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

Yet the decision will not rest on purely sporting criteria. Riera's record at Riederwald is remarkably balanced: four wins, four draws, four defeats. That would place the team ninth, four points adrift of fourth, if there were a 'Riera table'.

His overall points-per-game average of 1.33 and only one win in the last six outings do little to strengthen his case. Nonetheless, Frankfurt remain in contention for seventh place and a potential Conference League berth. SC Freiburg currently lead by a single point, but Eintracht's goal difference is five goals superior.

What ultimately undermines Riera is his handling of the squad and his public image. In remarkably short order, he has alienated most of the players, including several key figures—if such a label still applies to 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 prevent further damage to the club. Irritation at the coach's behaviour is widespread among the squad, the board and the fans. Yet Riera is not solely to blame.

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 may now have hit its ceiling following the 2022 Europa League win and its first-ever 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, CEO Markus Krösche admitted to 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 miscalculation 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 deficit reported last summer could swell to 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—including emotionally. 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 famed transfer nose is back on form will be crucial, because prices have soared across the board: once-cheap markets like France and Scandinavia are now crowded and costly. 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 the results at the end of this season"), was Krösche's biggest miscalculation—a failure even before it began.

It is astonishing that a figure with Krösche's impeccable reputation miscalculated the appointment of 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. In a volatile environment like Frankfurt, that mix was always likely to ignite.

"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." Riera has already polarised the squad, and according to Bild, Friday's trip to Dortmund is a make-or-break game for the coach. He was Krösche's preferred candidate, and Eintracht are said to be weighing a contract extension in preparation for potentially turbulent times. Soon, Krösche may have to fire him and swiftly clear up the mess he created.