FC Augsburg: Sentences like lashes – sport

Rafal Gikiewicz had taken off his jersey and football boots, but was still wearing his green functional shirt, green trousers and green socks when the FC Augsburg goalkeeper called for the general settlement. After the 1: 4 attrition at FSV Mainz 05, the overall composition of the keeper would have fitted perfectly to Hulk productions if the title character from the comics of the same name turned into a frenzied monster with every hint of anger. The green man from Augsburg moaned on Friday evening in the best Oliver Kahn manner about his front men: “We have no balls with balls, we have no balls against the ball. If you play like this every week, we will be in the second division in the summer! “

It was sentences like lashes that the Pole, who has been working in Germany since 2014, dropped. He will be 34 next Tuesday – one day before the DFB Cup game at VfL Bochum – and actually plan to catch the balls a little more in the Bundesliga: “You can’t play in the Bundesliga with that kind of mental preparation, not even in the regional league. We come to the game, the referee whistles – and everything is gone. ” He has “the feeling that we are too full and don’t feel like playing football”.

In the middle of the second half, the frustrated top performer had to listen to mockery of the approaching doom (“Second League – Augsburg is there”) and could not cite any counter arguments, except: “I don’t mind an entire stadium singing that.” In the corridors of the Mainzer Arena, however, you could later hear not only the anger but also the concern in the trembling voice. Because the tirade was woven with the invitation to touch one’s own nose together. Discussing coaches, tactics or personnel, the number one said in a general sense, would not help.

It was loud in the dressing room and there was “a bit of war,” said defender Gouweleeuw

The Mainz storm duo with U21 European champion Jonathan Burkardt (26th and 71st minute) and Austrian national player Karim Onisiwo (10th), playing like crazy before the eyes of national coach Hansi Flick, could never be grabbed by the far too passive Augsburgers. In addition, after a Burkardt template, Stefan Bell met through the legs of Gikiewicz (15th), who subsequently prevented a debacle with numerous parades. “I felt like I was in the final training session. There was always someone free. Crazy,” complained the goalkeeper, who expressly absolved defender Robert Gumny, who had stepped over the ball before the 0: 1, of overall responsibility.

Coach Markus Weinzierl used this approach as a cause of the defeat, which he otherwise attached to a lack of defensiveness: “If we don’t increase the duel quota, it will be difficult to win a game.” The extremely bad-tempered 46-year-old admitted with a petrified expression that his match plan had “not been followed”: “We ran out too early, we weren’t compact, the pitch was too big.” Ergo, the opponent had an easy game.

With a view to the next Bundesliga games against VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern, FCA defender Jeffey Gouweleeuw is also concerned: “If we play like this, we won’t get any points. We don’t talk enough on the pitch.” That’s why it got really loud in the cabin, there had been “a bit of war” and it had to be like that, he explained, while Gikiewicz reported specifically about “broken bottles”. Weinzierl denied such incidents at the press conference, but that doesn’t change the fact that fundamental things have already been shattered: the confidence to finally play a carefree season.

The question inevitably arises as to what responsibility the coach has for the meager yield with only six points. Especially since Weinzierl has not exactly had a successful track record since taking office in April with only two wins in twelve league games. “What we offer is not enough. Everyone is challenged,” said manager Stefan Reuter. From his point of view, the bankruptcy was quickly explained: “We did not even begin to hold back. We are losing compactness, which means that it looks disastrous. We have to learn extreme lessons.”

Manager Stefan Reuter backs FCA coach Weinzierl

After explicitly asking the coach, the 55-year-old made it clear that “Markus Weinzierl has our full backing”. Incidentally, the 1990 world champion goes along with the steep thesis of club boss Klaus Hofmann, who said during the week that FC Augsburg had “systematically given up playing football” under its predecessors Heiko Herrlich and Martin Schmidt – meanwhile sports director in Mainz. “Over the past few years we have not been satisfied with the way we have played,” confirmed Reuter, knowing full well that it will be difficult to combine stability and effectiveness with attractiveness in the near future.

Meanwhile, Gikiewicz recommended getting 20 points by the winter break – and then maybe even reinventing yourself from scratch. In this context he recalled his move to Slask Wroclaw in Breslau ten years ago: “At halftime we were penultimate, at the end we were champions.” The impulsive keeper knew that this story was unlikely to repeat itself in the German Bundesliga, but he wanted to express one thing: After nine match days, it is not too late for corrections. Maybe turning into a Hulk can even help with that.