I'm going to Frankfurt and I'll be Rightback: Timmy Chandler at Eintracht Frankfurt

He was dazed and confused wandering around a sweltering, humid, terrible pitch in Honduras or Panama or wherever and had the sudden panicked realization that he didn't want to be there. That he wished he hadn't stepped on the plane, accepted the invite, answered the phone. That he didn't really gel with the coach or team or project.

And those thoughts aren't allowed, are they.

 

Chandler the final sub - 88th minute - of a 2-1 loss to Bayern.

 

1️⃣1️⃣-𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐞-𝓕𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓿𝓪𝓵!
Für euch nochmal aufbereitet in den Highlights ⤵️ #SGE | #EidR pic.twitter.com/iuK4Hkk9YW

— Eintracht Frankfurt (@Eintracht) May 21, 2024

Timmy played most of an 11-0 thrashing of local lower division club Alsbach yesterday, with a blasted goal from the top of the box and two assists, and the above odd highlight video.

 

Chandler started another friendly today, against Vfl Germania. 8-0 first half lead, this time he's not on the scoresheet despite playing in the attack and everyone else scoring.

 

Emotional scenes at this blowout. Chandler with a goal and an assist in the second half, and he drew a penalty in the 89th minute. That allowed retiring Sebastian Rode to take a penalty and score on his last kick of the ball for Frankfurt, and the ref blew full time after that just because it felt appropriate. With that, summer break for the club. Who knows if Chandler and/or Aaronson and/or Brown will be there next year. Chandler took a picture with the whole other team postgame. Also, Kevin Trapp wore #10 and scored twice, I think.

 

He received 18 Bundesliga minutes total this past season after receiving 86 minutes the season prior. I keep wondering when he's going to transition into that assistant coaching role that people have been mentioning in this thread, or if that has basically already happened.

 

Somehow Chandler, the forgotten Yank, continues to play at age 33. Played first half in recent friendly, 12-0 win.

https://en.eintracht.de/news/hochso...-heusenstamm-159930?utm_source=google_organic

 

Chandler plays second half at left-back in friendly against Juarez:

https://www.sofascore.com/football/match/fc-juarez-eintracht-frankfurt/zdbszHFb

 

On the bench for a friendly against Louisville FC:

Starting XI in Louisville 🦅#SGE | #GudeUSA pic.twitter.com/B6dqZgOmOc

— Eintracht Frankfurt (@Eintracht) July 30, 2024

 

Chandler subs on in the 56th minute with Frankfurt leading Louisville 3-0.

 

Cameos in German Cop Drama's might be his post soccer plans

„Und Sie sind?“ Timothy Chandler von Eintracht Frankfurt. #Tatort pic.twitter.com/uvfp3vD4kG

— Tatort (@Tatort) September 29, 2024

 

alles blitzeblank hier

 

Chandler subs on in the 93rd minute as a defensive / time-wasting replacement for Ansgar Knauff, leading 2-1, playing LWB. Hlozek, whom he was mostly guarding, scores the equalizer, though it seems he may have correctly been marking Kaderabek when the goal happened instead.

 

Hard to assign J-Lo any blame on the goal. See 0:55 of the highlights.

 

"Out" for a while with an injury:

https://www.kicker.de/oberschenkelverletzung-bei-frankfurts-chandler-887564/artikel#omrss

 

New interview with Chandler, looking back fondly on his time with USMNT.

His highlight was playing in 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

But he obviously complains about the travel to WC qualifiers in places like Honduras (where he never played well in away games).

"And you had also some downs where, where you have to travel to some games just for four days, to Honduras, and this was very tough, and then come back to Germany. The traveling for me was the biggest factor where I said, 'Oh, wow, I have to go there? Really, now again?'"

https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/go...and-world-cup-experiences/blt8703a87c5270ec5a

 

Signed a one year contract extension:

Timothy Chandler 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐛𝐭 𝐛𝐢𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔! 🦅♥️

Unser Eigengewächs hat seinen Vertrag um ein weiteres Jahr bis zum Ende der Saison 2025/26 verlängert.#SGE | #Chandler2026

— Eintracht Frankfurt (@Eintracht) May 8, 2025

He's played 22 minutes in the BL in 3 appearances this season. No cup or EL matches. A really odd choice to pay a playing contract for another season rather than move him into coaching.

 

His last contribution for the USMNT is to get us Brown

 

wow, I don’t get it. I guess he’s a cheap bench option, but has offered nothing on the field for at least three years now. Maybe he’s a coach or fan favorite.

 

Here is what the current SD said:

“Timmy Chandler has a great place at Eintracht Frankfurt,” Eintracht sports director Markus Krösche said. “He has worked hard for this over all these years. He is still an important player for us – both on and off the field. He is a valuable point of contact on a daily basis, especially for our young players. Therefore, we are happy that Timmy will also play with us next season.”

https://sbisoccer.com/2025/05/timmy-chandler-signs-contract-extension-with-eintracht-frankfurt

Here is a previous SD when he signed a 4 year extension in 2021 with options for a club role after his playing career ends.

“Timmy’s value for the team and the entire environment goes far beyond the sporting side,” Frankfurt sporting director Fredi Bobic said. “Because of his services, he is held in high regard everywhere, and his word carries weight.”

https://sbisoccer.com/2021/05/timmy-chandler-signs-new-contract-with-eintracht-frankfurt

 

I've never seen a three-year bench player offer so much off the field that the team was willing to offer him a contract. Even at 300k, he's overpaid. Literally 120 minutes played over last three years. No starts. Just make him an assistant coach if he's a good jokester.

And none of those off the field qualities were ever evident when he was with the USMNT.

 

Those off-the-field qualities might not have translated very well to USMNT camps but then he is, functionally, a German. The more likely explanation, however, may simply be that he's acquired/developed those qualities recently.

As for the contract extension, completely baffling. If he's a great influence in the dressing room and all that, then wouldn't it make sense to deploy him as a player-coach with the U-23s as one of the 3 over-age players allowed? I don't know of any arrangement like this, ever.

 

Timmy was a youth player with Frankfurt starting when he was 10-11 yrs old and played through U17’s. He then spent a few years at Nuremberg then returned to Frankfurt. I’m sure he knows every nook and cranny of Eintracht Frankfurt from a youth and sr players perspective and there has been mutual respect and loyalty with the club for some time. This is a far different situation than getting flown across the Atlantic and thrown into a sweltering match in Honduras with guys he barely knew. He seems like a homebody, to me.

 

Timmy hated flying.

 

Starts in friendly: