Wf the standings in the table would be an indication of satisfaction, there was a good atmosphere at FSV Mainz 05. Not a boisterous one, the home record with two points from three games is not enough, but a good one. The Rheinhessen are eighth, eleven points just one behind fifth-placed FC Bayern Munich, but six ahead of the potential relegation zone. So everything is fine before the game against Freiburg (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky)? no way.
Bo Svensson can certainly distinguish between the results achieved and the performances shown. The coach has been doing that since he took office in January 2020. Just as he was often satisfied with his team despite defeats, he does not hide when things are the other way around. “It wasn’t good enough in terms of content” – Svensson stuck this label more or less over all previous matchdays.
Overly critical voices fall silent
For example after the 2-1 win in Bochum: “We were lucky that the opponent didn’t punish us for our passivity.” The tough 0-0 against Union Berlin didn’t make even the Mainz kickers happy; Central defender Maxim Leitsch spoke of a “fucking game”. In the 0:3 against Bayer Leverkusen, the 05ers scored an own goal and passed the other two goals on to the opponent. In Gladbach (1-0) Svensson praised his team for the first half hour, later the actions in the majority became too sleepy and sloppy.
At the latest after the last game before the international break, those voices that had classified Svensson as overly critical fell silent. The 1-1 draw against Hertha BSC only came about because Mainz managed to pull down the clearly better Berliners to turf level after the break and Anthony Caci equalized with the last action. “You can’t expect us to dominate an entire game, but we didn’t have a phase in which we were particularly good,” said the coach afterwards.
With the exception of goalkeeper Robin Zentner, the problems run through all parts of the team. Partly understandable, because the protagonists are mainly young and inexperienced players at the first division level. Like Anton Stach, who came from Fürth last summer and became a shooting star. The 23-year-old is currently far from the form that national coach Hansi Flick unexpectedly made him a senior national player for.
On the offensive, there is a lack of alternatives for the duo Jonathan Burkardt/Karim Onisiwo. In principle, Burkardt is indispensable because of his pace and start-up behavior. “He has matured into a key player,” says Svensson. However, last season’s 11-goal man is still waiting for his first goal.
The squad is flexible
Behind the two are the fast, but tactically overwhelmed and apparently lazy Delano Burgzorg, Marlon Mustapha and Marcus Ingvartsen. For more than a year at Bruchweg, he hasn’t been able to dispel the impression that he only helps his team when he scores a goal (which doesn’t happen often).
It was rumored before the season that the club wanted to replace Ingvartsen with another striker. This was just as little as the discussed commitment of an additional central defender. Sporting director Christian Heidel, sporting director Martin Schmidt and Bo Svensson have always emphasized that the squad is good and flexible enough to absorb the loss of Moussa Niakhaté in particular.
Admittedly, the trainer did not exude quite as much persuasive power as his superiors when making the relevant statements. In fact, Stefan Bell is currently the only stable factor in the back three, and Maxim Leitsch is proving to be a weak link.
Incidentally, the previous low point under Svensson’s aegis was the test match against Karlsruher SC last week going in this direction is not new. That should make everyone think by now at the latest.”