Football Season Guide

A disappointing Bundesliga campaign last season ended with coach Markus Weinzierl confirming that he will be ending his four-year association with the club in favor of Schalke. Augsburg enjoyed great success with Weinzierl, twice finishing in their best ever position in the Bundesliga, but the last season did not go according to plan as Augsburg flirted with relegation for large parts of the campaign and only a five match unbeaten run right at the death helped them finish in a respectable 12th place, though just two points above the bottom three. With Weinzierl off to Schalke, Augsburg have brought in Dirk Schuster who enjoyed a successful campaign with Darmstadt last season, beating pre-season odds of relegation by finishing in 14th place. Augsburg have managed to hold on to majority of their first choice players in the summer, though Ragnar Klavan and Jeong-Ho Hong have both left the club for Liverpool and Chinese side JS Suning respectively while Tobias Werner has been sold to Stuttgart after losing his place in the starting lineup to Caiuby in the second half of last season. The club though have made a number of quality additions, with Georg Teigl and Gojko Kacar arriving on free transfers to increase the depth while Marvin Friedrich is expected to challenge Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker and Jeffrey Gouweleeuw in the central defense. It is the new arrivals further up the field though where Augsburg have made some astute signings, with Alfred Finnbogason's loan converted into a permanent move while Takashi Usami has been signed from Gamba Osaka as a replacement for Werner. Despite the new additions, Augsburg look a bit light up front and need a reliable goal-scoring backup for Finnbogason should the striker suffer a loss of form or gets injured. With pre-season expectations at their lowest following Weinzierl's departure, Schuster will be tasked of ensuring a comfortable campaign well away from the relegation zone though the quality is there for Augsburg to challenge for a place in the top half of the league table.