The experiment failed before it even began. Albert Riera is Markus Krösche's biggest mistake

Yet the decision to part ways with Riera is not driven by results alone. In 12 matches at Riederwald, the 44-year-old has recorded four wins, four draws and four defeats—a perfectly balanced ledger that would leave his side ninth in an imaginary "Riera table," four points adrift of fourth.

His team average just 1.33 points per game, and they have won only once in the last six outings—hardly a glittering return for the 44-year-old. Still, Frankfurt remain in contention for seventh place and the accompanying Conference League spot. Freiburg lead by a single point, but the Eagles can boast a goal difference five goals superior.

What ultimately undermines Riera is his handling of the squad and his public image. In remarkably quick fashion, he has alienated most of the players, including several key figures—if such a label even fits this uneven campaign. Dozens of critical internal reports on his handling of the squad have surfaced since Riera took charge. "It's all nonsense," he ranted recently at a press conference, exposing a poor grasp of media relations.

Sporting director Markus Krösche has little choice but to sack Riera to stem the damage to the club. Irritation at the coach's behaviour is widespread among the squad, management and supporters. Yet Riera is not the sole culprit.

The buck stops with Krösche: he assembled the squad and has already appointed three managers this season. In its current form, the club looks set to miss out on European qualification for only the second time since 2018—a veritable shambles.

It is understandable that board spokesman Axel Hellmann recently said that for a club like Eintracht, it is "certainly not a crisis" to be fighting for seventh or eighth place so late in the campaign. More worrying is that, after years of steady progress, the club appears to have hit a ceiling since its 2022 Europa League triumph and inaugural Champions League qualification.

The current squad is poorly assembled, lacking a centre-back and a proper defensive midfielder. Krösche has lost the touch that once made him one of the league's top managers. As early as January, Hellmann admitted at the general meeting: "We misjudged the squad in one or two areas and have to acknowledge that a couple of signings simply haven't worked out."

That, in turn, undermines the club's business model. Frankfurt now needs to recoup transfer fees and, ideally, Champions League revenue to stand still. Wages have already risen by almost €36 million over the past two seasons.

If the club misses out on European football next season, the 8.4 million euro loss already reported in the summer could swell to around 20 million. More revenue inevitably means higher costs. "Can we even keep up with this? Or will we have to say at some point: 'That's it for us now, we need to look elsewhere'," warned CFO Julien Zamberk.

Krösche must oversee a major overhaul this summer, for both financial and sporting reasons, to get Eintracht back on track—emotionally as well as tactically. Saturday's sobering 1–2 loss to HSV prompted loud boos from the home crowd. Once a major asset, the sense of identification with the club has noticeably faded.

Whether his shrewd transfer radar is back on target will be crucial, because prices have risen across the board: once-cheap markets like France and Scandinavia are now pricey and crowded with competitors. Krösche must now tell a new story, sell a fresh vision, and help SGE reinvent itself to some extent.

Given this season's turmoil, it has been clear for some time that the squad needs fresh blood. The search for a new head coach only adds to the challenge. Opting for the idiosyncratic Riera, whom they planned to support with a full pre-season and transfer window (Krösche: "Albert will not be judged on what comes out at the end of this season"), was Krösche's biggest miscalculation—a failure before it even began.

It is astonishing that a figure with Krösche's impeccable reputation could miscalculate so badly in choosing Dino Toppmöller's successor. The plan to install a self-assured, authoritative coach at the helm of a staid squad may have made sense. Yet Riera's prickly self-image was already infamous in the game, and it was only a matter of time before sparks flew in the volatile Frankfurt environment.

"Unfortunately, he is so convinced of his own importance that he would even ask God: 'I'm here now, so where are you?'" said Adam Delius, president of Riera's former club Olimpija Ljubljana, in an interview with ran.de. "Unless he gets a psychologist and a media advisor by his side, he will fail because of his own attitude."

At the weekend, Can Uzun—whom Riera had recently and unsolicitedly criticised for his defensive work—said: "The atmosphere can't be great." He added: "But we're trying to stay a team." According to Bild, Friday's trip to Dortmund is already a make-or-break game for the coach. He was Krösche's preferred candidate, and Eintracht are said to be considering a contract extension in preparation for a potentially turbulent future. Soon, though, Krösche may have to sack him—and swiftly clear up the mess he helped create.