WITHu At a time when the Bruchweg still lived up to its name, on weekends barely more than 3000 spectators got lost on the broad grandstand steps simulating a kind of stadium and an ash track surrounded the lawn, a man turned before every second division home game of FSV Mainz 05 his round through the red dust. Always smiling friendly and beckoning to the fans, the times may be so difficult. And true to the saying that it sounds out of the forest as you call into it, he was carried by chants on his walk past the back straight: “Peeter Arens, Peeter Arens …”
The man, who served as the club’s vice president from 1988 to 2017 and served on the board for a total of 37 years, achieved cult status in the early 1990s. “He is the good soul of the association,” said club director Stefan Hofmann on the occasion of the awarding of honorary membership to the long-standing executive team in October last year. “He immediately bridged us, his club is everything to him. Without prejudice, without vanities. ”Instead, with a lot of humor, legendary stories from the old days, ironic comments after grotesque appearances by the team. And, not to forget: When the same things were often said in countless speeches on official occasions, Peter Arens was the last speaker to limit himself to one sentence that everyone was waiting for: “The buffet is open.”
Three weeks unemployed
Arens died of cancer on Tuesday at the age of 83. He would probably have been happy to learn that Daniel Brosinski will stay with the 05ers for two more years. The full-back signed a new contract until summer 2022 after the old one expired in late June. The reason why the talks dragged on so far, that Brosinski was practically unemployed for three weeks, was the reason why Rouven Schröder, the sporting director, had to do with the corona-related break, which caused Mainz to be a little longer in the non-relegation battle. “It was agreed that we wanted to end the season without having to make any contract talks,” he says. “Our focus should be on the struggle to stay in the class. Then came the work up, and then we got into the discussions. “
This is how the day in Frankfurt and Rhein-Main begins: the most important things in brief, with information about mobile speed cameras, road closures, restaurants.
They may have stalled a bit at the offer the manager made to the player – less than what Brosinski has earned so far. “It is clear that a player is thinking about it,” says Schröder. “But that has nothing to do with lower appreciation, it is huge compared to Brosi. It’s about economic constraints. ”The club had to react in its contracts to the loss of revenue caused by the corona crisis in the previous round,“ which will not decrease in the new season ”. “We have to significantly reduce our salary offers compared to previous practice.”
It was certainly no alternative for the club to hold Brosinski, but a good decision. The defender, who came from Fürth in 2014, impressed with his solidity over the years. In principle, you always know what you get with him. Outliers are less common than outliers. In terms of number of missions, the most recent season was its most difficult. He was still on the pitch in 26 Bundesliga games, but ten times as a substitute. It must have hit him that he had to stay on the bench for five and a half games in a row during the corona break. It was only on match day 29 that coach Achim Beierlorzer drew the consequences of the weak performance of left-back Aarón, instead bringing Brosinski – and thus more defensive stability, more offensive danger and much more willingness to fight.
After six years on the Bruchweg with 172 Bundesliga games, Brosinski is not only the longest-serving professional in Mainz behind Bell, but also one who embodies the 05 gene. “Giving a 32-year-old a two-year contract is not a matter of course,” emphasizes Schröder, “but he deserves it. Brosi is an exemplary player and he is physically fit. And of course his contract is backdated to July 1st. ”
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