Maaßen: “I’m convinced my style of play will fit in at FCA”
First press conference for new head coach
First Team
20.06.2022, 17:15
New FCA head coach Enrico Maaßen started pre-season preparations with his new team on Monday. Following the session, he sat down alongside director of sport Stefan Reuter. Both Reuter and Maaßen gave a positive assessment of the opening session and the preparations for next season.
Last week, FC Augsburg announced the signing of new head coach Enrico Maaßen. After his first training session in charge of the Fuggerstädter, the 38-year-old gave his first impressions and spoke about…
… his first few days in Augsburg: “I’ve been here for around a week, and I’ve been able to experience a bit of FCA already. I’ve been having a lot of discussions with the backroom staff, other colleagues and the senior players. Above all though, I’d like to thank Michael Ströll, Stefan Reuter und Christoph Janker for the great discussions we had, which made me feel like they wanted me as coach of FCA from the very start. I really feel the trust they have in me.”
… his style of play with FCA: “I have a clear idea of how to play football. Up to now, I’ve always had my sides play a style of football not strictly bound by positions, but always with a high pressing line. My thoughts are much more to do with the attack, and that will also be the case here. In my opinion, one of the key skills coaches need to have is the ability to look at the players available and adapt their style of play to suit them. I’m convinced my style of play will fit in at FCA.”
… the Augsburg squad: “We have a good squad, which has a lot of room to develop and is well-balanced. We have both experienced players and exciting young talents who. All in all, it looks good. We’ll have to look at training to see what positions we might need some work on, but in general we’ve got a good squad, so we’ll only make the perfect additions if any.”
Director of sport Stefan Reuter was enthused by Maaßen’s first answers, and spoke about…
… analysing the end of last season: “With Klaus Hofmann and Markus Weinzierl’s departures, the end of the season was a bit turbulent, of course. That meant myself, Michael Ströll and Christoph Janker took the time to analyse things as precisely as possible and decide which coach would fit us best. We made our first call to Enrico just a few days after the end of the season and I was very happy that he was ready to sign. I’d also like to take the time to thank everybody at Borussia Dortmund who did not put any obstacles in the way for him to join.”
… Enrico Maaßen as a person: “I found our discussions very impressive, in terms of just how well he knew our squad already. We’re delighted that he’s chosen to be our future head coach and that he’ll bring his game plan to FCA. The three-year contract he has signed also shows that we want long-term and consistent work to take place here.”
… the future relationship with the youth academy: “In the past we may have been guilty of dwelling too long on scouting and assessing potential players, and lost one or two of them in the process. Therefore, it was an important factor for us to bring in a coach who had proved his abilities in developing younger players. We’ve secured the services of two young talents in Aaron Zehnter and Henri Koudossou. We discussed a clear approach and mindset with them.”
