People know and appreciate each other. This is often the case in the Bundesliga among fellow coaches. But in this particular case, there is even a common past. Oliver Glasner and Thomas Letsch were with the same employer ten years ago. The current Eintracht coach was assistant coach at RB Salzburg at the time – and Letsch, now coach of VfL Bochum, was too.
Ralf Weitbrecht
Sports editor.
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"I know Thomas very well," said Glasner on Wednesday, when he spoke about many things two days before his team's upcoming home game against VfL this Friday (20:30 in the F.A.Z. live ticker for the Bundesliga and DAZN). The fact that Bochum has become more stable and consolidated under Letsch's leadership "does not surprise me".
The bare numbers speak for a good development work of the football teacher, who has managed the turnaround deep in the West. When Letsch took over as head coach at Castroper Straße in mid-September, succeeding Thomas Reis, VfL was seemingly hopelessly behind in the table with a miserable point.
17 laps later, the picture looks quite different. Bochum is in 25th place with 14 points.Letsch has scored 24 points with his team during this period – Glasner 26. On Friday, they will be in each other's arms again – and who is the favorite, can not be said beyond doubt at the moment. VfL comes to the Frankfurt Arena with the recommendation of two wins in a row. Goals conceded in the successes in Cologne and against Leipzig? No, not at all.
Glasner is spoilt for choice
The record of Eintracht in the past point game tests: 0:2 at Union Berlin, 1:1 against Stuttgart, 2:2 in Wolfsburg, 1:2 in Leipzig. Seven goals conceded in four games, which have made it clear that some things are not going according to plan at Eintracht. The problems in defence are obvious, and when VfL presents itself in Frankfurt, Glasner has to improvise again. Tuta will not be there when locked. Almamy Touré has muscular problems, Evan Ndicka is lagging behind his old form. Hvroje Smolcic got it even worse. He is out for the rest of the season. The 22-year-old suffered an external meniscus injury on Tuesday during the Croatian U-21 national team's international match in England and needs surgery.
Not the best conditions for a "very physical game of Bochum", which Glasner expects on Friday under floodlights. The Eintracht coach explicitly mentioned the way VfL had recently scored. "Throw-in, header, header, rebound, goal." Glasner knows: "They get over the second balls" and expects a "challenge – of course".
Uncomfortable Bochum, who believe in their first-class future, against Frankfurt, who have recently remained winless four times in a row in the Bundesliga. Glasner did not want to know anything about a form crisis on Wednesday. "In the course of a season, there is sometimes a dent in it. To interpret now that the players are elsewhere with their heads – I don't go along with that. The guys are having a cool season." Subsequently, the Austrian football coach named Randal Kolo Muani, Jesper Lindström, Daichi Kamada, Sebastian Rode and Djibril Sow. "Everyone on the career high."
He also had nothing but praise for Rafael Borré, "who shot us to the Europa League title last year". Two goals and two assists: "If Rafa had played all the games, he would have almost the same rate as Kolo Muani." But he didn't. The Colombian is the specialist for substitutions, although he often does not have much time to draw attention to himself sustainably.
"He has dynamism, power and speed"
Curious: In the current season, Borré was only once from start to finish. It was in an away match on October 8, 2022. A sobering affair for Eintracht, but a celebration for the home team. The opponent at that time: Bochum. VfL beat Eintracht 3-0. It was Letsch's first victory.
Whether Glasner lets the Argentinian Lucas Alario play against Bochum, as in the test against Greuther Fürth, he left open as expected. The coach also kept the decision whether the robust VfL should be attacked with one or two Frankfurt strikers to himself. Specifically, Glasner became Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe. The Frenchman, handicapped for months because of a syndesmosis ligament tear, is back in training.
However, the midfielder is by no means an option for the starting team. "He has dynamism, power and speed," said Glasner. But not yet. "He was gone for nine weeks. He is not yet a man for the starting eleven, because then the others would have done a lot wrong." The "others" have to do a lot right in the "Challenge" against Letsch's VfL after the winless previous weeks.