Coach Riera names short Frankfurt term a big misunderstanding

Albert Riera has named his short stint as Eintracht Frankfurt coach a big misunderstanding and issued criticism on the club and the players.

“We just weren’t meant for each other. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Spaniard Riera told Slovenian TV channel Sportklub.

Riera was appointed as successor of Dino Toppmöller in early February but they parted ways after the season in which Frankfurt missed a European berth for the first time in six years by finishing eighth in the Bundesliga.

"I don't know if someone else would have done better, we will never find out," Riera said.

He said he got on well with sporting director Marküs Krösche but that he wouldn't chose any Frankfurt player for his next project and that his previous Slovenian club Celje had more talent in this respect.

Riera irritated with his brash personality and coaching decisions such as not nominating Mario Götze into match squads shortly before the 2014 World Cup winner had his contract renewed.

He claimed in the interview that names were more important than results for the club and that he would have never managed to get the kind of players he would have wanted for the new season.

"Club policy stipulates that the coach has no say in scouting or team selection. That’s not the right environment for me, and I knew we couldn’t work together in the long term,” he said.

Austrian Adi Hütter is the new coach in a return to Frankfurt, having already been in charge 2018-2021.