“Want to play with passion” | OneFootball

At the press conference ahead of the home match against Augsburg, Adi Hütter discusses team news, the opponents and new signing Lilian Brassier, among other things.

Eintracht entertain FC Augsburg at Deutsche Bank Park on Sunday evening in their first home game of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. At the pre-match press conference, head coach Adi Hütter discussed…

… the current situation: “We’re working every day in training on implementing what I see and how I want to play football. We showed that in phases against Union Berlin, but I also saw things there that I wasn’t pleased with. We want to play proactive football with a lot of passion, which is also the football the fans in the stadium want to see. When that clicks, we’ll have success.”

… team news: “Nnamdi Collins and Ansgar Knauff are injured, but we’re slowly getting to the point where everyone will be fit.” 

… FC Augsburg: “They made a great start to the season with the win at home to Schalke and will come here with confidence. They’re a good side with exciting players, who we’ll need to deal with. I expect us to show the fans that we’re determined to win. It's possible that not everything will work right away.” 

… Lilian Brassier: “He’s strong in the tackle and – this is very important – a left-footer. In terms of his character, he’s a fighter who never gives up, and that’s what we need. I don’t want to reveal whether he’ll be in the starting line-up. We shouldn’t forget that we had two Bundesliga debutants in (Jeremiah) Maluze and (Keita) Kosugi, as well as (Elias) Baum making his full debut, in the back four in Berlin – and you have to give them all credit.” 

… Mario Götze: “I already spoke with Mario before I took up the role. For a young team like ours, Mario is incredibly important. If there are times when he’s not playing, he’s professional enough. He’ll still always support the team and pass on his experience. It was important for us to get him to a fitness level where he can show the quality he has. He’s vital to our team.” 

… the situation up front: “As well as Younes Ebnoutalib and Jonny Burkardt, we have an interesting young player in Malik Pimpong. Can Uzun is also capable of playing up front. Ansgar Knauff has proven in recent years that he can operate as a second striker in very important games. We’re also capable of playing with one striker in a 4-2-3-1. There’s always so much emphasis on the formation, but if you just move things around a little bit, it suddenly looks very different.”