“On the right track” | OneFootball

Head coach Dino Toppmöller looks back on 2024, citing key factors and players when it came to turning the tide last summer, while by no means resting on his laurels.

2024 was an exciting year for the club as a whole, as well as for the team and for Dino Toppmöller. It was a year full of emotion, with highs and also a few lows. The second half of the year was certainly better than the first in terms of highlights, with the Frankfurt head coach talking about that and much more in the latest episode of the “Eintracht vom Main” podcast, which is also available as a video podcast.

Eintracht played the grand total of 44 matches in domestic and international competitions combined in 2024. The year began with an away win in Leipzig and ended just recently at home to Mainz 05. “The trip to Besiktas and all that that entailed was definitely a special occasion for us, including the fans parading past our hotel, which we were lucky enough to be a part of,” said Toppmöller of one of his fondest memories of the previous season.

“Then we had a clash with Bayern where emotions ran high. We were the clear underdogs but ended up coming away with a 3-3 draw,” the Eintracht boss said, before admitting that there were also some tough times to get through over the past 12 months, not least the second half of last season, where he came in for a fair amount of criticism. “We had some difficult times, and it wasn’t always that easy to come to terms with them – not least when we went out of the Conference League,” said Toppmöller to interviewer Marc Hindelang. The fact that the team and the club as a whole managed to come out the other side was also down to board member for sport Markus Krösche, the coach believes. “We had a number of conversations where we were very open and honest about a lot of things, and he gave me some constructive and very persuasive feedback. And that is definitely one of the reasons why we’re now managing to demonstrate the qualities that we have.”

Another reason was the ability to learn the right lessons from the tough weeks and months that the team went through. Various aspects were tightened up and different sources of motivation were sought, including two new members of the coaching staff who were brought in over the summer, namely Xaver Zembrod (who “has the experience to notice even the most minor details”) and Jan Fießer (who “has a really aggressive approach to the press and really provided a lot of good input to training sessions”). The solid mindset of players such as Arthur Theate and Rasmus Kristensen helped the team to progress, as did having a spine made up of experienced players like Kevin Trapp, Robin Koch and Mario Götze – “leaders that our very young squad can look up to”.

The extended pre-season, where it was clear that there was already an excellent team spirit throughout the camp, also helped to underpin what has been a successful 2024/25 campaign so far, although the squad has stuck to its established gameplan. “We basically haven’t changed all that much compared with the previous season,” the 44-year-old explained. “What we are doing, though, is looking to get forward more quickly, be more direct and get behind the opposition defence as soon as we can.” Eintracht’s set plays have also improved markedly, making the team more of a threat. “Overall,” Toppmöller concluded, “we’re on the right track.”