Albert Riera’s Eintracht Frankfurt future in serious doubt after club boss declines to back his coach | OneFootball

Eintracht Frankfurt Board Member for Sport Markus Krösche appeared even less committed to head coach Albert Riera after Saturday’s Bundesliga loss. The Hessen club’s chief personnel executive offered up only tentative words of support for Riera prior to kickoff. Now that the 1-2 home defeat against Hamburg places Eintracht’s hopes of qualifying for Europe in jeopardy, Krösche was more evasive. 

Krösche twice dodges questions about Riera’s future

“I am, of course, extremely annoyed by the way we played football [today], especially our lack of aggression,” Krösche said in the mixed zone. “Honestly put: If we make mistakes like that, if we put in performances like that, then we have no business competing for a European spot.“

“The coach isn’t an issue today,” Krösche replied when first asked if Riera’s fare. “In the end, it’s about the team’s performance. And this season, especially in such important games, it’s been insufficient.”

“Let’s just talk about the performance today,” Krösche said in repose to a second question. “It just wasn’t good enough.“

Will Albert Riera continue to coach Eintracht Frankfurt?

Once it became clear that Riera would be appointed this past February, Get German Football News published an editorial piece expressing concerns about the linguistic and cultural barriers Riera was likely to face. The Spaniard’s fiery style initially intrigued German journalists. The act nevertheless has worn somewhat thin due to the fact that Riera hasn’t produced the results and his combative tone when asked why not counts as grating.

Riera’s latest press conference rant over German striker Jonathan Burkardt isn’t the first time that the Spaniard has clashed with German journalists over a German footballer. The 44-year-old did not handle questions about German footballing legend Mario Götze particularly well either. Riera is creating unwanted sideshows and distractions the SGE doesn’t need. 

Riera’s conflicts with German journalists remind one of some of the issues former Eintracht head coach Oliver Glasner had near the end of the 2022/23 campaign. In the year after leading Eintracht to the Europa League crown, Glasner famously snapped when a reporter asked him about the disappointing follow-up season. 

When Glasner angrily pointed out that his players were doing their best, even going so far as to screech about veteran Japanese defender Makoto Hasebe was “pissing blood”, the Austrian coach lost the support of important club bosses such as Krösche and board member Axel Hellmann. It was soon confirmed that Glasner would depart after the season. 

GGFN does consider it likely that Riera will be dismissed soon.

GGFN | Peter Weis