From manager’s graveyard to Europe: Bundesliga coach’s epic comeback | OneFootball

When Manuel Baum stepped in as coach at FC Augsburg on December 1, he was really only supposed to bring one thing to the club: calm. Nothing more. No major tactical revolutions, no wild experiments. Just buy time until a new coach arrives. But Baum didn’t just buy time—he also won games. The question now is whether this wave of success will suddenly come to an abrupt halt?

It hadn’t been as nervous in Bavarian Swabia for a long time as it was in the previous months. Under Sandro Wagner, uncertainty reigned. With just ten points from twelve games, Augsburg was in 14th place, with a clear downward trend. The heavy defeats against Leipzig (0:6) and Hoffenheim (0:3) in particular set off all the alarm bells.

Baum’s mission was therefore initially to stabilize the team in the short term and get them to the winter break in reasonably good order. But under him, FCA suddenly appeared much more stable. In three games, the team conceded only one goal and collected important points—including against runners-up Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Baum is therefore allowed to remain head coach until the end of the season.

Even this news was probably a personal highlight for the 46-year-old. Because, in fact, he had long since written off working as a Bundesliga coach.

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A coach who was already written off

Baum knows Augsburg inside out. Between December 2016 and April 2019, he already sat on the FCA bench and led the club through several comparatively stable Bundesliga years. But after that, his coaching career became bumpy. You could also say suboptimal.

His stint at FC Schalke in 2020 turned into a rather unfortunate chapter. After just three months and only four points from ten games, it was over, and Schalke were relegated at the end of the season. Keyword: Arenaring.

After that, it seemed as if Baum had finally closed the Bundesliga chapter for good. A small detail shows how little he himself believed in a return: He had once promised his daughter a horse once he reached 100 Bundesliga games as a coach. Baum was close to that mark at the time, but apparently assumed he would never reach it.

Instead, he later worked as sporting director at RB Leipzig’s youth academy. At the start of this season, he finally returned to FCA and took over as Head of Development and Football Innovation.

He only stepped in as interim coach because his beloved club was suddenly in acute relegation danger. And because he was assured that he could return to his original position afterwards. What followed probably surprised even Baum himself—and earned his daughter a pony.

“Keep it simple”

What’s particularly remarkable is how Baum managed this turnaround. He used to be considered the prototype of the somewhat overthinking “laptop coach,” who analyzed football down to the smallest detail and sometimes overcomplicated things. Today, he follows a much simpler motto: “Keep it simple.”

An anecdote perfectly describes this change. If he had written a football book in the past, Baum once said with a smile, it would probably have been 200 pages long. Today, it would likely be just five.

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This very reduction to the essentials seems to be doing Augsburg good. Baum has given the team back its classic core virtues. Some would also say that the typical Augsburg nastiness is back.

FCA defends compactly, knows exactly what it can and cannot do, and has no problem making games unattractive if necessary. The main thing is to get points in the end.

In this way, Baum’s approach is practically the opposite of his predecessor Wagner’s idea. The extroverted former assistant to national coach Julian Nagelsmann wanted to turn Augsburg into a possession-based team and brought in many complex concepts. Baum, on the other hand, simply reset FCA’s playing style to factory settings.

Perhaps the most surprising run of the season

After twelve games in charge, the coach now boasts a remarkable average of 1.75 points per game. Projected over a full season, that would be nearly 60 points. With that tally, you’re usually in the running for the Champions League.

If you look only at the second half of the season’s table, Augsburg is actually right there: on a Champions League spot. Only FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund have been more successful in this period.

Recently, FCA has won five of its last six games. That even included a win against Bayern at the Allianz Arena. For a club that was deep in the relegation battle just a few months ago, that’s a pretty spectacular turnaround.

Suddenly, Augsburg is only three points behind a European competition spot. Eighth place, which might qualify for the Conference League, is even just two points away. Anything other than another contract extension for Baum would be a surprise.

Euphoria with a small asterisk

The high-flying run, however, cannot be judged without some caveats. In recent weeks, Augsburg has played exclusively against direct competitors from the lower third of the table. The upcoming challenges will be much tougher. Of the next seven opponents, six are currently in a European competition spot. So it’s quite possible that the current upward trend will come to an end soon.

But even if it does: Baum has already achieved everything he was originally brought in for—and much more.

He calmed the turbulent Wagner-era FCA, stabilized the team, and ensured that survival in the league is practically certain after just 24 matchdays. The few points Augsburg theoretically still needs, the team will almost certainly collect. And probably in the typical Augsburg way: unattractive, tough, and pretty annoying for many opponents.

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

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