Tag: Eintracht Frankfurt

Preview:

Ange has been on borrowed time for what seems like an eternity, Thursday will be judgment day. And no, he won’t be back 🙂

Fixture:

Thursday 17th April, 20:00

Eintracht Frankfurt Vs Tottenham Hotspur

UEFA Europa League – Quarter-finals (Second Leg)

Available On:

UK – TNT Sports 3

IRE – Premier Sports 2

Result: 0-1 (Agg 1-2) Tottenham Qualify

D. Solanke (43′ pen)

Match Report:

Well, what a night! And I’m not just talking about the Spurs match, the Utd / Lyon match was a 9 goal thriller and Lazio / Bode went all the way to Penalties. But let’s talk about Tottenham. It may have been the quietest game of the night but all we care about is the result.

Apparently Opta stats gave us a 32% chance of winning that fixture and not too many would have argued against those odds to be fair. But even the bookies can get it wrong from time to time and it’s not the first time we’ve had to go away in the 2nd leg to pull it out of the bag!

Watching it on TV, a reporter spoke to Solanke after the game and described the result as a typical Ange Postcoglu performance. I have no idea what games that reporter has been watching this season but that was anything but a typical Ange performance. We got a clean sheet for starters, there were less mistakes playing out the back and instead more direct balls played out with a ‘better safe than sorry’ approach.

It wasn’t the best performance of the season, but what they did was done with composure and unity, never at any point did Spurs look panicked or fazed by the challenge ahead. And let’s be honest, for this Spurs team that was a pretty big challenge, to go away from home and get a result against a team whose 3rd in the Bundesliga. Sure at times we may have rode our luck, but that’s football, you can’t expect to dominate for 90 minutes. In the first leg Frankfurt very much rode their luck too so that evened out in any case.

The first half I thought we were the more likely team to score although there wasn’t a lot in it, but the timing of the goal changed the course of the evening. Frankfurt looked frustrated, they certainly didn’t look like a team who was 3rd in the league and playing at home. Spurs were getting it right without being over the top, they weren’t trying to play like Brazil, I would even say we were being more like an efficient Germany and it was frustrating the hell out of them!

In the first leg I was surprised at how much Frankfurt sat back and allowed us to play but I put that down to them scoring early and the fact that they were playing away with the knowledge of having home advantage in the 2nd leg. But the 2nd leg showed a similar type of performance from Frankfurt, they never really tried to press the Spurs defenders and this favoured us enormously. 

In contrast to most Premiership fixtures, we always appeared to have time on the ball and this did us a favour. Our back four looked as good as they have all season and for the most part we maintained our shape without leaving those ridiculous holes. Sure there were a couple of times where just a single pass managed to expose our defence and Van de Ven did well to rescue those situations.

But as the game progressed we sat back and made them work for it. Frankfurt struggled to find the answers although had Kristensen been in better form it could have been a different story. Losing Maddison so early in the game (hope he’s made a good recovery) was a concern but the return of Kulusevski is huge for Spurs. We have missed Kulu so much in the last month and as good as Madders is, we look better when we have the two of them.

As for the goal all credit to the bravery of Madders, I’m sure he knew what was coming but he didnt back out, he took one for the team and there was never any question for me, it was a definite pen. I was a bit nervous when I saw Tel pick up the ball. I know Tel scored his last one but I wasn’t overly convinced by it. But it was Solanke who got the nod and a man who hasn’t scored in god knows how many games was also a worrying thought. Fair play to Solanke, for a man who was suffering a proper goal drought he never showed any nerves and took it like a pro.

It appeared we got it right on the night and we all knew what it meant. In Anges words, “So, unfortunately for a lot of you, you’re going to have to put up with me for a little bit longer.”

If we were told we would be playing a Norwegian club in the semis to reach another European final, the truth is we would have snapped at it. Of course, you should never take any team for granted, especially in a European semi final, but the fact is, it’s a good draw! And I will leave it there:) COYS!!!!!

Entertainment Value: 9 / 10

Of course I am biased but you can’t beat a European night like that and whilst it may have lacked goals, I was on the edge of my seat all night!

Standout Players:

Madders deserves a mention for his bravery but this night was all about the defensive display and Romero and Van de Ven were both outstanding.