Thorup hints at starts for Mounié and Wolf against St. Pauli

A humiliating away defeat against 1. FC Heidenheim in the round just prior to the international break leaves FC Augsburg in desperate need of a "reaction" win against newly promoted side FC St. Pauli at home this weekend. In his first official appearance since inking a contract extension yesterday, FCA trainer Jess Thorup admitted as much at his Friday presser. 

Thorup's usual 4-4-2 diamond system - widely regarded as a complete failure in German footballing circles - requires tweaking. Augsburg's Danish trainer opted for a 3-4-3 re-format in a test fixture agains Ulm over the international break. With new summer additions Henri Koudossou (promoted from the reserves) and Marius Wolf (signed on a free) operating as wingbacks, Thorup's men were able to engineer a 4-1 victory. 

Thorup hinted that he might keep the back-three in place against St. Pauli in a crucial home fixture. Matters could have hardly gone better against Ulm. Attacker Yusuf Kabadayi - a potential laden Bayern loanee - scored a goal while Wolf and Koudossou's fellow summer promotion Mahmut Kücüksahin registered assists. Hitherto flop Masaya Okugawa also got his name on the scoresheet.

Thorup maintains many options following what was a highly active and generally regarded as successful summer transfer window. Thorup specifically referenced both Wolf and Benin striker Steve Mounié as two of the summer additions who may expect to start on Sunday. Mounié returned from the international break flying high after logging maximum minutes and scoring a goal for his country. 

“He [Mounie] coming back with a lot of self-confidence and has shown in his two appearances that he is an option for the starting XI," Thorup said on Friday, He's ready, that's for sure. Physically, Marius [Wolf] is ready for more minutes. That was evident in the game against Ulm.”