Coach Maassen satisfied with transfers and development of FC Augsburg

Before the cup duel with FC Bayern

In the summer, Enrico Maaßen, coming from Borussia Dortmund, succeeded Markus Weinzierl at FC Augsburg – and started his first Bundesliga season extremely badly with four defeats from the first five games. Despite the recent 2-3 defeat at 1. FC Köln, the 38-year-old was able to turn things around at the Fuggerstadt team and is now 12th in the table after ten match days with 13 points. In an interview with the magazine “Kicker” Maaßen now drew an initial assessment, gave an insight into the necessary tactical adjustments and his idea of ​​the ideal FCA football and spoke about the performance of the newcomers Mergim Berisha and Julian Baumgartlinger.

Augsburg had signed the latter on a free transfer in the summer two weeks before the transfer deadline expired, but the 34-year-old veteran has only made three short appearances since then. Nevertheless, the Austrian “has an incredible added value for the team even without a lot of playing time”, Maassen was satisfied with Baumgartlinger’s transfer and promised him more appearances: “His coaching on the pitch is very valuable, as well as the way in which he prepares for every training session and game in a highly professional manner. You shouldn’t forget that he hardly played in the pre-season due to an injury and then hardly trained for three or four months. He’s at a very good level now, will get his games.”

7 million euros expenditure
All summer transfers of FC AugsburgTo overview
In the past transfer period, FCA was one of the five clubs in the Bundesliga that invested the least money in newcomers, and no other team earned less through the sale of players (overview). Attacker Mergim Berisha, who has contributed to three goals in five appearances for the Bavarian Swabians, also came on loan. Maassen is still convinced of the potential of the 13-time U21 national player, whom manager Stefan Reuter has already brought up for the German World Cup squad: “Mergim has sophistication and is a very complete striker. I would be happy if one of our players made it into the national team. He’s got great ability and will have to show it week in and week out. (…) We wanted to sign a centre-forward with strong running and physical strength, who is both a threat to goals and has footballing skills. Mergim has done an excellent job of doing this so far. I hope he stays as down to earth as he is presenting himself at the moment. He’s having a lot of fun with it and throwing himself into it. But of course he’s not allowed to see the traffic light card that often.”

Augsburg, which, after Bochum and FC Schalke 04 at the bottom, together with Wolfsburg and Mainz, has the lowest goal tally in the league with 11 goals, is despite the setback in Cologne for the upcoming cup duel with FC Bayern (Wednesday from 8:45 p.m. in the TM live ticker) prepared: “The 1-0 in the league was an excellent game from us. And now I’m curious to see if we can do it a second time. We were able to classify the win correctly and went about it as we had planned: we need courage, we have to attack and attack. The risk of swallowing goals is of course there. Nevertheless, we will do everything we can to get one lap further,” said Maassen, who tactically made some adjustments after the weak start to the season.

FC Augsburg coach Maaßen: Managed to “let the spark fly”

“In the first few games, we didn’t create enough goalscoring actions and then adjusted a few things – including a system change. This tactical flexibility now stands us in good stead. (…) We analyzed the situation after the Hertha game, changed a few things and the lads implemented it very well. Faith and self-confidence grow with the sense of achievement,” explained the coach, who considers maximum flexibility and variability in the tactical structure to be a basic requirement for his “ideal idea of ​​football” in order to constantly gain competitive advantages. With a high-energy and risky game, his team recently managed to “let the sparks fly so that people like coming to the stadium.”

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After the eventful first few months, Maassen himself feels “very comfortable at FCA, the atmosphere in the team and the club is very open and trusting.” When asked about his career goals and looking into his personal future, the coach replied: “I think so the word career inappropriate. Things are difficult to plan in football. It is important to me to have a lasting effect and to stand for something. I’m not one to jump straight onto the next horse at the first opportunity. I’m happy to coach this club and try to do it as well as possible. Career, I believe, happens. Opportunities arise for those who do good work. And yet you need a little bit of luck in football, you can only minimize this factor.”

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