FC Augsburg were hosts when the Bundesliga resumed last week and they played VfL Wolfsburg. The hosts employed a 4-2-3-1 formation and were decent in transition from defence to attack, but quite vulnerable the other way around. This led to the conceding of the late 1-2, which saw them lose vital points against Wolfsburg.
Ratings
A1 – Very good, could play higher
A2 – Strong potential to play higher
B1 – Good, strong player at level
B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
C – Average for the level, rewatch
D – Below average, don’t follow up
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Croatian
- Age: 24
- Date of Birth: 28/11/1995
- Current Club: FC Augsburg, on loan from Bayer Leverkusen
- Career: Dinamo Zagreb, AS Roma, Bayer Leverkusen (L), Bayer Leverkusen, FC Augsburg (L)
- Position: Centre Back
- Secondary Position: Right back
- Preferred foot: Right
Jedvaj played as the left central defender in the 4-2-3-1 formation FC Augsburg employed. He showed strong decision making with the ball and although his first touch was average throughout the game, most of his passes reached his teammates. He didn’t look confident in passing the ball but chose to pass without risk, which explained the higher percentage of passes completed.
He has a decent awareness which he illustrates with interceptions on numerous occasions against Wolfsburg. He positioned himself strongly, so he could intercept passes in the opponent’s attacking third and could transition from defence to attack in the process. His tackling, however, was poor. Jedvaj tried to avoid tackling and could manage that with his positioning. Furthermore, he was quite uncomfortable in 1v1s. He lost all of his ground duels and was beaten most of the time in the air. The strong positioning was needed or he would be a liability at the back. In attacking sense, he scored the equaliser in the 54th minute and contributed to the score – but that was the only attacking threat he imposed on Wolfsburg.
Rating – B2
I think Jedvaj has what it takes to become a regular starter in the Bundesliga with a side like FC Augsburg, but do become a significant player for Bayer Leverkusen, he needs to improve on the 1v1s, tackling and aerial duels.
Player Profile:
- Nationality: German
- Age: 24
- Date of Birth: 06/09/1995
- Current Club: FC Augsburg
- Career: SV Cosmos Aystetten (Y), FC Augsburg
- Position: Right back
- Secondary Position: Right midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Raphael Framberger is a right back in the four-man defence Augsburg employed and was strong in his defensive duties. In the defensive phase of the game, he is strong in the 1v1. He uses his strength to regain control of the ball or to push the attacker to the side. In addition, he knows how to position himself when Wolfsburg comes into the final third. This means that he can intercept the ball and begin the transition from defence to attack. If he cannot win the 1v1, he tries his best to block the shots and he did this extremely well, by using his body and pace.
Framberger likes to make runs down the line in the attacking phase of the games and provide crosses from the right flank to the attacking players. By making a run down the line, he gives the attacking midfielders the time to move forward and anticipate a cross from Framberger, but his delivery was poor, as was his passing in the final third. He gave a lot of options, but his end product did not match it.
Rating – B2
Framberger is a decent right-back with potential to be a good defender at this level, but I’m not convinced about his attacking qualities. His end product is poor and I need to see more of that, to fully assess whether he is a right fit for this level.
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Swiss/Dominican
- Age: 21
- Date of Birth: 05/08/1998
- Current Club: FC Augsburg
- Career: FC Luzern, FC Augsburg
- Position: Left Wing
- Secondary Position: Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Ruben Vargas played on the left wing in the 4-2-3-1 formation. What could be seen from the beginning, is that he is eager to take on his opponent and create chances from the flanks. Although he tried to do that, he didn’t get past the defenders enough and lost the ball to Wolfsburg a lot.
On the ball and with time, he lacked confidence and that could be seen in his actions. He opted for the take on, or pass the ball as holding on to the ball is not something he did well. Looking for opportunities through dribbling was not something he did, although he had space for it.
His passing was good in this game, as he could not see opportunities for himself and looked for teammates who were in better positions. He is strong in 1v1s, but in the aerial duels, he proved to be quite poor. When Wolfsburg’s defenders had the ball, he tried to press them high on their own half, forcing them to make decisions early on.
Rating – B2
I think Vargas has a lot of potential to be a strong player in the Bundesliga, but I need to see more of him. If he improves on the holding of the ball and his end product, I could see him reaching a higher level.
Player Profile:
- Nationality: German
- Age: 22
- Date of Birth: 24/11/1997
- Current Club: FC Augsburg
- Career: SV Ried (Y), Bayern München (Y), FC Augsburg
- Position: Right Wing
- Secondary Position: Left Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Marco Richter played as the right-wing attacker in the 4-2-3-1 formation and his passing was quite good. He was always looking for an option to pass the ball or look for a through ball for the other attacking players. His vision was decent, as this was illustrated by the passes to other teammates, who were in better positions.
If you look at the attacking side of his game, his attacking awareness was good. He knew where to run and were to move to in order to reach the maximum result in Augsburg’s attack. But his actions in duels were poor, he was overpowered in both enthusiasm and strength by his direct opponents and he was weak in the 1v1’s, leading to a lot of balls that went to Wolfburg. In the air, he wasn’t a big threat, as he lost most of his aerial duels and second balls were for the Wolfsburg players, as they were eager to have control over their own half.
Rating – B2
In my opinion Richter has the potential to be a strong player on this level, but he needs to work on his duels on the ground and in the air. I need to watch him more, to fully assess his abilities.
Player Profile:
- Nationality: German
- Age: 23
- Date of Birth: 28/01/1997
- Current Club: FC Augsburg on loan from Hertha BSC
- Career: FC Kaiserslautern (Y), FC Saarbrücken (Y), FC Nürnberg, Hertha BSC, Augsburg (L)
- Position: center half
- Secondary Position: central defender, defensive midfielder
- Preferred foot: Right
Eduard Löwen played on the number 10 position just behind the striker and what was remarkable in his game, was his dribbling. He tries to take on the defender but is not very successful in his actions. His first touch was poor and so were his passes, 1v1’s and aerial duels. Löwen was dispossessed a lot against Wolfsburg and in possession of the ball, Wolfsburg managed to press him in a way that he was forced to make errors.
If we look at his passing it could be characterised as playing a lot of long balls. He tries to play long balls to the other attacking players and create more momentum on the other flank. If he’s not looking for his teammates, he is looking for the goal and tries to shoot from distance, but this has not worked in this particular game, as he did not have many shots and the press of Wolfburg forced him to pass the ball.
Rating: C
This was a poor impression by the Augsburg player and based on this game, I would not scout him again. However, there is potential to be seen in his endgame, so I need to see him again.