How Eintracht Frankfurt balance youth and experience to fight the big boys - as sporting director warns Ange Postecoglou's Spurs are 'waiting for us'
Updated 10/04/2025 at 10:26 GMT+1
Ahead of the first leg of their tie against Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League – live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - Eintracht Frankfurt sporting director Timmo Hardung chats to Pete Sharland about being calm when things are not going well, always having a plan when players leave and the value of having a mix of experienced players as well as younger talents.
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Eintracht Frankfurt arrive in London for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur – live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - in a good moment.
Not only are they one of the final eight remaining teams in the Europa League, a competition they won in 2022, but they also sit third in the Bundesliga, very much the best of the rest in Germany this season behind defending champions Bayer Leverkusen and champions-elect Bayern Munich.
But it has not always been such smooth sailing. Roughly 18 months ago, the club was in a dark period; they were slipping down the league table, they were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal by third-division side Saarbrucken, and they failed to win their group in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The pressure was on the club’s new sporting heads, manager Dino Toppmoller and sporting director Timmo Hardung, at the time 43 and 34 years old respectively. Both were appointed in the summer of 2023, with the former replacing current Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner and the latter replacing Markus Krosche, who became CEO of the club.
It was a test of the club’s leadership. They had placed their faith in Hardung and Toppmoller to lead the next era of Eintracht football. Acting rashly after just a few months would have gone against everything that their appointments stood for.
Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the tie against Tottenham, Hardung admits that it was a tough period, but that everyone inside the club remained calm.
"From the outside, there was a lot of noise and a lot of people got nervous around us, which doesn't make it easy for people in charge, for people like us to stay calm and to trust the process we're in and to trust the way we're going and also the approach we are taking," said Hardung.
"Because we know that the approach we're taking is certainly coming with a little bit of risk - because you know, working with young players with a new, young manager with a new, young sporting director, that is certainly something that can affect the outcome of the way you play and perform over the course of a season.
"So it's not easy, but I think we have a good bunch of people together in our team which allowed us to stay focused and to stay with our thoughts, in an area where we can influence the things.
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"What we have is a kind of leadership group and certainly Markus Krosche is my boss, so he's the one that I have to report to and Dino reports to me but there's more to it. There are so many more people on the staff and involved in the team.
"So as the boss, as a director, as a board member you have to – in an authentic way – believe in what people are doing and believe in them and that certainly helps them helps keep the calm. So certainly it would make things much harder for me, if I would have a boss that is very hysterical and yells or sent some crazy e-mails after training session or after games."
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Hardung admits the pressure is still there at a club that has more members than every club in Germany bar Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, but says part of the core of the club is being able to have tough conversations when things aren’t working.
One of the other core principles driving Frankfurt recently has been their preparedness. Over the past five years they have sold the likes of Luka Jovic, Sebastien Haller, Andre Silva, Randal Kolo Muani and, most recently, Omar Marmoush in the 2025 January transfer window.
Every time a replacement has come in, ready to go before the big clubs even realise they want to sign the exciting new player in the first place. Already in this squad Hugo Ekitike is in place, and in January compatriot Elye Wahi joined him.
"We plan ahead pretty far," explains Hardung when it comes to the striker position. "We obviously try to fill up our pipeline internally. My priority would always be to fill a place from our youth academy of course because I can see them for a very long time in a very detailed way.
"So, try to fill up this pipeline internally and then we start looking outwards a little bit to very talented young players. And then we follow their path and maybe stay in touch with them to see if it can make sense after a longer period of time to make the transfer to Frankfurt.
"But if you really look at squad planning as a whole [rather than a specific position like striker], you cannot go that far ahead. So, it's probably next summer and the summer after because two years is a very long time in football, a lot of things can happen in a positive and a negative way.
"But then we also take a look at players that have not developed the way everybody thought and now there's an opportunity to jump in. You also always have to have the current situation on your mind and in focus, which can make it a struggle for a scouting departments!
"A player might be a great spot one year but then suddenly they have a down year and is now in the market for us. Where in the past you’d never believe that this player would even consider Frankfurt, suddenly they are an option."
This market has been a fascinating one for Frankfurt. Players like Kevin Trapp, Mario Gotze and even January-singing Michy Batshuayi have joined when other moves have not worked out or almost when certain players have been forgotten about.
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Whilst some clubs might choose to focus purely on younger players because of the re-sale value on offer, Hardung explains that Frankfurt believe a balance of experience is the way forward to success.
"I mean for the younger players, we're probably willing to invest a little bit more money, believing the outcome for us is to create market value and create a good football player, with tremendous strength and qualities that will help us win football matches and reach our ambitious goals.
"On the other hand, you have experienced players that are very crucial for a team because a team needs leadership; it needs players that has seen some struggling situations.
"When you fall you need to get back up and as a human being, you have to go through some tougher times as well and have the ability to then show leadership to younger players that are struggling for the first time in their career, maybe.
"Younger players will always have ups and downs, which is fine for us but the senior players are important to act as a stabilising force when those downs happen. They are really part of leadership group.
"If you have suffered earlier in your career, you can give some calmness to the group, you can get some stability to the group, to not freak out after a bad loss.
"For example, on Saturday we lost to Werder Bremen 2-0. Bad loss, we didn't score, we didn't reach our performance. But it's important to not totally collapse on Sunday, to not doubt everything you do as a football player,
"Those experienced players they come in here in the building Sunday morning and say ‘relax, we know we screwed up yesterday but it happens in football. We're on track, we're a good football team and I don't doubt myself, I don't doubt you, we shouldn't doubt ourselves. What we should do is get back to the point that we can influence.
"Let’s go out, have a good training week and get ready for Tottenham because the next challenge is ahead and they don't care if we win or lose against Bremen. They will be right there in London, waiting for us on Thursday night at 8pm and we have to be ready for that.’"
Tottenham are ready but so are Frankfurt. They weathered the storm, have come out the other side and will be ready for anything.
Watch and stream the Europa League live on TNT Sports and discovery+
Thoughts?