Coach Markus Weinzierl has started the preparation at FC Augsburg with a short squad. A first Corona fall directly dampens the mood.
In windy Augsburg, Weinzierl donned a woolly cap to lead the start of training for his decimated squad after the mini winter break. The FCA coach believes the omicron variant could make the second half of the season a real challenge. “That’s a fact, also for the next weeks. Football is always a gamble, but now this is added to it,” Weinzierl said, referring to the variant of the coronavirus, which is considered very contagious.
“It will affect everyone in the next few weeks. There will be different luck factors there. I hope we will be spared and not have too much bad luck,” Weinzierl continued, seeing a lot of flexibility required. “We have to solve the problems as they come and improvise. We have done that more often in the last six months. “
Trio with ambiguous results
Substitute goalkeeper Tomas Koubek missed Thursday’s session after testing positive. Test results were inconclusive for Reece Oxford, Niklas Dorsch and Daniel Klein. With both Koubek and Klein missing, Weinzierl said with a wink: “We will wrap Rafal Gikiewicz up in cotton wool.
As agreed, Weinzierl also had to do without South Americans Iago, Carlos Gruezo and Sergio Cordova for the first session, which lasted a good hour. They will only start training on Monday. Also on Monday or Tuesday, Alfred Finnbogason is expected to work with his colleagues again. Away from the group, he completed an individual programme – fellow striker Florian Niederlechner, on the other hand, was right in the mix for the start on the pitch. The duo had been hampered by injuries in the first half of the season.
Weinzierl hopes for Finnbogason and Niederlechner
“Both are incredibly important players who have been sorely missed. Both have really had a half-year where it’s good that a new year is starting. I hope they stay fit and make a good impression,” said Weinzierl, hoping for “more punch” from the attackers.
