Criticism of defender sale: Toppmöller speaks out on his Eintracht Frankfurt exit
Eintracht Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller has spoken out on his exit from the club in a large interview with the French sports newspaper „L’Équipe“. The 45-year-old coach criticizes the defender sale and explains that Eintracht sold their best defender in the third season and did not replace him.
Toppmöller criticizes Eintracht
Against the prejudice that the coach is generally unable to defend, Toppmöller defends himself. He explains that in his first two years in Frankfurt, the sixth- or fifth-best defense stood. Then he criticizes his former club Frankfurt, explaining: „But in the third season, we sold our best defender and did not replace him, contrary to my advice. Additionally, our regular goalkeeper Kevin Trapp moved to FC Paris.“
He speaks about two concrete games
Especially two games were repeatedly criticized by Toppmöller – although Frankfurt won both. In the spectacular 6:4 in Gladbach, the Hessen led 6:0 after an hour. Because Toppi had rotated five players to spare them for the Champions League, the Borussia still came up to 4:6. For the coach, the criticism was not understandable until today: „In Gladbach, we led 6:0 in the 60th minute, so I replaced five players to spare them for the Champions League, and we conceded four counter-attacks. I was criticized for it, but if one does not rotate in this situation, when then?“
With Lens again in the top class
The Eintracht chapter is now history for Toppi. The focus of the former Frankfurt coach is now fully on Lens. With the French, he – like with Eintracht last season – plays in the Champions League. Not least because of this fact, he sees parallels between the clubs, saying: „Lens is a bit like Eintracht Frankfurt, only with fewer financial means, because the crisis at the TV rights has affected all teams in the Ligue 1. There is passion, the people carry the football in their hearts, the team tries to uphold the values of the club, and I find that great.“
Current situation
Eintracht Frankfurt currently stands 8th in the Bundesliga, has 44 points and a record of 11 wins, 11 draws and 12 losses from 34 games. The team has scored 61 goals and conceded 65 in this season. The leading team is 45 points behind the league leaders Bayern München. The next game of Eintracht Frankfurt is on November 7, 2026 against SC Paderborn 07.
