Markus Gisdol: "We have to be more clinical"

Markus Gisdol on...

...the opponents:

We won’t judge Augsburg on their recent match against Gladbach, but rather on the three or four games preceding that. Markus Weinzierl has a very similar, but not identical footballing philosophy to myself. It will depend on who is more clinical out there on the pitch. FCA always benefit somewhat by being underestimated. We won’t make that mistake.

...personnel:

We still have a couple of injuries in the squad. They are a few muscular issues after the high-intensity match against Dortmund and the short recovery time afterwards. I am confident though that we will sort it all out before Saturday. We may, however, have to take a couple more players to Augsburg. Eugen Polanski, Sebastian Rudy and Niklas Süle have the worst injuries at the moment. Niklas came down with an illness after Wednesday’s match, Eugen had a back problem, and Sebastian a thigh injury.

...the current situation:

We are very pleased with the result on Wednesday, and it has built our confidence. It was clear that we were there to play our football and get the result. I was particularly pleased with how the boys did mentally. Dortmund came into the game on the back of eleven wins in a row, and we almost came away with all three points. I will show the lads some passages of play from the match in preparation for Saturday.

We have played well so far this season in the underdog role. But we aren’t always in that position. We have to adapt, and produce the same level of performance against every team we come up against.

Previous meetings:

The records of the two teams are essentially the same. Augsburg have won three times in the eight meeting between the sides, and TSG twice. Neither team has won by more than two goals either, so they have been tight affairs.

The opponents’ form:

One win, one draw and four losses. That is how FCA have started the Bundesliga season. They lost 3-1 to Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League too. Their start to the season has not gone entirely according to plan. Both TSG and FCA have similar records, but while TSG took a step forward on the last matchday by drawing with Dortmund, FCA conceded four in 16 minutes in their 4-2 loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach. Not Lewandowski levels, but hardly reassuring.

Key battles:

Two teams that have not started the season well are easily comparable. The key factors? Performance, desire, passion – the basics. Another noteworthy point? The number 107. That’s the number of fouls that FCA have committed so far this season – more than any other team. What should TSG watch out for in the match? Halil Altintop. The striker has scored three times against Hoffenheim in an Augsburg shirt.

 

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