Markus Krösche's Mistake: The Search for Eintracht Frankfurt's Next Coach

Markus Krösche does not often step in front of the cameras and admit he was wrong. When he does, people at Eintracht Frankfurt listen.

This time, the sporting director went further than a routine end-of-season debrief. He called Albert Riera’s appointment “my mistake. My misjudgement.” He accepted that he had put the Spaniard “in a situation where he had little chance of success.” And in doing so, he effectively drew a thick line under a chaotic year on the touchline.

Now he needs to get the next call right.

A Red Bull Reunion in the Making?

Krösche’s gaze has turned, once again, to a familiar name from the Red Bull universe: Matthias Jaissle.

Their paths never crossed at the same club, but they moved in the same orbit. Krösche built his reputation at RB Leipzig; Jaissle made his on the touchline at RB Salzburg. Twice already, Krösche has tried to bring him to Frankfurt—first in the summer of 2023 after Oliver Glasner’s departure, then again during the winter break when doubts around Dino Toppmöller intensified.

Both times, the move collapsed. Frankfurt pivoted. Riera arrived as Toppmöller’s successor, carrying the label of a bold, left-field choice. It did not work. Four wins from 14 matches, tension with key players, friction with the media, and a swift exit.

Krösche now openly concedes he ignored his own rulebook.

The Rule He Broke

“The key rule I brushed aside is simple,” he said. “If you have to replace a manager mid-season, don’t bring in someone who doesn’t know the league or have top-flight experience.”

He did it anyway.

“I had a feeling, a conviction... I always act on conviction. It was so strong that I disregarded the principle of caution.”

That conviction has cost Eintracht a place in Europe. It has also sharpened the criteria for the next coach.

This time, the club wants a German-speaking manager who can restore the club’s trademark edge: high-intensity football, emotional connection with the crowd, a team that presses and runs and bites. According to Sport1, Jaissle ticks all of those boxes.

He knows the Bundesliga, if only as a former TSG Hoffenheim defender rather than as a coach. He has lived the Red Bull style, built teams on tempo and aggression, and he has already shown he can handle pressure in continental competition.

Jaissle’s Price – and His Willingness

Right now, Jaissle is a long way from Frankfurt. He is under contract at Al-Ahli until 2027 and has just lifted the Asian Champions League for the second time. His salary there is enormous—around 15 million euros a year.

Yet the door is not closed.

Eintracht have already sounded him out. Jaissle, for his part, is prepared to take a significant pay cut if the right project appears in the Bundesliga or Premier League. For a club like Frankfurt, that matters. It turns a fantasy name into a realistic candidate.

The catch? Any move would require a compensation fee to prise him away from Saudi Arabia. That complicates negotiations and forces Frankfurt to weigh the cost of their conviction against the financial reality of their model.

The Case for Hütter

There is, however, another option. One the fans know very well.

Adi Hütter is also viewed as a leading candidate for the vacant job. He understands the club, the city, the demands of the Waldstadion on a European night. Under him, Eintracht played with exactly the “certain intensity” Krösche now wants back: a blend of rapid counter-attacks and controlled possession, capable of unsettling anyone in Germany and beyond.

Crucially, Hütter is free. Since leaving AS Monaco in October last year, he has been without a club. Unlike Jaissle, he would not cost a euro in compensation.

On paper, both men fit the profile. Krösche has been clear about what he expects: a coach with a “clear vision” of how he wants to play, someone who can master both counter-attacking and possession football. Only then, he believes, can Eintracht “regularly compete for European places.”

The choice, then, is not between style and substance. It is between familiarity and a new chapter, between a coach who once lit up Frankfurt and one who has yet to work in the Bundesliga dugout but carries the Red Bull stamp of intensity.

Decision Time in Frankfurt

“We are in talks. We want to find a solution soon,” Krösche said recently when asked about the timeline.

According to Bild, the club wants the matter settled as early as next week. That urgency tells its own story. Frankfurt cannot afford another misstep. Not after a season that ended with regret, self-criticism, and an empty European calendar.

Krösche has already admitted he went against his own principles once. The next appointment will show whether he has truly learned from that mistake—or whether conviction will again outweigh caution in Frankfurt’s most important decision of the summer.