Meet the Bundesliga overachievers led by an ex-Chelsea analyst

"For sure," Benjamin Weber jokes when asked about Chelsea winning the Champions League in 2021. "I told Mason to turn and to play the pass." He is talking about Mason Mount\u2019s ball for Kai Havertz to score the only goal of the final against Manchester City. <p>Weber worked as an analyst for Thomas Tuchel at Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea. He describes that period at Stamford Bridge as the best of his life. "To win that title was absolutely amazing. I don't want to make my part too small, nor too big."</p><p>Most would have stayed, gone on with Tuchel to Bayern Munich and beyond. Weber, now 43, embarked on a different path. "When you are fighting for the Champions League and finally you win it, what else is there to come? You always need an objective."</p><ul><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/TransfersSkySportsApp" target="_blank"><strong>Transfer Centre LIVE!</strong></a><strong> | </strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/story-telling/11095/13108333/football-transfer-news-rumours-reports-and-gossip?inApp=true" target="_blank"><strong>Latest on YOUR PL club!</strong></a></li><li><strong>Want to watch Bundesliga football? </strong></li><li><a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_clubbloglink" target="_blank"><strong>Latest Sky Sports deals</strong></a><strong> or</strong> <a href="https://www.nowtv.com/membership/watch-sky-sports/football?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_clubbloglink" target="_blank"><strong>stream games with no contract</strong></a></li></ul><widget id="3"></widget><p>As a result, Weber left to become managing director of Paderborn. "I told Thomas. It was tough." And in 2025 he took on a new role as sporting director of Bundesliga club Augsburg. "I don't work just to work. I was curious enough to do something different."</p><p>Augsburg are a relatively modest outfit compared to some of Weber's previous employers but they are a major success story in Germany. Their stay in the Bundesliga now extends to 16 consecutive seasons. "And there are only five other teams who can say that."</p> <widget id="5"></widget><p>But last season, Weber's first, was a particular triumph for Augsburg. It was their first top-half finish in a decade. They managed it despite - or perhaps <em>because</em> - the decision was made to change coach midway through the campaign. It was a big call to make.</p><p>"It was very difficult," Weber acknowledges. "And emotional because I have been sat on the other side of the table. I know how it feels. It would be easy to hide but I am there to make decisions even if it is tough. We needed something different to get back on track."</p><p>Out went Sandro Wagner and in came Manuel Baum instead. Augsburg turned their season around. "We had problems with results and performance but not development. In the end, we were ninth, after many changes last summer, and it worked out."</p> <widget id="2"></widget><p>For Weber, after the glamour of Paris and London, he is now seeing the other side of football in more ways than one. "On the one hand, there was a lot of pressure at the bigger clubs. On the other, for me personally, it was always Thomas. I could hide," he admits.</p><p>He had a taste of this at Paderborn. "When you sign a player and you know that the club will only survive if it is the right player, that is pressure. When you lose your job at a small club, and you have a family, that is pressure." At Augsburg, his profile is higher.</p><p>"There is more focus on me personally now. I was always a little bit the hidden guy in football. Now I came a little bit into the light. Not the biggest stage, I do not need that. But when we have success, I am part of it. And when we do not, I am also part of it."</p> <widget id="7"></widget><p>The feeling is that he got his first major decision right. Maybe even more right than he had realised at the time. Baum had been an internal appointment, taking the job on a temporary basis with the intention of returning to his role as director of development.</p><p>Baum is now the permanent head coach. "Plans can change," says Weber. "He had an open mind. We did not know if it would work out and he would go back to his old role but in the end we all felt comfortable with this. It is human to change your perspective."</p><p>In Weber, the hope is that Augsburg have a sporting director who can see it from all perspectives. "I did analysis my whole life. For sure, I can bring this into our recruitment so maybe this is an advantage. And I know how coaches think. Maybe that helps too."</p> <widget id="6"></widget><p>But how far can that take a club like Augsburg? Around 30,000 fans fill the WWK Arena for each game, an impressive number but unremarkable by Bundesliga standards. What does being ambitious look like for a club that appears to be punching above its weight?</p><p>"What is maybe unique is that we are stable," says Weber. Stable does not sound sexy but nor does it mean standing still. There is an understanding that Augsburg need to keep improving. Being perceived as Bundesliga perennials can help make this possible.</p><p>"Players love to come to Augsburg, this is a good first step," he explains. "We want this unique selling point in the sense of developing players. We want to build more of a connection to the youth academy as well. This is what we want the club to stand for."</p> <widget id="8"></widget><p>Rodrigo Ribeiro's loan from Sporting has been made into a permanent transfer after a promising season. Hennes Behrens has signed from Hoffenheim. Sima Suso comes in from Fortuna Dusseldorf. All three are aged 21. Augsburg as a home for talent.</p><p>In backing potential, dare they aim higher? "You need not to be crazy, but to dream a little bit, have a vision," says Weber. "In England, you will know the Sunderland story, the Brentford story, so many good stories." Maybe Augsburg can be that story in Germany.</p><p>"We need work ethic, character. With that, it can bring the best out in...

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