Can Adi Hutter help Eintracht Frankfurt recover after cup debacle?
New Bundesliga campaign starts this weekend
The changes have come thick and fast at Eintracht Frankfurt this summer. And things have begun in far from ideal fashion for new manager Adi Hutter.
His opening game in charge – a heavy DFL-Super Cup defeat to Bayern Munich, was forgivable.
But the current DFB Pokal holders crashed out of this year’s competition on Saturday, losing to Regionalliga minnows SSV Ulm.
With the Bundesliga campaign beginning this weekend, the Coral News Team investigate whether they can bounce back…
Hutter’s pedigree
While the new Frankfurt boss hasn’t managed in a league as tough or high-profile as the Bundesliga, his CV is pretty impressive.
The Austrian cut his teeth at the helm of homeland club SV Grodig. After first winning promotion from the second tier, he went on to secure European football for the first time in the club’s history.
He then followed that stint up by leading Red Bull Salzburg to the league title in 2014-15. That summer saw a departure to Swiss sleeping giants BSC Young Boys, where he finally ended the club’s 30-year wait for a league title earlier this year.
His sides are typically built on attacking flair. Young Boys outscored every side in the division by a minimum of 12 goals last year, but weren’t especially tight at the back.
Huge summer transformation
It’s hard to overstate just how significantly Frankfurt’s squad has changed over the course of the close season.
The club have made a raft of new additions this summer, while nine have headed out of the club on loan or permanent moves.
Add that to the replacement of former boss Niko Kovac – now at Bayern Munich – and things were always going to take time to gel.
Still, on paper Hutter looks to have made some savvy acquisitions.
Amongst them are tricky former Osasuna midfielder Lucas Torro and Portugal international Goncalo Paciencia. Hamburger SV’s Filip Kostic also offers valuable experience on loan.
However, the loss of young wing ace Marius Wolf to Borussia Dortmund could be a big one.
Match Odds
Die Adler kick off the 2018-19 Bundesliga campaign on Saturday, with a trip to SC Freiburg.
Both of last season’s meetings ended level, with 0-0 and 1-1 draws respectively.
Honours-even is priced at 21/10 this time out, with victory for Frankfurt a fraction longer at 11/5.
Luka Jovic is the visitors’ best chance of a goal at 21/10 Anytime, while the lively Paciencia is 3/1 to notch.
Click here for the latest Bundesliga Odds from Coral.
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All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
