Only Barça & Atalanta are better
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With 20 points, Eintracht Frankfurt went into the international break third in the table. The SGE has only been better off three times in the Bundesliga after ten match days, most recently in 1993/94 under Klaus Toppmöller as the front runner. Today’s coach Dino’s father also benefited from a strong offensive. The previous figure of 28 goals is compared to 26 goals in the current season – mainly thanks to Omar Marmoush (25) and Hugo Ekitiké (22).
The attackers were responsible for 16 hits – just over 60 percent. Marmoush and Ekitiké are the most dangerous duo in the Bundesliga alongside Munich’s Harry Kane (31) and Michael Olise (22). The Bayern pair scored 16 of the league leaders’ 33 goals (48 percent). Marmoush and Kane, as the top scorers with eleven goals each, played a significantly larger role.
Ekitiké said in the “Sport Bild” interview that they are perhaps the most spectacular strike duo in the league at the moment, “but the work is far from done. We have to do more to achieve our goals.” Partner Marmoush is “in the shape of his life. He succeeds in almost everything. Over time we both found a connection with each other. We speak the same language, we love playing football. Omar is the type of player that people go to the stadium to see because he excels on the field. And if he does that, I want to do that too. We get along very well on and off the pitch,” the Frenchman explained the connection.
In the international comparison of the top 5 leagues, only FC Barcelona and Atalanta Bergamo are ahead of the Eintracht duo. Robert Lewandowski (36) and Raphinha (27) scored 21 goals for the Catalans (53 percent), while Mateo Retegui (25) and Ademola Lookman (27) scored 17 goals for La Dea (55 percent).
SGE coach Toppmöller continues to hope for the strong offensive, so that his team doesn’t run out of steam in the second half of the season like his father’s almost 30 years ago. He had made big noises with statements like “Bye, bye Bayern” before the moody diva from the Main went eight Bundesliga games without a win in the middle of the season and Toppmöller senior didn’t even see the end of the 1993/94 season. Nevertheless, son Dino sees exciting offensive football as the right tactic.
Eintracht Frankfurt inspires with offensive football
“My father influenced me a lot by how he played football with his teams. “My father is an absolute role model,” Toppmöller explained in the “Aktuelle Sportstudio”. “A little more spectacle is needed again. We want to perform with a different energy and electrify the stadium more.” With Marmoush and Ekitiké he has the perfect players for this. “The pace of both of them is difficult to defend. That’s really great.”
If Eintracht were to maintain their current average of 2.6 goals per game, they would even be within reach of the record of 89 goals from the 1974/75 season – back then, the SGE ended the season in third place. But all players in the attack are important, not just his top duo. “We have a lot of offensive players with very different profiles. This is a good thing for us because it allows us to prepare for every opponent: sometimes you need more speed, sometimes you need a little more winger, who is more active in the gap. “So we have a good toolbox,” said Toppmöller at the start of the season.
His protégés also feel well prepared. “We have a young team, young people learn very quickly. We want to implement everything the coach expects quickly,” said Marmoush in the “Sky” interview. Ekitiké added: “We have a good mix in the team, we pull and push each other up. It was easy for the new, young players to integrate. Experienced players such as Rasmus Kristensen and Arthur Theate have also joined the team. They bring experience, security and leadership.” But the topic of mastery is “far too far away,” says Ekitiké. “We want to develop step by step. But of course: We are Eintracht Frankfurt and we have high expectations of ourselves because we know what we can do. Let’s see where the journey leads.”
