A different feeling in the battle against Wolfsburg, which Makoto Hasebe felt

Saturday afternoon, November 23, 2019. The city of Frankfurt was quiet. Normally, supporters in replica uniforms board the tram near the central station before the game, but today they are in order for some reason.

Think about the quiet reason. The opponent of Eintracht Frankfurt this time is VfL Wolfsburg. The club is based in Wolfsburg, a small city in north-central Germany, and their main sponsor is Volkswagen, Germany's largest car maker with a large factory in the city. However, it is said that the number of supporters is not large. Certainly it was difficult to find Wolfsburg supporters in the city, and the car was full of people wearing Eintracht mufflers. However, there seems to be another reason why Eintracht supporters, who usually chat loudly and loudly, are quiet.

Eintracht recently lost in a row against the UEFA Europa League (EL) against Standard de Liège (Belgium) and the Bundesliga Round 11 against Freiburg. Both were away, but the match against Liege was conceded just before the end of the match, and the match against Freiburg was defeated after two sent off. In particular, captain David Abraham defeated enemy general Christian Streich outside the sideline and skirmished with the opponent's bench, resulting in a bad aftertaste.

Earlier this season, Eintracht had a record that could be said to be the best in the three tournaments of LaLiga, DFB-Pokal, and EL in parallel. However, since the beginning of November, they have drawn a downward line, and in the league, they are in 9th place with 8 points difference from the leader Mengengradbach, and in the EL group league, they have the same points as Liege but have surpassed the results of the direct confrontation. The situation was getting worse when he fell to 3rd place.

Eintracht coach Adi Hütter replaces players at each match turnover, taking into account the results and content of the match during the overcrowded schedule. It may be due to the bitter experience that the team condition declined and the results fell in the final game as a result of fixing the main force last season. However, this season's team will maintain their team strength after the three strong tops of Luka Jović (→ Real Madrid / Spain), Sebastian Are (→ West Ham / England) and Ante Rebic (→ Inter / Italy) have left. There is a current situation that we are struggling with. Even if FW Bas Dost (← Sporting / Portugal), FW Andre Silva (← Intel / Italy), etc. are acquired and MF Kamada Daichi (← Sint-Truiden / Belgium) is rented back, a high attack like last season Regaining power is not easy. In addition, turnover has not been functioning properly due to the lack of human resources in the midfield and backline, where the player base is thin.

Still, Eintracht supporters aren't really the type of team that gets into trouble. I also think he has the will to raise his voice and boost when faced with a crisis. What's more, this time it's been a two-week break due to International A Match Week, and it's good that the momentum for a counterattack has increased even since the game on November 2nd, when the game was held at home, which was a big win over Bayern Munich. However, even when I arrived at "Comerzbank Arena" and went to the stadium concourse where many supporters came and went, I could not feel the excitement of their game.

It is said that Makoto Hasebe, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time in two games, felt that the atmosphere of the stadium was different from usual because he did not participate in the match against Freiburg.

"The atmosphere was a little fluffy after the break. I felt it in the game and of course in the stadium."

Eintracht's attackers, who normally rush into the opponent's team with the engine fully open, seem to save power in a disturbing atmosphere. Filip Kostic on the left side is a good example. He is a combative man who cuts through the enemy with a rough dribble, but today the gesture of backpassing toward his own side is conspicuous. The two tops, Dost and Gonçalo Paciencia, who excel in aerial combat, are heavily charged by the opponent's defense team. Is the fact that regular Danny da Costa on the right side turns aside in the turnover and Erik Durm takes the place of it is also a factor that does not activate the team's attack. Gelson Fernandes, who should be in the corner of the voluntary, was suspended due to his exit against Freiburg, but Djibril Sow is filling the hole, and it seems that there is not much problem in forming the midfield with Sebastian Rode. There is no flaw in the rear lineup, with Libero Hasebe following Martin Hinteregger and Evan Ndicka on both sides. However, 29-year-old GK Felix Wiedwald, who defends the goalkeeper at the end, was a little worried.

Wiedwald is in the position of the third GK after Kevin Trapp and Frederik Rønow. However, the positive goalkeeper Trap was undergoing medical treatment with a partial rupture of the rotator cuff on his left shoulder, and now the second goalkeeper Ronow is on the pitch, and he was one of the starting pitchers in the match against Wolfsburg. However, there was no name of Lenow on the starting member list distributed one hour before the start of the game, Wiedwald started, and 34-year-old veteran goalkeeper Jan Zimmermann was in the starting lineup.

