United next went on a contiental tour which embraced two games one in Austria and one in Norway against Bundesliga opposition. On 21st July 2015 United played
Eintracht Frankfurt at the Eugendorf Sportzentrum near Salzburg in Austria. United played their strongest available line up and the starting eleven was: Marco Silvestri; Scott Wootton, Liam Cooper, Souleymane Bamba, Gaetano Berardi; Tommaso Bianchi, Lewis Cook, Alex Mowatt, Sam Byram, Casper Sloth; Steve Morison. They made several changes throughout the game and in the fifty-sixth minute two changes were made with Tom Adeyemi making his debut in place of Tommaso Bianchi and Mirco Antenucci replacing Casper Sloth. Seven minutes later Charlie Taylor came on for Alex Mowatt, followed in the seventy-first minute by another double substitution with Kalvin Phillips replacing Lewis Cook and Souleymane Doukara coming on for Steve Morison. This was followed six minutes later by a triple substitution with Ross Turnbull replacing Marco Silvestri in goal, Giuseppe Bellusci coming on for Souleymane Bamba and Lee Erwin taking over from Sam Byram. This meant that only Scott Wootton, Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi played the full ninety minutes and that Charlie Horton, Lewie Coyle and Lewis Walters remained unused on the bench. Eintracht Frankfurt were the better of the two teams and it was against the run of play that United took the lead in the twenty-sixth minute after Sam Byram had led a counter attack down the right flank and fired a low cross into the area where Steve Morrison made his physical presence felt before hammering the ball past Heinz Lindner. It was a lead they kept through half time and it was not until fourteen minutes into the second half that the German team equalised. Johannes Flum was at the back post to tap home after Stefan Aigner's header across the goal area. The Franfurt winner did not arrive until sixteen minutes from time and it was a goal that, while deserved on the reflection of play, came somewhat fortuitously for the Bundesliga team and was unfortunate for Leeds. In a goalmouth scramble in the Leeds area, Liam Cooper managed to block an attempt by Stefan Reinartz on the line, but the Eintracht midfielder was able to find the net off the back of the unfortunate Scott Wootton to give his side a 2-1 lead which they held to full-time. The Eintracht Frankfurt team was: Heinz Lindner; Bastian Oczipka, Stefan Reinartz, Takashi Inui, Haris Seferovic; Stefan Aigner, Johannes Flum, David Abraham, Makoto Hasebe; Marc Stendera, Luc Castaignos. Substitutes: Emil Balayev, Ilias Becker, Vaclav Kadlec, Constant Djakpa, Luca Waldschmidt, Slobodan Medojevic, Aleksandar Ignjovski, David Kinsombi, Joel Gerezgiher, Enis Bunjaki. Luca Waldschmidt replaced Luc Castaignos, who suffered a hamstring injury, after twenty minutes. During the half-time break Aleksandar Ignjovski replaced Marc Stendera. In the sixty-first minute Joel Gerezgiher replaced Sefan Aigner and Vaclav Kadlec came on for Haris Seferovic in a double substitution. Six minutes later there was another double change with Constant Djakpa replacing Bastian Oczipka and Slobodan Medojevic coming on for Luca Waldschmidt, followed by David Kinsombi replacing David Abraham after seventy-seven minutes and Enis Bunjaki for Takashi Inui six minutes later. Emil Balajev and Ilias Becker remained unused as Heinz Lindner, Johannes Flum, Makoto Hasebe and Stefan Reinartz played the full game.
Programme & Teamsheets:
Individual Teamsheets: (Courtesy Steve Barnes)
Match Report: Eintracht Frankfurt: 22-07-2015
Eintracht Frankfurt - Leeds: 2: 1 win against Leeds - Fanrandale after the final whistle.
