a "great honor" and at the same time emphasized that this did not result in any special position in the cabin for him: "The team is above everything."

After almost five weeks of preparation, which will be followed by the first competitive game in the Cup in Mannheim on Sunday, a formation has largely been found that Glasner considers competitive. There is no way past Kevin Trapp between the posts. In defense, the coach trusts a triple chain after some experimentation, for which the Brazilian Tuta, the Carinthian Martin Hinteregger and the French Evan Ndicka are the first choice.

In the midfield, the agony of choice is currently greatest: The contenders next to Rode for the part in six are Djibril Sow, Makoto Hasebe, Stefan Ilsanker and (who is missing for the time being due to a corona infection) Ajdin Hrustic; newcomers Jesper Lindström, Daichi Kamada, Aymen Barkok, Steven Zuber and (still) Amin Younes are available for the more offensive positions. However, it is uncertain whether the 27-year-old will actually fulfill his loan contract, which will bind him to Eintracht until next summer.

Finally, the short interior designer, who has been given the gift of initiating advances with a few physical deceptions and technical tricks, made it clear that he cannot get used to considering continuing employment with the Frankfurters on the terms offered. Even a significant increase in the salary, which was initially fixed at around two million euros per year, does not seem to be enough for him. Instead, his advisor is launching the idea of ​​a (lucrative) move to the Arab world.

With this kind of lobbying, Younes has made few friends with Eintracht.

"Amin has all the options", said sports director Markus Krösche meaningfully and hinted that a departure from Younes would not be something that would make Eintracht fall from the clouds;

They are also in negotiations with AC Milan to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.

The Frankfurt club would like to poach Jens Petter Hauge from the club from Lombardy, with which they have maintained good contacts since the Rebic-Silva deal.

The Norwegian can also bring his strengths - speed, paired with a good shot and assertiveness - to both wings.

A central attacker to complement Rafael Santos Borré is still being sought.

Nothing new at Kostic

Meanwhile, there is nothing new to say about Filip Kostic: For everyone who cares about the well-being of unity, this message is good news. The star among a few asterisks in the squad of the Europa League participant was confirmed by the media from his Serbian homeland that he was emigrating to Serie A during the European Championship. In particular, AS Roma and Inter Milan were therefore considered to be interested.

Kostic's class has given the Eintracht performances a quality boost to this day. In 127 competitive games he scored 26 goals and prepared 48. "We know what we have in Filip, and Filip knows what he has in Eintracht," said Krösche. Glasner went one step further. On a scale from one to ten, he rated the likelihood of Kostic's whereabouts as “nine to ten”. If the assumption turns out to be true in this transfer period, it would mean a first major success for him and Eintracht - for which there are no points, but which would be worth a lot for the upcoming season because of its symbolic power.