The Frankfurt coach Oliver Glasner couldn't believe his eyes in the World Cup arena.

It was well into the second half of the home game against Union Berlin (2-1) when the two defensive midfielders Djibril Sow and Kristijan Jakic took up positions in the Berlin penalty area last Sunday.

"I almost had a heart attack", Glasner reported afterwards about the moment of shock.

The 47-year-old Austrian was uncomfortable with so much risk in the Eintracht game.

The "wildness" of his cheerfully storming players bothered him.

"We are not yet tactically disciplined enough in every situation," said Glasner, but also added: "If you are not tactically a bit undisciplined at times, a central defender would not score a goal."

Jörg Daniels

Editor in the sports department

  • Follow I follow

In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Evan Ndicka hit the head to make it 2-1. The courage to go all out had paid off again. The Frankfurters, who compete in Hoffenheim this Saturday (3:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and Sky), have now been undefeated for six games (four wins, two draws).

Jakic and Sow have become a duo with drive in the center; they too have their share in the upswing of Eintracht.

Above all, the Swiss national player brought momentum to his game.

Gone are the days when the 24-year-old exercised false restraint on the pitch.

I preferred to play the passes backwards or to the side and thus dragged off the pace.

Today, however, Sow, who made it 1-0 against Union with a tight long-range shot, is increasingly taking the initiative.

Has become more self-confident and dares to do something in the style of a leader.

So's status has risen

He has enough reason to do so. He was in the starting line-up in all 19 competitive games this season. Behind goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, Sow has the most competitive minutes (1640). As far as his mileage of 146.6 kilometers in the league is concerned, only Manuel Prietl from Bielefeld is ahead of him. And an average speed of 7.5 km / h and 88.4 percent of the passes mean that he was the best in the Frankfurt squad. Sow's status has risen significantly.

For him it is important “if someone can keep my back free”, says the frequent player Sow about his team-mate on the double six, Jakic.

Like the Swiss, the Croat is very strong.

Its radius of action is remarkable.

Jakic and Sow complement each other well.

While the Swiss is the more elegant player thanks to his technical skills, Jakic has an enormous fighting spirit that makes him a relentless opponent in duels.

“You can tell that Djibril and Kristijan have developed a feeling for each other.

When one has to hold his position and the other takes an offensive step, ”says sports director Markus Krösche.

Jakic still has goals

The interplay works better and better.

The bottom line is that Sow and Jakic are now acting more than just reacting to their opponents.

In the duel with the Berliners, Jakic had an excellent header chance to make it 2-0.

His through pass to Jesper Lindström was worth seeing.

This scene proved that there is also football class in the Croat.

In addition to greater tactical discipline, Jakic has decided to play the balls earlier.

Jakic has played 14 games for Eintracht so far, only having to pass against Leipzig due to injury.

If you also take into account the matches that the Croat played for Zagreb in the Champions League qualification before moving to Frankfurt, he has made 26 club appearances in this round.

This means that Jakic also falls into the category of frequent players.

Personnel continuity is currently the trump card at Eintracht.

In the past three games, the Hessians always started with the same line-up.

To her belonged Makoto Hasebe, who strengthens the game of Sow and Jakic as a prudent head of defense and cooperative Libero.

Their good form gives Glasner the opportunity to carefully integrate Sebastian Rode into the team through short missions after his knee injury.

According to the current status, Glasner believes that a new commitment in winter for the control center in the midfield is unnecessary.

His staff on the pitch shows that with good performance.