New playing style at Eintracht Frankfurt: "Be brave and force ball wins"

In the friendly against Aston Villa, Eintracht Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller has his team attacking from a high angle. Is high pressing a future key feature of Frankfurt's playing style? It's possible.

One look at Elye Wahi's goal in the friendly against Aston Villa is enough to recognize two key things. First, the young Frenchman, long and not unjustly dubbed the "problem striker," possesses finishing skills. He quickly grasped the situation, turned his body, and fired a direct, powerful shot into the far corner to equalize, a perfect finish. And second, Eintracht Frankfurt is in the process of adapting its playing style to the changed personnel situation.

Wahi's goal, which Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller described as a reward for his hard work after the 2-2 draw with the English , resulted from a pressing situation. It was Ansgar Knauff who pursued his English opponent to the byline and forced him into a risky pass, which Robin Koch received about 25 meters from the opponent's goal. Koch is known to be a central defender by profession, which shows how far the entire Eintracht team had gone on the offensive in this situation. Koch finally laid on the pass, and Wahi finished ( see also the following video ).

Opportunity and risk at the same time

"We executed what we wanted. We wanted to be bold, press high, and score two goals from winning the ball high," Toppmöller analyzed on the hr-sport microphone. Frankfurt's second goal, a long-range shot by top talent Ebu Bekir Is, also came after winning the ball just outside the Premier League club's penalty area. So far, so good. However: "You can also see when you're a bit too late: That's when it becomes dangerous."

Want an example? When Aston Villa fell behind early on, they broke free from a pressing situation in the center of midfield and then sent Donyell Malen on his way with a long ball. The former Dortmund player had far too much space on the right, which was partly due to a mispositioning of Eintracht left-back Niels Nkounkou, but also to the positioning of the entire defense. The Hessians were too poorly covered in this situation. England striker Ollie Watkins easily converted Malen's cross ( see video ).

Force opponents to take rash actions

He, Toppmöller, knew that his players would occasionally arrive late after intensive training sessions, "but we wanted to try it out and had many high ball wins." Michy Batshuayi once failed to score from a free position after such a save. All in all, Eintracht forced many rash moves from the English.

What were isolated examples in this friendly match could well provide clues to the bigger picture. Without the outstanding attacking strikers Omar Marmoush and Hugo Ekitiké, the Hesse team will have to adapt in the coming season. While Ansgar Knauff and Jean-Matteo Bahoya frequently sprinted into the gaps on the counterattack in the second half of the season, they were clearly not at the level of Omar Marmoush.

Burkardt plays an important role

From now on, Jonathan Burkardt, rested against Aston Villa due to a recovering cold, will be considered the number one striker – and Wahi, at best, will be a reliable second option. Both players possess depth in their game, but lack the explosiveness of their predecessors. Wahi can hold onto the ball well, Toppmöller recently said, while Burkardt is considered one of the best pressing strikers ever.

The former Mainz player has been known for years for his diligence in attacking opposing defenders, and last season he added a classy finishing touch. Mario Götze, who was also rested against the English side, also possesses the necessary game intelligence to distinguish between correct and incorrect pressing situations and to trigger his own actions (or not).

Eintracht's game, at least according to current impressions, is likely to shift toward more intensive attacks deep into the opponent's half and somewhat away from constant counterattacks. Of course, coach Toppmöller won't want to banish this approach either; it could simply be used more sparingly in the future. "Bringing in new ideas," the coach recently called it . The advantages and disadvantages were certainly already clearly evident against Aston Villa.