Eugendorf. The Eintracht Frankfurt won their second serious test match. After the 1: 2 at FC Heidenheim now managed within the framework of the training camp in Austria, a 2: 1 (0: 1) win over Leeds United. The Bundesliga side was against the English second division in sweltering heat consistently superior, but missed a series of good chances. "The game system has voted again", coach Armin Veh was with the performance quite satisfactory, "but we should have achieved a lot more goals." But if it was enough after the surprising residue by Steve Morison after all, still for two by Johannes Flum and Vaclav Kadlec. Despite the success, it was not a really good evening for Eintracht. Because even after a good twenty minutes, Luc Castaignos had been injured. The newcomer from Holland withdrew without the action of an opponent a torn muscle in his right thigh. Already on Wednesday, the striker will be flown back to Frankfurt and once more examined exactly. "It is better if he is then treated at home," said the coach. In addition, the fans were again out of character. After the game there was between supporters of both clubs drunken brawls on the field. It should have come to some arrests. His team had played out best opportunities especially in the first half. Again and again they came through the right side, but at the gate initially lacked the determination. The thickest opportunities awarded in immediate succession Haris Seferovic and twice Takashi Inui from close range in the thirty-second minute. As the Frankfurter were after only halfway dangerous attack of the English are already lagging. Morison had prevailed against Hasebe and goalkeeper Lindner left no chance. Even after the change was the Eintracht "totally superior" as the coach noted, and finally they were rewarded for their patient play. After a free kick from Bastian Oczipka put Stefan Aigner just before the hour precise with his head in front and Johannes Flum pushed the ball over the line. Fifteen minutes before the end, then took Stefan Reinartz and Vaclav Kadlec, who last touched the gaming device, the ball join forces to victory over the line. Eintracht: Lindner - Hasebe, Flum, Abraham (77' Kinsombi) Oczipka (66' Djapka) - Aigner (60' Kadlec) Stendera (46' Ignjovski), Reinartz, Inui (82' Bunjaki) - Castaignos (20' Waldschmidt 66' Medojevic) Seferovic (60'Gerezgiher).- Attendance: 1,500 Goals: 0: 1 Morison (27'), 1: 1 Flum (59'), 2: 1 Kadlec (74')
Match Report: By Jack Prescott 21-07-2015 at Commerzbank-Arena
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 FT(HT: 0-1) Leeds United
Flum (59'), Reinartz (75') Morison (26')
Leeds United suffer narrow friendly defeat in Austria. Leeds United have been beaten 2-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt in a pre-season friendly between the sides in Austria.
The Bundesliga outfit were on top during the early stages and they almost took the lead on ten minutes when Takashi Inui's dipping drive rattled the crossbar. However, it was Leeds who went ahead with twenty-six minutes played as Steve Morison controlled Sam Byram's low cross from the right before firing in. Frankfurt had a great chance to get themselves level with around ten minutes left to play in the first half, but Liam Cooper was the hero for Leeds when he cleared off the line. Both teams went on the attack at the start of the second period before Frankfurt eventually found the net on fifty-nine minutes thanks to Johannes Flum's opportunistic close-range strike. Frankfurt scored the winning goal with fifteen minutes to go through Stefan Reinartz, who bundled the ball in after Leeds had failed to clear.
MATCH REPORT: Yorkshire Evening Post: 21-07-2015
Eintracht Frankfurt 2 Leeds United 1: Whites given tough workout in the sun
In the humidity of a brilliant Austrian summer, Eintracht Frankfurt’s coach had one message for his squad: keep the ball and let the opposition sweat. Leeds United’s players might not have wanted that but under the shade of his dug-out, Uwe Rosler was pleased. The German coach knows German football and he warned Leeds that a team from the top half of the Bundesliga would try to pass them to death. It went that way for much of last night’s friendly in Austria but it was Frankfurt who flirted with defeat despite their limitless hold on the ball. The possession stats from Eugendorf would make fascinating reading and Eintracht were looking on in amazement at the scoreline with an hour played but they made heavy weather of doing with a flood of chances what Steve Morison did with one. The striker drew first blood in a fine friendly in the 27th minute by bludgeoning a split-second opening past Eintracht’s idle goalkeeper. It would have pleased Rosler to see his team have more of the game and more menace in their play but there was no denying that Frankfurt were Bundesliga class. They finished ninth in their league last season and it showed in their performance and the result. As pre-season tests go, Leeds might not get better before the Championship season starts. When he reflects on it, Rosler will take comfort from the fitness of a squad who were still there and still running when Frankfurt’s spirit began to flag in the lead up to half-time. The Germans had hit the crossbar and a post by then and looked capable of cutting Leeds open at will but incapable of scoring from any range. Under severe pressure, Rosler’s defence hung in time and again until Johannes Flum broke the dam on sixty-one minutes and with that mental block cleared, Stefan Reinartz bundled in a winner for Eintracht fourteen minutes