Augsburg head coach explains surprise, and successful, start for young Portuguese striker Rodrigo Ribeiro (20) | OneFootball

FC Augsburg head coach Manuel Baum has spoken on his decision to award young Portuguese striker Rodrigo Ribeiro a surprise start in Saturday’s Bundesliga fixture. Naturally, Baum also congratulated the 20-year-old on making the most of his opportunity. The Sporting CP loanee scored an excellent goal in the victory. 

Rodrigo Ribeiro was always a curious signing

Ribeiro arrived in the Bavarian Swabian Fuggerstadt after Augsburg had already secured the services of Bundesliga veteran Michael Gregoritsch. Even though the FCA had already parted company with natural No. 9 Philipp Tietz, Congo DR international Samuel Essende remained in the squad. 

Augsburg also continued to sign new strikers as the transfer deadline approached, picking up Thomas Kastanaras from Stuttgart and Uchenna Ogundu from Alanyaspor. One genuinely wondered how Ribeiro would factor in during his short term loan. 

Augsburg finally parted company with Essende this week

Augsburg at least cleared a path for Ribeiro this week by finally offloading Essende to Young Boys Bern in Switzerland on Swiss football’s transfer deadline day. Essende’s Bundesliga outfit actually swung a decent deal for the 28-year-old, recouping nearly all of the €4m they initially paid for him via a €3.75m sale that featured an additional €1m in bonuses. 

Ribeiro’s start still came as a surprise, given that Gregoritsch had started the last three league fixtures. In the only one of five Bundesliga matches in which Gregoritsch was unavailable to start, Baum tapped Anton Kade to spearhead his attack during the famous matchday 19 victory over Bayern Munich. Baum explained that it was simply Ribeiro’s turn. 

Baum’s statement on Ribeiro

“In Augsburg, we want to give younger players a platform irrespective of circumstances,” Baum remarked at the press conference. “We want to make sure we bring the players in at the right moment, while still having experienced players around them. Rodrigo has played more in the second division in Portugal, so he needed time to adapt in terms of training. Then he had a few appearances [for us]

“You could already see in the last two games [two consecutive substitute appearances] what quality he possesses,” Baum continued. “As a center forward, he is technically outstanding. He can set up shots well and does the hard work deep. That was a nice finish from him. Huge compliments to sporting director Benjamin Weber and the scouting department for continuing to find players like this.”

GGFN | Peter Weis