FC Augsburg and coach Enrico Maassen: tense before Mönchengladbach – Sport

In between, coach Enrico Maaßen from FC Augsburg reminded one of a football teacher whose last official position was more than two years ago. At the end of June 2021, after the German national team lost in the round of 16 against England (0: 2), Joachim Löw resigned as announced before the European Championship. From his 15 years as national coach, as Löw would say, his dialect and intonation are particularly memorable. If something was very important to Löw, maybe even almost as important as his beloved espresso, then Löw emphasized the syllables of a word so clearly and solemnly that every syllable lit up in capital letters in the mind’s eye.

That’s exactly what Maaßen did on Friday when he was supposed to speak again about the very annoying loss for him and the whole FCA in the DFB Cup last Sunday at SpVgg Unterhaching (0: 2) from the third division. All he wanted to do was talk about Augsburg’s first Bundesliga game of the season this Saturday against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Maaßen, 39, took a breath before sending a Löw “AB-GE-HAKT” and appealing with similar urgency: “Now look ahead!” You can “keep harping on about it,” said Maaßen, annoyed, and recalled having repeatedly criticized the performance as “out of the question”: “I’ve said 1,000 times that it wasn’t good.”

For him it is now about presenting himself better against Gladbach. Maassen will make several changes in the starting XI, some of them forced, some of them wanted. In addition to some long-term absences, the absences include Irvin Cardona (back), Arne Maier (ill) as well as Patric Pfeiffer and Robert Gumny (both suspended). Central defender Felix Uduokhai could benefit from the changes following his surprise contract extension until 2025.

Even before Augsburg’s entry into the new Bundesliga season, it can be felt that additional tension has set in for them and Maassen as a result of the surprising cup exit. This is also due to the fact that the agenda is very challenging. It looks like a treacherously set slalom course, on which the skier has already been lifted once and on which there is a great danger of getting caught in the following poles. After the game against Gladbach, the game at FC Bayern is coming up. Should there be two league defeats, there would be a lot of pressure on the Augsburgers against Bochum afterwards. Especially since it goes to Leipzig after the subsequent international matches.

In addition to the recent past, the somewhat longer past is now also playing along as a warning

Understandably, Maassen doesn’t want to think that far, just the current game, and he’s full of optimism. “We need and we really want a positive start to the season, we want to win the game at home,” he said. But this also includes the idea of ​​how tricky the situation could be at the beginning of his second year in office with the team that has been rejuvenated again if the sense of achievement should not come to fruition. He holds his staff all the more responsible. He demands “basic virtues” from her, “you have to be ready to run, to run more than your opponent”, despite the announced 33 degrees Celsius.

During the preparation, Maassen had put the focus on football development, on creativity and variability. “But it’s always important to put things in the right order,” he now recalls, “first of all, a certain compactness is the key, then also running strength, tackling strength, life on the pitch”, i.e. talking to each other and yourself cheering each other on, “then comes the second parameter, and that’s playing with the ball.” Maaßen didn’t emphasize it in Löwscher’s diction, but you could think of it like this: “The BASIC TU-GEN-DEN are what we definitely want to see now.”

In addition to the recent past, the somewhat longer past is now also playing along as a warning. After their last Bundesliga game last season, the 2-0 defeat in Gladbach, the Augsburgers didn’t have themselves to thank for their transfer to their 13th Bundesliga year. But TSG Hoffenheim, who prevented VfB from winning at home in a 1-1 draw in Stuttgart. That too is ticked off. But do not forget.