Baumann on TSG managerial shake up: "We have to band together."
Baumann expressed concern that the current roster may not be ready for the new Europa League model and specifically called upon interim sporting director Frank Kramer to address the depth and quality issues.
Along with the rest of the German national team, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann was permitted to take an extended vacation after this summer's Euros. The 34-year-old - along with Nationalmannschaft teammate Maximilian Beier - didn't report to club training camp until yesterday.
Baumann, who has spent a decade in Kraichgau, learned the surprising news that long-time TSG sporting director Alexander Rosen had been sacked whilst waiting for his plane at the Mallorca airport. News of additional injuries afflicting the roster didn't necessarily help out Rosen's mood.
“I was more than surprised. I was shocked. It felt unrealistic," Baumann told Kicker Magazine's Benni Hofmann when speaking about the Rosen sacking, "I had to accept it. The next thoughts were: 'We have to come even closer together as a team and focus on ourselves.' One must block it out and hope that someone will take over the work soon."
The fact that several key injuries will place interim sporting director Frank Kramer under significant pressure during the crucial training camp phase ahead of the new season clearly bothered Baumann. The new Europa League model leaves the Kraichgauer in clear need of more bodies ahead of a UEL group stage that will feature eight matches this autumn.
"We have to do our job and remain professional," Baumann continued, "Those of us in positions of responsibility must remain cognizant of the fact that we have hardly any time left and a long season ahead of us with many games which have also been added by the new Europa League model.”
"The team would benefit from more quality and depth," Baumann concluded, "You also need guys who can play directly in the Bundesliga. Frank Kramer is aware of that. We don't have a bad team even without new additions. If the end result is that the team stays as it is, then that's how we'll approach it.”