Not another Şahin: This Bundesliga manager is taking a real gamble now | OneFootball

Who would choose Augsburg when Dortmund, Leverkusen, or Leipzig come knocking? Who would go to the embodiment of gray Bundesliga mediocrity? Sandro Wagner chose FCA, which, with its new head coach, finally wants to become sexy. Together, they are going all in and taking big risks.

Jess Thorup and Marinko Jurendic felt this new self-image less than a year later. Despite a worry-free season, the coach and sporting director had to leave last May. The new manager fits the desired image better: a passionate Porsche driver and most recently assistant coach of the German national team.

The dismissals of Thorup and Jurendic also show that, contrary to popular belief, Wagner did not choose an easy task to start his head coaching career in the Bundesliga. Augsburg made it clear in May that a comfortable twelfth-place finish is no longer enough.

So Wagner can't just ease his way in, see how the Bundesliga works, and, if necessary, rely on the supposed un-relegatability of the Fuggerstadt club. He has to deliver. And he has to deliver what none of his predecessors could: attractive attacking football.

So, was it a hasty decision? Wagner's contract with the DFB ran until after the 2026 World Cup. If Julian Nagelsmann were to even come close to fulfilling his World Cup promise, Sandro Wagner's reputation would have risen as well. Success is sexy.

The best proof of this is Hansi Flick. In 2014, he won the World Cup as Jogi Löw's assistant. His next head coaching job was at FC Bayern, where he won the treble. Wagner, however, is leaving the comfort zone of the DFB and risking his currently very good reputation at Augsburg.

📸 Matthias Hangst - 2018 Getty Images

If he has forgotten how quickly you can go from hero to zero in the Bundesliga, Nuri Şahin can surely remind him. Also considered an exceptional coaching talent, the 36-year-old had to leave BVB after just half a season last year. There have been no new offers from top clubs since then. His coaching career has stalled. Wagner is only a year older.

A self-confident person like him could rightly counter that the world belongs to the brave. That’s what connects him with the new FC Augsburg. Only the literal interplay isn’t quite working yet.

Wagner has declared active football as his DNA. That’s a big change for the Bavarian Swabians, who previously often played reactively. This became especially apparent in the double friendly against Rot-Weiß Essen. FCA lost the first match 1-2. Both goals conceded came from counterattacks after the Bundesliga side lost the ball while pushing forward.

In the second match of the day, however, the new playing style worked perfectly. Through continued intense play with and without the ball, FCA forced a 4-1 victory. The significance of friendlies is certainly limited. Still, it suggests that the dull football in Augsburg is over, one way or another. In any case, the coach wants to see a style of football that takes as many risks as he has in his own career planning. And as Wagner himself noted after the Essen matches, they "still have a lot of work" ahead of them.

This work then began at the training camp. Whether it was successful will be seen in just under two weeks at the start of the season in the DFB-Pokal and then in the Bundesliga. But the eyes of the football world are already on Augsburg. A first, small milestone on the way to an FCAura has already been reached.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 Christian Kaspar-Bartke - 2025 Getty Images