Eintracht before Augsburg game: Just no lack of self-confidence

Direct hit: At Eintracht Frankfurt "two goals of the month" (coach Oliver Glasner) fell.

But from the Hessen's point of view, unfortunately, not in a point or competitive game.

But only in training last Wednesday, in the game eleven against eleven.

The two goals, one of which was achieved by Filip Kostic, contributed to the fact that Glasner spoke of a “fantastic training” of his team a day later.

Unfortunately, the Austrian couldn't share his enthusiasm with his players. Afterwards, they “didn't even know how good they actually were”, reported Glasner with a grin two days before the Bundesliga home game this Saturday (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and Sky) against FC Augsburg . The reserved behavior of his staff showed the 46-year-old that the players' self-confidence is currently not in good shape. Which is no wonder after the defeats in Dortmund (2: 5) and before that in the cup against Waldhof Mannheim (0: 2). Therefore Glasner tried to strengthen the self-perception of his professionals with a comparison by saying to them: "A model who is slim but feels fat is fat in his eyes." A matter of opinion.So that his players "find their faith in themselves again", the coach showed them the most beautiful scenes from training once again. Object lesson par excellence.

Glasner wants to provoke self-confidence

With words, the Frankfurters are on the right track.

Glasner spoke strongly to his players, none of whom seem to overestimate themselves.

The coach's concern during this working week was also to take the pressure off his team.

"It was important to us not to tense up and to have confidence in our own game." The coach announced that his professionals in the duel with Augsburg will play "courageously and with conviction".

"We want to play football with joy and enthusiasm."

In theory everything has been said by Glasner. The practical implementation now has to be done by his players. And they will probably feel the Augsburg resistance on the square. Augsburg is “a very robust and very well organized team that you have to crack first. The opponents will try to use their fast players from a compact defense, ”said Glasner. After the 0: 4 at home against Hoffenheim in the first division, Augsburg will not be bursting with self-confidence either. Their coach Markus Weinzierl is following in Glasner's footsteps and also warned against too much negative thinking in the club. "We mustn't see everything black now and make the mistake of only evaluating the game based on the result," said the football teacher, who, like Glasner, is 46 years old.

Some starting XI changes are in the room

Glasner could make some personnel changes in the duel with Augsburg compared to the Dortmund game.

That would be useful for performance reasons of individual players.

Erik Durm could get a probation chance for Danny da Costa on the right wing, who has disappointed so far.

On the offensive, the newcomers Jesper Lindström and Jens Petter Hauge advertised with their appearance against BVB each for a place in the starting line-up.

It would not be a surprise if the Australian international Ajdin Hrustic could prove himself from the first minute instead of Makoto Hasebe. And should Glasner opt for a four-man defensive chain, Christopher Lenz would be used as a left-back. However, it is "not the system that wins or loses games," said the coach. "Rather, the basics, the consistency in the duels and the confidence in your own strengths have to be right." This is what Glasner has recently worked towards together with his players.