Toppmöller guarantees Europa League start for Uzun, promises more minutes for Matanovic

Young teenage attacking talent Can Uzen has sufficiently impressed Eintracht Frankfurt trainer Dino Toppmöller to the point that the 18-year-old will be given his first start in SGE colors in tomorrow’s Europa League fixture. Toppmöller guaranteed the highly-sought-after summer acquisition a starting spot whilst speaking at his Wednesday presser. 

“I don’t need to make a secret out of this: Can will start tomorrow,” Toppmöller – who was flanked by Uzun himself at the presser – said, “He has made really good progress in the last few weeks and done well on the training pitch.”

“In the last two games, he showed that he can make an impact when he comes on [off the bench],” Toppmöller further noted, “I have a very good feeling that Can is ready to bring that on the pitch from the start tomorrow.”

Toppmöller seemed to indicate that there would be many rotations in tomorrow’s UEL fixture. Eintracht – like all other top tier sides excluding Bochum – also have the second round of the DFB-Pokal to be concerned about. Toppmöller’s crew face Union Berlin in the league on Sunday, then must prepare for Gladbach on Wednesday.

The SGE trainer did explicitly promise young striker Igor Matanovic more playing time while also stressing that he didn’t wish to over-rotate the squad too much. Promising that there would be a “top team on the pitch” tomorrow, Toppmöller emphasized that Can would have adequate veteran support to assist him. 

“When you bring young players like Can into the game, it’s always important to me to still have a good and functioning framework around him ,” Toppmöller said, “If you bring on six new players, it’s much harder for each individual.”

”Igor is in good form and an important player for me,” Toppmöller nevertheless continued, “He will definitely play more often in the next few weeks than against Leverkusen and Bayern.”