AugsburgIt’s rare to see a manager not even make it to the new year, but that’s what happened with Augsburg a few weeks ago as they fired their coach Sandro Wagner.Despite the decision coming rela...
Augsburg
It’s rare to see a manager not even make it to the new year, but that’s what happened with Augsburg a few weeks ago as they fired their coach Sandro Wagner.
Despite the decision coming relatively early compared to when others are let go, few could argue it was the wrong one. Die Fuggerstädter sat in 14th in the Bundesliga standings, and they had only won three of their opening 12 games.
While they weren’t the worst team in the country, their relegation fears grew by the week. Something had to change.
The call paid off immediately. Caretaker manager Manuel Baum took the reigns for Augsburg as they hosted Bayer Leverkusen, and his side pulled off a surprising 2-0 victory.
Dimitrios Giannoulis opened the scoring after just six minutes, and the lead was doubled at the half-hour mark. There was lots of time left, but the backline held on to keep the clean sheet and seal all three points.
Then FCA went to Eintracht Frankfurt and almost pulled off another upset. It seemed they scored another early goal only six minutes in, but VAR ruled it offside.
Frankfurt did go ahead through Ritsu Doan with over 20 minutes to go, however Noahkai Banks looked like he had scored a crucial late equalizer for the away side. Instead, after a lengthy review, offside was called once again to damn his side to defeat.
That brings us to this Saturday. It will be Augsburg’s final game before the break, and it will be Baum’s final game as manager, or at least as the interim manager. Rumors indicate that the club will be looking elsewhere for their new man, a higher profile name like Ralph Hasenhüttl.
However, another strong showing, and especially a performance that brings in three more points, might be enough for the coach to change the minds of his front office. Die Fuggerstädter will like their chances considering their recent upturn in form and the downturn of their opponents.
Team news
AFCON has come at a tough time for Augsburg, as they’ve now lost Samuel Essende, Ismaël Gharbi, and Elias Saad to the tournament. They will also be without Arne Maier and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw through injury, while Chrislain Matsima is suspended.
Predicted lineups
Dahmen, Banks, Zesiger, Schlotterbeck, Fellhauer, Jakic, Massengo, Giannoulis, Rieder, Claude, Kade
Werder Bremen
Life is not going well at the Weserstadion.
Werder Bremen hit their low-point this past weekend, losing at home to VfB Stuttgart 4-0. The first half didn’t go too poorly, but a Bilal El Khannouss header and a Jamie Leweling screamer put the opposition up two going into the break.
Everything went haywire in the second half, though. The hosts lost their captain Marco Friedl due to injury, and then they went down a man when Karim Coulibaly was shown a second yellow card. Stuttgart took over at that point, making it 3-0 with 10 minutes to go before adding a final goal in stoppage time.
If this was a one-off result or showing, Bremen supporters wouldn’t be too worried. However, this was their third defeat in four games, coming a week after an awful derby day loss versus Hamburg. Things have gone south very quickly.
The performances have not been up to standard, especially going forward. Jens Stage has been the team’s best attacker, and he’s a central midfielder. Werder don’t have an established leading man at striker, and the wingers surrounding him aren’t making much more of an impact.
This recent slide has put the club eight points behind the European picture, although if they’re lucky enough to see eighth place make it into UEFA competition then they’re only two points off the pace. The scary thing is the Green-Whites are five points away from the bottom three.
Now it would still be a little crazy to think that Bremen are in any legitimate relegation danger. Then again, other teams have thought the same before ultimately making the drop down. This does put pressure on the club, especially on manager Horst Steffen who arrived in the summer.
If Die Werderaner want to put those fears to bed once again, they will have to win this weekend. It’s not going to be easy since Augsburg is a tough place to go to, especially the way they’ve been playing as of late.
Another loss, on the other hand, would lead to some really tricky questions over the winter break.
Team news
Bremen still do not have Maximilian Wöber, Felix Agu, Mitchell Weiser, and Victor Boniface available, while Marco Friedl and Samuel Mbangula are currently seen as doubts for the contest. The aforementioned Karim Coulibaly is suspended.
Predicted lineups
Backhaus, Sugawara, Pieper, Friedl, Deman, Lynen, Stage, Čović, Schmid, Grüll, Njinmah
Category: General Sports
