Bundesliga Previews: Eintracht Frankfurt

Team: Eintracht Frankfurt

Manager: Armin Veh

Key Additions: Kevin Trapp, Stefan Aigner, Bastian Oczipka, Olivier Occean

Key Losses: Matthias Lehmann, Mohamadou Idrissou

2011-2012 Finish: 2.Bundesliga 2nd (Automatic Promotion)

2012-2013 Prediction: Frankfurt made sure that they would be jumping right back to the Bundesliga with an impressive 68 points. Their automatic promotion came just twelve months after their automatic relegation following a rather epic collapse at the end of the 2010-11 season. Armin Veh was appointed manager last summer, and the veteran manager began working toward getting the club back to the top flight. In the end, Frankfurt finished only two points behind the 2.Bundesliga champions.

The summer transfer market came, and Frankfurt jumped into it. The biggest move was bringing over Olivier Occean from Greuther Fürth. The forward scored goalsongoalsongoals last year in the 2.Bundesliga. Kevin Trapp is making the move over from relegated Kaiserslautern, and should be the number one keeper this year. Trapp is a good young goalkeeper and should have a defense in front of him where he isn’t facing a thousand shots a game. They’ve added some quality depth to their defense with Stefan Aigner and Bastian Oczipka.

Frankfurt have two players that deserve your equal attention next year in Alexander Meier and Olivier Occean. Both players scored 17 goals in the 2.Bundesliga last season, and they’re combined success could lead to good things for Frankfurt. Meier is an attacking midfielder, and he should see his assist numbers rise with the addition of Occean this season. The two will need to find success this year for Frankfurt to remain in the Bundesliga for another season.

They will have their work cut out for them to stay up in the Bundesliga for another like all newly promoted clubs. While they were only in the 2.Bundesliga for one season following their relegation, one season outside of the top flight can really set you back. I really like the addition of Occean and Trapp, and both will be huge pieces for them if they play up to their potential this year. I think Frankfurt will escape a direct relegation this year. A few bad bounces of the ball though could see them wind up in the relegation playoff, but I can see them finishing somewhere between 12th and 15th.