Eintracht Frankfurt's Nathaniel Brown on Albert Riera, his friendship with Can Uzun and his World Cup chances
Eintracht Frankfurt defender Nathaniel Brown has his sights set on a spot in Germany's FIFA World Cup 2026 squad later this year, but before then is determined to finish the Bundesliga season on a high note with the Eagles.
In this wide-ranging interview, the 22-year-old discusses Frankfurt's struggles this season, life under new coach Albert Riera, competition for places in the Germany squad, and much more besides.
Bundesliga: You recently captained Eintracht for the first time. Do you see yourself as a leader?
Brown: "Yes, to some degree, but maybe not away from the pitch because I'm a bit quieter and I'm not somebody who stands up to talk in front of the whole team.
"The others know this and made a few jokes when I was made captain [against Bayern Munich on Matchday 23], but I want to lead on the pitch through my performances. I'm less of a talker and more of a doer, and that's more my aim.”
Bundesliga: What does your role as captain have to do with the changed team hierarchy under Riera?
Brown: "I don’t know to be honest. You'd have to ask the coach. It’s nice to be there as a young player so that I can represent the other young players and pass on their thoughts to the leadership team. I think this is very helpful.”
Bundesliga: Do you see a change under the new coach?
Brown: "You always feel changes when there's a new coach, especially at the start. They bring new ideas and this is something we might have needed. This is football.
"We had some good times with Dino [Toppmöller] and now we're playing great football under the new coach and are progressing well. I thought we played bravely against Bayern, even if the three goals we conceded were disappointing. That should be our approach from now on and we still need to keep going at 3-0 down and not let it turn into a 4-0 or 5-0. This was our aim and we did it well.”
Watch: How Albert Riera is changing Eintracht Frankfurt
Bundesliga: How has your standing and role changed under the new coach? Do you now play a different role than you did under Toppmöller?
Brown: "Dino gave me my debut and made me into a national team player, for which I'm very grateful. He taught me a lot and now a new coach has come in who will also be able to teach me a lot. I'm grateful that I'm able to learn from everyone.”
Bundesliga: You've scored two goals under the new coach. Where does this scoring threat come from?
Brown: "I don’t know either. I don’t think I will score a goal like the one I scored against Union ever again. The goal against Gladbach was thanks to a great assist from Jean-Mattéo Bahoya, and I just had to get my foot on the end of it. It’s unusual for me to score two goals in a row, but it was a great feeling.”
Watch: The best of Nathaniel Brown
Bundesliga: You're a defender nominally but in terms of playing time, you are just as often in the attacking third. What do you actually prefer: attacking or defending?
Brown: "Both. I used to like attacking more, but now I've also discovered my love of defending. It’s great fun to win a tackle, keep a clean sheet or to have an opponent under control. However, scoring goals and providing assists is another feeling entirely.”
Bundesliga: You have a very special bond with team-mates Nnamdi Collins and Can Uzun. What do they mean to you and what makes them so important to you?
Brown: "Both of them help me enormously. Can also helped me a lot in Nuremberg especially. We came here together to Frankfurt, which was a bit unexpected, but it certainly helped me a lot, especially having an anchor in those early stages.
"I'm very thankful to him for being there in the moments when things were not going so well for me. I got to know Nnamdi in the U21s and he’s also a great guy. It’s a lot of fun with those two, but I get on very well with the whole team as well.”
Bundesliga: You played together with Uzun at Nuremberg. To what extent is he also a reason why you are performing so well in Frankfurt?
Brown: "I talked a lot to him and I often spent time with him and his family, who also helped me a great deal because I live here alone and he lives with his family. This certainly helped while things were not going so well because he supported me and told me that my time would come. He believed in me and luckily things worked out well.”
Bundesliga: Did you ever have doubts about making it at Eintracht? At first, you weren't even in the squad very often.
Brown: "Of course. In the first few weeks I was frustrated that I wasn’t playing and I was very negative. But at some point, I spoke to those around me and my agent also told me that my time will come.
"I listened to that advice and I'm very grateful and pleased that it worked out because things don't always improve for everybody. I'm very grateful that they did for me.”
Watch: Can Uzun, Frankfurt's dashing young star
Bundesliga: Where does your career in the German national set-up stand in all this development? Both in terms of the U21s and your call-up to the senior team.
Brown: "Those were some great times, especially with the U21s. We experienced so much and were a great team, so I'll always remember this. You dream of playing for the senior national team and I could hardly believe it when I made my debut. It still feels a little unreal today, but I treasure it immensely.”
Bundesliga: Let's look ahead to the World Cup in just over three months. How do you rate your chances of participating? David Raum and Maximilian Mittelstädt are two strong competitors.
Brown: "I have very tough competition, but I just want to play my game and show what I can do. I hope that I will be involved.”
Bundesliga: Their respective clubs, RB Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart, are currently in a better league position than Eintracht. Do you think clubs' performances will have an impact on the selections?
Brown: "I’m not sure, you would have to ask the coach. I do think it plays a role, but in this respect, I can only concentrate on my own performances and show what I can do. Obviously it's better if we win a lot of games because then I will also play better, but otherwise I cannot judge it too much.”
Bundesliga: Eintracht have repeatedly caused a stir in Europe over the past few years. How big a disappointment would a year without European football be?
Brown: "It would be a disappointment, but we're not thinking about that yet. We shouldn't be concerned with that because we need to take it game by game. We want to win points and then we'll see what happens at the end of the season.
"Of course, we also hoped that things would be different and we've gone through a very difficult phase, but we want to give something back to the fans by playing good football and making them enjoy coming to the stadium. We'll see what happens in the end.”
Bundesliga: As a defender, how does it affect you that Eintracht have conceded so many goals this season?
Brown: "It’s difficult because you want to keep clean sheets, especially as a defender. It’s frustrating for the whole team and I can understand that the fans get annoyed, but it’s not something that we're happy with either.
"We want to change it more than anyone, but we had this poor run where we kept on conceding three goals and I’m not sure what that was down to. Sometimes it was individual mistakes and sometimes it was just misfortune, but that’s football.
"We all know in football that it’s hard to get out of a downward spiral, but hopefully we're out of it now and we've learned a lot from it. We'll take the lessons with us and hopefully things will improve from now on.”
Watch. Brown was on target on Matchday 22 against Gladbach
Bundesliga: What are your dreams for Frankfurt this season?
Brown: "A lot of wins and that we play very attractive football. I want to have fun with the team and also make a few more goal contributions.”
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