Merle Frohms in an interview: "I feel ready to play for all titles"

You played two convincing games in the four-country tournament that just ended in England.

Is your number 1 status cemented with the German national team?

Yes, I am convinced of that.

Those were real endurance tests where I was able to show that I can hold my own against opponents of the caliber of Spain and England.

That I exude security and calm and that I can steer and coach the team from behind.

I was very happy with myself - and so was the national coach.

Where is the German team in an international comparison exactly four months before the European Championships in England?

Of course, the results weren't what we had hoped for.

One point from three games was definitely not enough.

It was a minor setback - but one that doesn't have to be bad.

The deficiencies and the things that we missed, we can turn off until the European Championships.

The EM starts at the beginning of July.

Then “VfL Wolfsburg” will appear in brackets after your name in the squad list…

... that shouldn't and won't have any influence on the EM.

As part of Eintracht, I'm doing my best for the Bundesliga season and preparing for the tournament.

We still have a few goals in Frankfurt and we're in good shape for that.

You justified your move by saying that you also want to experience international competition at club level.

Is the prognosis at Eintracht still too vague for that?

Of course, our big goal is to qualify for the Champions League this season.

That's definitely realistic too.

In Wolfsburg, however, there is already a guarantee that we will regularly go far in the Champions League and play for all titles.

I feel ready for this.

In the last five league games, the SBU has only won twice against teams that are all behind them in the table.

Isn't the team's much-vaunted maturity really that far away?

That is hard to say.

We just have to learn not only to perform in the top games, but also to really get the apparently safe points.

We had hoped for more from these five games, no question, the defeat in Bremen is annoying.

But nothing has happened yet.

In the home game against TSG Hoffenheim this Saturday we can make up some ground and stay in contention.

Eintracht was both enthusiastic and bitterly disappointed.

Why haven't these enormous swings been eradicated this season?

I would not speak of enormous rashes.

Basically, this is a process that does not go from zero to one hundred immediately.

But a path that we walk together and that also includes setbacks, so that we can then start again.

It is important that we learn from the mistakes.

However, the SBU now has a squad full of national players.

In the most recent international break, 13 players, five of them German, traveled.

Can you still talk about "process" or "young, inexperienced team" and ask for more time?

If you look at key players, they are still relatively young.

You can give some players two or three more years until they have the maturity and experience to play internationally on a permanent basis.

I stand by it: We are still a young and sometimes wild team.

If Eintracht loses this Saturday (1:00 p.m.) at home to Hoffenheim, given the six-point deficit, the train to third place and Champions League qualification would almost have left again.

The Bundesliga is tighter and more exciting than ever.

We're not the only ones who have won games against top teams and lost to a relegation contender, Bremen.

After the Hoffenheim game, the gate to the Champions League is not completely open or closed.

Of course we want these three points to gain self-confidence and send a signal.

Nevertheless, a pressure situation that the team has not yet had to cope with in their one and a half years in Frankfurt?

No, there are still too many games left and too many points up for grabs.

It's not an all or nothing game.

What will matter?

On our aggressiveness and how we accept and lead the duels.

We're coming out of a three-week league break that saw many of us scattered to the four winds.

However, we want to send a quick signal that we are aiming for three points at home in this top game and that anything else would be a bit of a disappointment.

My wish is that we play uncompromising football up front and at the same time allow little at the back.

Niko Arnautis will be on the sidelines for the 100th time as coach of first FFC and now SGE against TSG...

...and we hope that after the final whistle he will give one to our win.

Then we would have double reason to celebrate.