Manuel Baum: “The days off have been good for everyone”

On Tuesday July 24th, the FC Augsburg players began preparations for their friendly against Bundesliga rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach, which will be played on Thursday evening in Rottach-Egern. Manuel Baum’s team used the weekend for recovery and the head coach is now looking ahead to the encounter and the training camp that will follow. After today’s session, Baum spoke about… … the missing players: “Caiuby took a knock to his knee during a corner in the game against Olching and is currently in treatment. Marco Richter, Jan Moravek and Simon Asta have undergone fitness tests. Marco and Jan could re-join training in the afternoon but we’ll have to wait for the feedback. Felix Götze still has a slight muscle problem, while Romario Rösch and Jozo Stanic have been called up to the U23s, who play tonight in Rosenheim.” … the training programme: “We have two blocks to our pre-season. In the first block, we have focused on the basics, stamina and football-specific endurance and now we want to concentrate on counter-attacking and our shape when we lose the ball. Therefore, the intensity will be higher but we won’t be doing as much. We won’t train for two hours anymore, maybe only 70 minutes, but everyone will give their all. That’s what the second block is for. The fourth to the seventh week will be the time for our preparations for our opponents in the DFB Pokal.” … the game against Gladbach: “We’ll all travel together to Rottach-Egern and stay the night there. Alfred Finnbogason could join us then because he still has to do fitness tests. With the others, we were able to plan it so that they do the necessary tests beforehand. Against Gladbach, we’ll change everything at half time, but the goalkeepers will remain the same. We’re again travelling with a large squad and will then go straight after the game to the training camp.” … the long pre-season: “The days off have been good for everyone. The players were happy to be back, they are all well rested. The break was important. We will have two more days off after the training camp. Tomorrow, we’ll only have one session because we face Gladbach the following day. I want to see players with energy on the pitch.”