The FSV Mainz 05 hospital is currently like a dovecote. As soon as one professional has left to play his way back into the team, another moves into camp there. Before the game at Borussia Mönchengladbach, which will open the seventh Bundesliga matchday on Friday evening (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN), Silvan Widmer seems to be a candidate for the squad again after a long period of absence due to an Achilles tendon operation. “He did everything in training,” reported Bo Svensson on Thursday afternoon. “After individual exercises he sometimes breathes heavily, but he manages it.”
The return of the Swiss would help to increase the number of alternatives in the thinned defense – Andreas Hanche-Olsen, Maxim Leitsch and Phillipp Mwene are still missing. “In our situation, we need every man,” emphasized the coach, “and it is also important if the captain is there not only as a player, but also as a guy.”
Karim Onisiwo, however, has gone on sick leave. The attacker’s hip flexors have been bothering him for a while, said Svensson. So far he has struggled through, but now he is at a point where it won’t be enough for an operation. Onisiwo has also canceled the upcoming international matches from the Austrian national team.
The veteran’s forced break is likely to be linked to Ludovic Ajorque’s return to the starting line-up. The French center forward was on the bench last week for tactical reasons. “We knew that we would be deeper against Bayer Leverkusen,” explained Svensson, “so we wanted to have more speed on the pitch for the transition game.” That came in the person of Brajan Gruda – and the 19-year-old, who succeeded in almost all of them was involved in offensive actions, became Mainz’s best. “Brajan is young, has power and is a carefree guy,” said Svensson. Against Bayer he confirmed a good week of training with a good performance in the game. The German A-youth champion from last season always showed corresponding approaches, “for him it’s about continuous training”.
Judging by the table constellation, a footballing treat is not to be expected in Mönchengladbach. After all, the worst home team in the league hosts the worst away team; In the overall ranking, Borussia has moved up to 13th place with five points, while the 05ers are at the bottom with a single draw.
Peter H. Eisenhuth, Mainz Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2 Peter H. Eisenhuth, Mainz Published/Updated: , Peter H. Eisenhuth, Mainz Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2
What fuels Svensson’s hope of ending the eleven-game winless streak is, among other things, the performance in the Leverkusen game, “even if that sounds strange after a 3-0 defeat. But I won’t let this performance be disparaged.” In fact, Mainz, who were generally stable, failed because of an extremely efficient opponent. “We had a good mentality and I never had the feeling that the team gave up. We have to be a little more precise offensively, but it was a good performance in our phase,” emphasized Svensson. “It was hard that she wasn’t rewarded with a corresponding result.”
Coach Svensson is not available
That should change at Borussia Park. Svensson doesn’t consider the level of uncertainty among his people to be too high. “It’s difficult after a series like this, but like against Leverkusen, I’ve seen the team in training over the past two weeks,” assures the Dane. “And that’s the only way we can get out of the situation: don’t argue and bury our heads in the sand, but work on the content: that’s the only way. If we stick with it, things will fall back on our side.” This includes work in the mental area in the form of numerous individual and group discussions. “The mental always plays a role and now it plays a bigger role. We want to notice what the boys need and help them. Not just this week.”
The trust in Svensson and his coaching team is unbroken at Bruchweg, the head coach is not at issue. “The most important thing is to accept this situation. For us in the sporting sector, this means that we analyze openly and critically internally and work together to find ways out of this crisis,” Christian Heidel is quoted as saying on the club’s website. “That we don’t let setbacks dissuade us from this path and keep our ranks united.” This is how he experiences the coach and team, “very self-critical, focused and full of energy. The team makes a good, positive impression and is pulling together.”
