Dennis Schmitt weighs in on Eintracht Frankfurt ‘beer summit’: “We can’t solve the problem over a pint.” | OneFootball

Eintracht Frankfurt interim trainer Dennis Schmitt had his turn to respond to the question as to whether a “beer summit” might help his team break out of their never-ending cycle of defensive errors. Schmitt himself answering endless questions about Eintracht’s defensive woes at the post match press conference following Wednesday’s Champions League elimination.

Eintracht board-member-for-sport Markus Krösche continued to rail about the team’s propensity to make the same mistakes over and over again. Answering questions in the mixed zone, one of the players who keeps making said mistakes (Danish fullback Rasmus Kristensen) denied that getting the team together over a few barstools might help lessen the tension.

Schmitt found himself asked about a potential solution by three successive German journalists. After answering questions from the Frankfurter Rundschau, Sport Bild, and Kicker. When it came time for a question from state radio broadcaster Hessischen Rundfunk, it was time to follow up on Kristensen’s comments. 

Dennis Schmitt’s statement on the Eintracht defending

“Is the fact that the defensive errors are all following the same pattern something one can solely solve on the pitch or something one can work on off the pitch,” the reporter asked. “Perhaps something that can be partially solved with a ‘team evening’ or something of that nature?”

“It would be nice if one could solve the problem over a pint,” Schmitt responded. “We would have already done so if it would have worked. We simply need time, analysis, and training. What one sees on the pitch is always the result of hard work.“

“We don’t have much time,” Schmitt continued. “We fly back [from Azerbaijan] tomorrow and have Friday. I can only swear to you on my soul that we’ll do everything we possibly can to break this pattern and I’m confident that the lads will make another step in the right direction.

“I believe that I witnessed some progress today,” Schmitt went on. “We had many phases in which we were compact. We had many instances in which we applied pressure off the ball. We controlled the spaces and long balls in behind.

“We were perhaps not always confident enough to turn transitional moments into counterattacks or work chances here and there,” Schmitt concluded. “There were steps forward. The lads have quality. We won’t fall into the self-pity trap. We’ll swallow this hit today and sally forth tomorrow.“

GGFN | Peter Weis