Eintracht Frankfurt are beginning to spread their wings under Albert Riera
Eintracht Frankfurt's win over Freiburg on Matchday 24 saw them jump into seventh and showcased further signs that the Eagles are slowly getting back to their best under Albert Riera.
Frankfurt’s up-turn in form under new boss Riera continued with a 2-0 win at home to Freiburg on Sunday afternoon, during which the Eagles displayed yet more signs of a positive transformation under the Spaniard.
Going into the game, Frankfurt sat a place behind Julian Schuster’s men in eighth and knew that a win would see them overtake the Breisgau club and close the gap on Bayer Leverkusen in sixth.
Michael Zetterer, an early replacement for Kauã Santos after he picked up an injury within the first five minutes, was well aware of the stakes ahead of kick-off: "You only need to look at the table. It was no secret that this was a super important game for us."
Riera’s side dominated possession from the off and looked threatening going forward, with the likes of Jean-Mattéo Bahoya and Arnaud Kalimuendo looking particularly bright throughout.
Defensively they gave little away, and it looked like a case of when, and not if, they would score the opening goal. That came shortly after the hour mark, when substitute Farès Chaïbi took initiative and fired his side into a well deserved lead, before setting up Bahoya for an exquisite second.
Man of the Match Chaïbi was quick to praise for his coach after the final whistle too: "We received a tremendous amount of input from the coach; he gives us a lot," said the Algeria international. "We finally broke through. Now we'll make sure we continue in the same vein."
The final whistle confirmed Frankfurt’s second win in four league games under their new boss, with one draw and a loss making up the remainder of those matches. In that time they’ve conceded four goals, three of which came away to the league’s top scorers Bayern Munich.
Watch: Eintracht Frankfurt finding their feet under Albert Riera
In comparison, the four games prior to Riera's appointment saw the Eagles concede 12, a snapshot of the defensive issues that have led them to having the second worst defensive record in the league.
Their meeting with Bayern ended 3-2, with the Eagles making the runaway league-leaders sweat for their three points in a determined away performance. That marks their one and only loss under Riera so far which, although within a small sample size, has seen them pick up seven points from a possible 12 since his arrival.
The Spaniard has them looking like genuine contenders for a spot in European competition once more, with their newfound defensive solidity and confidence on the ball making them a team to keep an eye on in this late stage of the season.
Against Freiburg, they conceded just two shots on target while recording eight of their own at the other end, as well as having 60 percent of possession. Defensively, they won 105 tackles compared to Freiburg’s 82, re-discovering a level of intensity that has long been missing at Deutsche Bank Park.
As impressive as they were in that win, the former Liverpool midfielder highlighted that his side can still get much better: "We won, but it wasn't all perfect. We can still improve. I'll discuss the points I mean with the players behind closed doors."
He didn't hesitate to point out the positives either, of course, and gave an insight to the reasons behind his team's recent improvement. "I want to make the players better; they should enjoy the game and feel comfortable with the ideas we give them. That's exactly what I saw against Freiburg in the second half," he explained.
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