The winners of the US Tour

After three successful friendlies against Aston Villa, Louisville City and Philadelphia Union, plus many intensive training sessions, the US Tour is over. This morning, the squad returned to Frankfurt. Here are the players who profited most from the pre-season tour.

Fares Chaibi 🇩🇿

Fares Chaibi might be one of the players who will benefit most from Toppmöller’s tactical switch. In his new 4-2-3-1 system, Chaibi mostly played as a 6, operating as a deep-lying playmaker. His vertical passes and lofted balls in behind the defense looked great. The Algerian is obviously still an option for the no 10 role as well. After being moved to the attacking midfielder position against Philadelphia Union, Chaibi assisted Elye Wahi’s goal, which made it 2-2.

Chaibi was one of the "players to watch" we identified for the US Tour – and he impressed, playing 257 out of 270 possible minutes across the three friendlies. His promising performances in a new, deeper role in midfield might have led to Krösche shifting his focus away from signing another defensive midfielder too.

Elye Wahi 🇫🇷

Elye Wahi was also on our list of "players to watch" during the pre-season tour. The friendlies were vital for Wahi, as journalists were starting to speculate about plans to sell the striker, should he not start to score goals for Eintracht Frankfurt. Fortunately, he did score his first goals. Both against Villa and Philadelphia, Wahi scored once – against Louisville he was ruled out due to a slight injury. After his goal against Philadelphia, Wahi looked confident on the pitch for the first time since joining Eintracht.

While Toppmöller’s switch to a 4-2-3-1 setup might not be optimal for Wahi at first glance, it could mean that Eintracht are not signing another striker.

Ebu Bekir Is and Marvin Dills 💫

For 16-year-old Ebu Bekir Is and 18-year-old Marvin Dills, taking part in the US Tour was already a success. However, the two academy talents didn’t just keep up with the pace of the first team, they even stood out at times, each scoring a lovely goal. Bekir Is fired the ball into the bottom left corner from outside the box against Aston Villa, Dills curled it into the top right corner against Louisville. The two teenagers proved that our academy is starting to produce serious talent again. They also showed that they might already be too good to play with our U21s in the Hessenliga.