If Niko Arnautis were not a football coach but a gardener, he would be very patient.

Anyone who talks to him about the future of Eintracht women will often hear the words “maturity”, “development” or “growth”.

It has been more than a year since 1. FFC Frankfurt and Eintracht merged.

Kim Maurus

Volunteer.

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The previous Bundesliga season was considered a development phase.

As far as the level of play is concerned, that time is far from over for Niko Arnautis.

“We went our way continuously,” he says about the past few months.

He is in no hurry to harvest his work.

"We want to grow together, but there is no time X before something specific has to have happened."

The start of the season for the Eintracht women shows that his trees are already bearing fruit.

The team has won four of five games so far, two of them away.

“We performed very mature in Freiburg and Essen,” says Arnautis.

Only the defeat against TSG Hoffenheim worries the coach: "We were the better team for long stretches."

How far the unity really is will be shown this Sunday (4 p.m. at MagentaSport) when the championship leader FC Bayern stands on the lawn of the stadium at the Brentanobad.

“Of course it won't be easy.

But if we have a creamy day, then we definitely have a chance, ”says Arnautis.

One wants to face Bayern with a certain aggressiveness.

“We can go into the game with broad shoulders.” Eintracht is about embodying the club and its values ​​on the pitch.

"We have always succeeded in this so far, even if we haven't won every game."

"We develop from within"

The balance of the Eintracht women in top games like against Bayern, Wolfsburg or Hoffenheim leaves something to be desired so far.

They didn't score a single point against Munich last season.

“Bayern are very, very effective and strong in standard situations, but also when they are given space.

With a strong central midfield and their pace on the outside, they are strong everywhere, ”says Arnautis.

The Munich women are not lacking in experience.

“In contrast to Bayern, we have a lot of aspiring players who are still developing.” It should not be overlooked that the Eintracht women have only signed three new players for this season.

"We develop from within, that makes us all the more proud."

The Eintracht women also want to develop further in terms of infrastructure. The training grounds, for example, are to be renewed together with the city; the new professional camp for men also benefits women. "An association like Eintracht Frankfurt has everything from management to medical treatment, for example, to ticketing," says Arnautis. This gives the team the opportunity to move forward every year and grow in peace.

It may be contradictory that, despite the distance to Bayern, Arnautis said of the upcoming encounter: "That we call this a top game is also up to us, that is us too." The harvest is not yet ripe, but is confidently hoping for more sun.

“I'm basically an optimist,” says Arnautis.

Regardless of whether it is about the game against Bayern or the coming years.