Firm hand and attractive football: Hütter's Frankfurt plan

Adi Hütter wants to lead Eintracht Frankfurt back into Europe with a firm hand in his second term as coach of the Bundesliga club.

"I am certainly not the players' friend and can be very strict. At the end of the day I want to see a team that plays attractive football and is successful," Hütter said at his official presentation on Monday.

The Austrian did not set an official goal for the coming season but said that Frankfurt should always have the ambition "to play for the international berths.

"I am returning because I want to get with Eintracht where everyone in the club and around it want to be," he said.

Hütter, 56, was appointed on Sunday on a contract until 2029 in succession of Albert Riera. Frankfurt finished a disappointing eighth by their standard in the past Bundesliga season to miss out on European football.

Hütter's first term at the club was 2018-2021. He led Frankfurt into the Europa League semi-finals in his first season and into the German Cup semis a year later. He was then in charge at Borussia Mönchengladbach and Monaco, where he had to go in April.

Frankfurt won the Europa League in 2022 under Hütter's successor Oliver Glasner.

Frankfurt board member for sport Markus Krösche said he has full faith in Hütter to get the team back on track.

"He has experience, knows the league and knows how to get the necessary intensity onto the pitch," Krösche said.

Krösche said that due to the World Cup the final squad may not be complete until the end of the transfer window and he said that "we want to trim the squad and must achieve transfer income."

Hütter said: "We need to make a few [squad] adjustments here and there, and we’ve already got the ball rolling on this."