Augsburg coach Enrico Maaßen is worried about his job after the sobering defeat against Darmstadt, and his boss refuses to make a commitment.
Enrico Maaßen struggled desperately for words and explanations, but he was fighting a hopeless battle. While the young coach of the troubled FC Augsburg was at a loss for patience, his boss’s harsh judgment seemed to have already been made. Sports director Marinko Jurendic refused to acknowledge the wavering coach – and so it would be a miracle if he was still on the Swabians’ bench after the international break.
“I think I have to let the performance sink in first,” said Jurendic after the sobering 1:2 (0:0) against promoted team Darmstadt 98, who won an away game in the Bundesliga for the first time since April 2017. Maaßen, who has been in office since the summer of 2022, admitted palely that he had “not yet found the key”.
After the final whistle and a short speech to the players, he put his hands in his pockets and accepted the whistles and curses from the fans with a stone-faced expression. The anger was great – and particularly affected Maaßen.
Only two wins from the last 19 competitive games and the fall to 15th place: the 39-year-old’s record is devastating. But for Jeffrey Gouweleeuw the problems lie deeper.
“If there are problems or discussions at the top, then it also goes down, that’s where it starts,” said the veteran at Sky about the unrest at the management level with the departure of long-time manager Stefan Reuter, who only works in an advisory capacity.
His successor, Jurendic, runs an Art Nouveau style that Gouweleeuw harshly criticized. “The fact that you can’t make it in the Bundesliga with just young players and a young coach…” he said and emphasized: “Those in the background have to question themselves. The question is, is the quality enough?”
Maaßen called the makeover “the absolutely right decision” and promised that he would continue to fight “from morning to night.” Captain Ermedin Demirovic, whose fourth goal of the season (86th) came too late, defended him after the “brutally stupid” defeat. “Of course I want the coach to stay,” he said: “We work well together and we all have a good relationship with him.”
A dream goal from Tim Skarke (52nd) with a volley and Tobias Kempe with a converted penalty (70th) gave Darmstadt its second win in a row. Before the score was 0-2, substitute Arne Maier misused the ball and hit Fabian Nürnberger on the foot.
It was one of many inexplicable Augsburg mistakes, the Maaßen team played too predictably and without ideas, their pressing came to nothing. After switching to a back four, things got better in the final phase, but the turnaround was no longer successful.
Much to the delight of Torsten Lieberknecht. But, the 98 coach emphasized, “we don’t celebrate at all.” The reason: “We know what the next opponents are called.” Leipzig and Bayern Munich.