Seta, who turned to the front after Wiedwald caught the ball, Hasebe started to move to receive a pass. However, Wiedwald kicked a punt kick into the front line and was picked up by the opponent, and the team moved to the defensive position again. Since Dost and Paciencia are on the front line that excels in aerial warfare, you can launch a secondary attack after attacking and defending highball. But Wolfsburg's Bucks are strong. John Anthony Brooks, Jeffery Bloomers, and Marcel Tisserand all feature hard markings that don't easily make ball contact with Eintracht's two tops. With a simple vertical feed, the situation continued where we couldn't find a goal chance, just crushing each other.

Perhaps Hasebe was aware of the difficulty of the war situation at an early stage.

"The opponent was a team with few goals and a few goals, so I felt that it would be a tough match even before I played."

Therefore, Hasebe made an elaborate play selection at the end of the field player. One is the feed behind the opponent's backline. Instead of causing a human bullet battle, send a feed that makes the opponent run backwards, and let the ally FW poke the space behind. Even if you don't get the chance, you can lower the position of your opponent's backline. Another option is to bring the ball to the enemy. Dribble vertically the moment you receive the ball in the free position. Pass the pass pinpointly after seeing the opponent remove the marker and head for himself. I have already learned from the past battles that one action of my own will cause the opponent's defensive formation to collapse. The reason why 35-year-old Hasebe is still at the forefront of the German stage is his backed experience and the maturity of thinking that makes use of it.

However, in the 19th minute, Eintracht suffered a distressing goal. At the moment when opponent MF Maximilian Arnold tried to shoot a middle shot, Hasebe was trying to erase the course by holding in front of the goal. The ball passes by that side, but this is within the defensive range of the ally GK. However, the shot hit the head of opponent FW Wout Weghorst and the trajectory changed, and the ball fell into the net while GK Wiedwald who was struck in the opposite direction collapsed.

"The first goal is like an accident"

Hasebe looked back on that, but the unexpected goal also triggered the team's upset. Just before the end of the first half, opponent DF Tisserand elbowed Paciencia and was sent off after receiving a second yellow card, which also did not give Eintracht an advantage. Wolfsburg, who keeps the lead, is motivated by the exclusive defense-oriented policy and is building a stronger defensive organization. Nevertheless, Eintracht's means of attack is still all about supplying about crosses from the side.

Kamada, who stood on the pitch from the beginning of the second half, lamented the unification of attack patterns.

"My current method is cross attack. I feel like from cross to cross, and I'm pomponing a rough ball early, so that part is very difficult, I don't feel the possibility."

In the 65th minute, Wiedwald mistakenly dealt with the ball and was kidnapped by opponent midfielder Joan Victor, and Eintracht scored a second goal. The home team, who was struck by an unthinkable mistake, then accepted the defeat without any resistance.

Hasebe, who inspires his friends with a fierce fighting spirit on the pitch and sometimes explodes his emotions, usually regains his composure after the match. He walks up to the mixzone, and when the former German reporters in Wolfsburg say "Makoto!", He replies "Guten" and spins the words.

"The second point is my big mistake. I think my personal feeling wasn't bad, but I wanted the team to win the most, so I feel frustrated or bitter."

The word "bitter feeling" made me feel the anguish he had. Unlike last season, there are more opportunities to go to the bench at turnover now. That's why I want a clear result when I stand on the pitch. Team performance and intra-team competition do not conflict. That's why he takes responsibility for it and is worried about the current situation of the team.

"I think (Hütter) uses a variety of players to encourage competition. If we don't get results, we can change players. Still, (Eintracht) doesn't change much in quality no matter who comes out. I think, more than that, I think today's team lacked something on the pitch that was difficult to explain. "

The audience is leaving quickly. I wonder why the supporters were staring at today's game. With the yellow light shining on the EL group league breakthrough after sinking to the middle in LaLiga, are you prepared to settle down to the mid-level team as before, as the team's strong performance that has continued for several years has diminished? Is he quietly accepting the "end of the festival"?

Eintracht was defeated for the first time in the Bundesliga home game this season.

When I got on a quiet tram and sat down on my seat, I could see the light of the stadium floating in the darkness bleeding from the train window.

Im Frankfurt-7th (End)