later. “We showed a lot of mental strength,” Rosler said. “It was our only chance to compete against a very good footballing side. “They are a side above our qualities and for me we got exactly what I wanted – a very good physical examination. “With all due respect, I don’t like friendly games, two or three weeks before the start of the season when you’re winning easily. We’re where we want to be. We wouldn’t have had this scoreline had we not presented ourselves as a team and that for me is a big plus.” In was true, also, that Morison’s goal stemmed from the tactics that Rosler is trying to employ at Elland Road. Sam Byram created it, breaking down the right and forcing Frankfurt’s backtracking defence to yield the possession to Morison inside the box. The striker’s finish was deadly and a large Leeds following lapped it up. The friendly in Eugendorf was well attended and United’s crowd ran into several hundred, outnumbering the attendance from Frankfurt. The local police kept their distance at first but riot officers were spotted practising baton charges in a sports hall behind the main stand, hedging their bets. They did not waste time in rounding up a small group of Frankfurt ultras who arrived just before kick-off but the group were allowed into the ground and fighting with United’s fans broke out at the final whistle, forcing the police to wade in. One Leeds fan, bleeding heavily from the face, needed medical attention. Eintracht’s team was not at full strength but they came heavily-armed, despite a couple of absentees. Alex Meier, their goalscoring midfielder, is recovering from a knee operation and international football is occupying a couple of other players but they start their season in three and a half weeks and Rosler got the opposing line-up he wanted. Both sides trained in the morning before the game, leaving their tanks slightly empty by early evening. It was clear, however, that Frankfurt had plenty left in their legs and they kept the ball religiously from the kick-off. They produced the first chance – a shot from Takashi Inui which Marco Silvestri saved – and should have scored early on when Stefan Aigner drilled a low finish against Silvestri’s legs. Makoto Hasebe created the second opportunity, doing what Rosler is asking his team to do by breaking into space on the right flank. Frankfurt targeted that area, running Gaetano Berardi ragged and looking for free men in the box. Aigner had the ball in the next on thirteen minutes but strayed offside as Haris Seferovic fed possession to him. There were brief moments when a midfield of Alex Mowatt, Lewis Cook and Tommaso Bianchi found a way to compete but Frankfurt’s slick football was always waiting. Inui rattled the crossbar with a dipping shot which Silvestri barely saw as he stared into the sun but after chasing the match for so long, Leeds scored with their first chance. Byram was given the rare luxury of space on the right wing and found Frankfurt’s defence in a bit of disarray as he drove a cross towards Morison. A ricochet inside the box favoured Morison who, as the stand-in for an injured Chris Wood, smashed the ball past keeper Heinz Lindner. “We were mainly occupied with defensive work, I can’t deny that,” said Rosler. “But we knew it would be like that. In the first twenty minutes we got a bit of a shock because we have not met in pre-season such a quality team. “After that we relaxed a little bit and sometimes it’s good when you don’t need to create ten chances to score a goal.” Frankfurt intensified their onslaught and United’s resistance became wild. In one move in the thirty-fourth minutes, Seferovic drove a sitter against Silvestri, Inui’s follow-up from a yard out found Liam Cooper on the line and Inui’s second attempt cracked against a post, again from point-blank range. The crowd in the main stand could only laugh. The start of the second half did not really differ and within three minutes, Seferovic was rounding Silvestri and shooting into the side-netting as the goal stood empty. After a quiet time on the left wing – a position which Rosler continues to try to fill – Casper Sloth moved into a central role up in support of Morison and then made way for Mirco Antenucci before the hour. Inui had mis-hit another gift of an opportunity by then, skewing it away from an open goal, but Leeds could have had a second goal when Lewis Cook met Byram’s low cross with an effort which Lindner gathered low down. Eintracht accepted that favour on sixty-one minutes, equalising when Flum arrived unmarked to turn in Aigner’s header at the back post. It had to come eventually and they forced a win fifteen minutes from time with a goal which summed up their finishing – Stefan Reinartz’ shot deflecting in off Scott Wootton after Reinhartz had first managed to hit Cooper on the line. Rosler’s team move on to Norway next for a friendly against Hoffenheim, the side who finished a place above Frankfurt in last season’s Bundesliga. “I think that will be a step up,” Rosler said. “That’s good for us and I’m very happy.”
Eintracht Frankfurt: Lindner, Oczipka (Djakpa 67), Abraham (Kinsombi 77), Flum, Hasebe, Stendera, Reinartz, Inui (Bunjaki 83), Aigner (Gerezgiher 61), Castaignos (Waldschmidt 20 (Medojevic 67)), Seferovic (Kadlec 61). Subs (not used): Balayev, Becker, Ignjovski, Kinsombi.
Leeds United: Silvestri (Turnbull 77), Wootton, Cooper, Bamba (Bellusci 77), Berardi, Bianchi (Adeyemi 57), Cook (Phillips 72), Mowatt (Taylor 63), Byram (Erwin 77), Sloth (Antenucci 57), Morison (Doukara 72). Subs (not used): Coyle, Doukara, Walters, Horton.
