Maaßen: ”We need to be clinical”
Matchday 14 in the capital
First Team
07.11.2022, 14:20
FC Augsburg are travelling to the capital to take on FC Union in the penultimate game before the World Cup (Wednesday, 9th November, 20:30 CET). Enrico Maaßen is expecting an electric atmosphere under the floodlights and is demanding a highly focussed performance from his side.
“Above all, we need to have our heads screwed on, everyone needs to know their job and they need to execute it to perfection,” explained Eric Maaßen in Monday’s presser ahead of Wednesday’s clash with FC Union. Even though the hosts suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Leverkusen last time out and lost their spot at the top of the table, the gaffer is fully aware of the tough test that awaits his side: “They have lots of quality and they aren’t near the top for nothing. We need to be clinical and we need to keep our mistakes to a minimum,” said Maaßen.
The state of the squad is similar to what it was against Eintracht Frankfurt (1-2). Raphael Framberger is still out, whereas Elvis Rexhbecaj and Carlos Gruezo will return after their suspensions. “We will focus on freshening things up on Wednesday and we will probably make one or two changes.” Although Arne Maier and Mads Pedersen currently have knocks, the boss is confident that “both will be available” against Union.
Headstrong Union
As Union played on Sunday and Augsburg played on Saturday, Maaßen’s side have had an extra day to recover ahead of the clash in the capital. “Of course that can be used to our advantage but either way we’ll need a top performance and we’ll need to perform as a team like last time,” he explained. Above all, the boss is expecting to come up against “headstrong side that has a clear way of playing” on Wednesday evening.
Maaßen also made it clear in Monday’s presser that his side are more than capable of picking up a positive result in Berlin: “We are capable of scoring goals. The next step is to hold onto a lead for longer or to add a second. The belief in the team is there and we are of course hoping that our fans will be supporting us in large numbers. We are still on the right track and now it’s a matter of picking up more points.”
