DFB Cup, Europa League and a Fitting Farewell

A Firstbeat interview with Eintracht Frankfurt athletic coach Martin Spohrer

Blog edited on May 19 2018 after DFB Cup Final:

Eintracht Frankfurt secured a memorable 3-1 victory over FC Bayern Munich in the DFB Cup final. This was theirs first cup win in 30 years and secured qualification for the 2018/19 Europa League. Congratulations to the team, coaching staff and everyone involved at the club on a fantastic achievement.

For the second year in a row, the DFB Cup final is the last chance for Eintracht Frankfurt to secure a place in European competition for next season. Last year, it was Borussia Dortmund who were Frankfurt’s opponents in the final. This time round, on May 19, FC Bayern Munich will be standing in Eintracht’s way on the field at the Olympic Stadium, Berlin. “Our goal was to confirm the past season and stay away from the relegation battle,” said head coach Niko Kovac in the press conference before the last Bundesliga match day. Considering this, “The Eagles” have already achieved great things this season – and there’s room for an even better ending!

Fine Tuning for the Big Finale

The coaching team of Niko Kovac has been preparing for the big match with some intensive training this week – non-public, of course, because absolute concentration is needed. Utilizing the Firstbeat Sports system, the training load of all players are monitored, so that everyone can be performing at his best in Berlin. That means, for the three athletic coaches of Eintracht – Klaus Luisser, Martin Spohrer and Markus Murrer – fine tuning the players to ensure optimal performance on Saturday is high on the agenda.

Athletic coach Martin Spohrer was recently at the Firstbeat HRV Summit in London and shared his experiences with the Firstbeat Sports System during a panel discussion with Tom Allen of Arsenal FC.

Martin Spohrer (right), athletic coach of Eintracht Frankfurt, at the Firstbeat HRV Summit 2018 in London during the panel discussion with Tom Allen, Arsenal FC.

“In our daily work with the Firstbeat system, on the one hand, real-time monitoring gives us the opportunity to provide feedback for coaches and players right on the pitch. In the later analysis, I focus on the acute and chronic course of the TRIMP and of course the training effect, in order to then give the coaching team feedback on the training load of each individual player and also give the players individual training reports “, Martin Spohrer explained when speaking to Firstbeat.

In the process, external GPS data is also used at Eintracht Frankfurt, which, together with the data on the internal load obtained via Firstbeat, draws a very accurate picture of the individual performance and load of each player. “We also don’t make any difference between the players during the monitoring – everyone is doing the same thing. Firstbeat’s HR-belt is now just like the football boot or the jersey, a normal piece of equipment for the players.”

The Perfect Farewell

This year marks a perfect farewell for coach Niko Kovac: his last opponent as coach of Eintracht Frankfurt is his new employer. After one of Frankfurt’s best seasons in recent memory, it is not surprising that FC Bayern Munich opted to choose Kovac as their new coach for next season as they look to continue on the road to success. But before that for Kovac, all forces are mobilized with the aim of winning the trophy in this week’s final and, thus, making the leap into the Europa League.

With a M.A. in sports science from the University of Heidelberg, Martin Spohrer made his way through several German Bundesliga clubs. Starting as strength and conditioning coach for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in 2008, he later was in charge of the youth roosters and the second team of Borussia Mönchengladbach and later of the second team of Borussia Dortmund for three seasons, where he coached several talents, who made the jump into the pro team. In his current position at Eintracht Frankfurt, he takes care of athletic training and monitoring with a focus on strength and endurance.

Header photo: Eintracht Frankfurt.