Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl had high hopes for him. Now Arne Maier is in danger of dropping out against his former club Bielefeld.
After a mixed start to the season, Maier has recently been on the rise. The former U-21 international was convincing in the recent 1:2 in Dortmund and should take the next step in his positive development against Bielefeld on Sunday. In addition, against the Arminen, to whom the midfielder was on loan from Hertha BSC last season. But that probably won’t happen. “Arne has unfortunately called off sick,” Weinzierl said of the 22-year-old at today’s Friday press conference. “He is at the doctor’s right now and will be examined. Then we’ll know if it makes sense for him to train and if he’s even eligible for the game.”
Maier joins the list of players who have already been ill recently, such as Niklas Dorsch, Ruben Vargas, Mads Pedersen or André Hahn, who, according to Weinzierl, “infected each other and were already out in Dortmund”. An annoying situation, but “that’s just the way it is at this time of year. I hope that Arne is the last one”. The FCA coach is at least glad that the symptoms did not turn out to be a Corona infection. “Proven not to be,” said the 46-year-old, who takes this issue that has the world in a stranglehold seriously. “With Corona we are and have to be very, very careful.”
The coach does not want to dramatise the fact that Maier will probably miss out against his former club. “Then we’ll just have to do it without him. With the sole aim of winning the game. That is the plan. That’s what we’ve been working towards over the past two weeks. We need our best performance against a good opponent who is well organised and also needs points. This is a very, very important game for us. “
