On Friday, Oliver Glasner was confronted with the fast pace of the football business. If the coach of Frankfurt Eintracht had been asked about the situation at his club around 10.30 am, he would have spoken of an "extremely positive situation". From his point of view, everything was great in terms of personnel. But half an hour later, at the press conference before the Bundesliga opening game this Saturday (6.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) at Borussia Dortmund, Glasner reported a "bitter news" that he and Eintracht were out of clear sky.

At the start of the new round, the new captain Sebastian Rode will be out. "His knee has reacted and is fat," said the new head coach. That was a “bit of a surprise and very short-term” for him, as Rode trained “without any major problems” on Thursday. "Nothing unusual happened." Rode had "always had a bit of problems" last season, Glasner gave an insight into the unpleasant matter.

Glasner did not want to say who will replace Rode at BVB, for whom he played from 2016 to 2018 before Hesse returned to Eintracht.

There are a few candidates: Makoto Hasebe and Steven Zuber.

Ajdin Hrustić would also be one.

The Australian international could not "play from the start" because he had just recovered from his Covid disease.

“Ajdin noticed that he hadn't done anything for two weeks.

He's already lost a bit, ”said Glasner, for whom the player's health“ comes first ”.

Hrustić had only returned to team training on Wednesday.

Search for reinforcement intensified

Apparently, Eintracht is now intensifying the search for reinforcement for the defensive midfield. "We talked a little more about it and will talk about it again in the coming week," announced Glasner. The focus is apparently the 20-year-old Khéphren Thuram from OGC Nice, who is said to have a market value of nine million euros and whose brother Marcus plays for Borussia Mönchengladbach. As for the possible signing of a new center forward, Glasner said one day before the start of the league game: “We talk to each other every day. We basically strengthened ourselves very well and brought in other types of players. The transfer window is still open until the end of August. ”In this respect, he was“ a little cautious in both directions ”when it came to departures or additions.

Glasner has clear ideas of how Eintracht should appear in Dortmund. In the surprising cup-out in Mannheim, Frankfurt would have "lost one duel after the other". But it is "important to have a presence in the duels," emphasized the coach. “We don't need to talk about tactics if we don't get the basics. Games will be decided in both penalty areas. And we were too inconsistent there. ”In the game forward, Glasner also demands more speed and determination. Quite different from the duel with Waldhof Mannheim, in which Eintracht “acted much too slowly and slowly”.

“I hope that was a warning shot in front of the bow,” said the 46-year-old Austrian and made it clear what he expects from his players in Dortmund: “We're going to BVB to win. We want to challenge BVB and take advantage of our opportunities. We will not shut ourselves up, but seek our salvation on the offensive. "Glasner expects" a very exciting game ". As coach of VfL Wolfsburg, he could not win any of the four games. His terrible record: zero points and 0: 9 goals. If he is successful with Eintracht this Saturday, he will therefore “spend one on the journey home” for his team.

The coach will probably not use newcomer Jens Petter Hauge from the start. The Norwegian "actually made a good impression" and "surprised him very positively with his great understanding of the game," said Glasner. However, Hauge has “little rhythm of the game. We want to give him his time to arrive with us, get to know everyone and get into the rhythm so that he can then show his best performance. "The coach is pleased that the" competitive situation on the offensive has increased again ". “Nobody has a free ticket with us.” Striker Rafael Borré's competitive debut in Mannheim was unsatisfactory. Which was also due to the interaction with his teammates. "Rafael has often moved well, but he was isolated because we couldn't find him," explained Glasner and offered the prospect ofWanting to “accelerate getting to know one another”.