Maaßen: “We want to start the season well”

Season opener against Borussia

On Saturday, 19th August (15:30 CEST), FC Augsburg kick off their 13th season in the Bundesliga with a home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Head coach Enrico Maaßen is looking forward to the new season, however expects a reaction from his team following the early exit from the DFB-Pokal.

“The game in Unterhaching hurt and was a harsh setback,” said Enrico Maaßen, once again looking back on the 2-0 defeat in the cup last weekend. “Something like that shouldn’t happen, but you can learn from defeats and improve. Now we’re focused on showing a completely different side to the team in front of a sold-out home crowd.” In order to trigger this reaction, it’s all about the basics, according to Maaßen: “We’ve got to be prepared to suffer, to outrun the opposition. We need to show that we want it more. I’m convinced that we can do it.”

Maaßen is eagerly awaiting the start of the Bundesliga for other reasons, too. “I’m looking forward to things getting going. We played well in pre-season with a promising young squad. We’ve worked hard on ourselves and will do all we can to get off on the right foot.” Borussia Mönchengladbach have had a slight squad overhaul since the last time the teams met. Maaßen expects dynamism from the Foals and for the game to be back-and-forth. “We’ve got to be tactically flexible, but we can’t just concentrate on the opposition. We need to follow through with our style of play: be compact, run lots, and tackle hard!”

Pfeiffer and Gumny suspended

Enrico Maaßen will have to start the season without the suspended Patric Pfeiffer (three games) and Robert Gumny (one game). Masaya Okugawa (MCL injury), Irvin Cardona (back problems) and Raphael Framberger (ruptured cruciate ligament) are also unavailable. It’s still too early for Jeffrey Gouweleeuw to play at the weekend, and Arne Maier missed training with illness.

There was, however, a positive squad development to report during the week. Felix Uduokhai extended his contract with FCA by a year. “We’re happy that Felix has decided to continue his career with us. He’s an important player and is also in the running to play tomorrow,” said Maaßen.