Nobody at FSV Mainz 05 is interested in dramatizing the difficult situation the team is in. Jan Siewert said before the encounter at Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday evening (8:30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN) that he wasn’t worried about losing touch. “Everything is close together, there are still a lot of games left, we still have the entire second half of the season ahead of us.”
The thing about narrowness is of course relative. The coach of the sixteenth-placed team is right when he refers to the last four places, with the pursuers from Cologne and Darmstadt with the same points as well as Union Berlin, which is three points ahead and will be playing the catch-up game in Mainz in a week and a half. The gap to the clubs in the lower midfield, however, has grown to nine points, and there can be no talk of close contact. In order to achieve this, you need your own winning streak in the absence of success from your competitors from Bochum, Bremen or Gladbach.
“We can’t get out of there with just a draw,” said sports director Martin Schmidt after the 1-1 draw against VfL Wolfsburg, the eighth draw for Rheinhessen this season and the fifth under Siewert. His interim balance is still significantly better than that of his predecessor Bo Svensson, who stepped down at the beginning of November – but not good enough to climb over the line.
He and his team were not happy about the meeting with the Berlin team last Friday, which was canceled due to icy spectator stands – even if this step increased the chances of having a new offensive player in the squad by the new date. The Mainz team has given up their defensive stance on the question of a new signing since it became clear that young striker Nelson Weiper will be out longer than expected due to a second knee operation.
Siewert remained somewhat reserved at the press conference on Thursday, but let it be known that he was interested in reinforcements. “It’s about exploring everything that is possible, but it’s good not to talk about everything but to focus on your own strengths,” said the coach.
When it comes to personnel issues, he trusts that Schmidt and sports director Christian Heidel will “find opportunities”. It remains to be seen whether he will be a real striker or an attacking midfielder who is a goal threat and can provide assists.
“Not a positive half-year”
Nevertheless, Siewert also sees opportunities in the current line-up to not only score points in Frankfurt, but also to achieve their second win of the season. They have to fulfill two requirements: be at least as stable defensively as in previous encounters under Siewert and improve significantly offensively. “We need clearer balls from the midfield and better crosses up front, then we will have more chances,” says Karim Onisiwo, the striker on whom many hopes rest for the second half of the season. “We play good football, but we have to be more efficient, otherwise I’ll be talking about the same thing every week.”
The Austrian has “not had a positive six months,” as he puts it. Initially, an ankle injury prevented him from reaching the form of the previous season, in which he was Mainz’s top scorer with ten goals and six assists. “I wasn’t really fit and got sick once or twice,” he says. He rarely managed to exploit his potential, but he did prepare both goals in the 2-0 win against RB Leipzig in the first game after the coaching change; Against Wolfsburg he was the best 05 player with his energetic starts.
Peter Heß Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Peter H. Eisenhuth, Mainz Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Peter H. Eisenhuth, Mainz Published/Updated:
Onisiwo is playing his ninth season in Mainz; he came to Bruchweg from SV Mattersburg in January 2016. To still be at the club after so many years is unusual. “The life of a footballer is often fast-paced, but I’m glad that it has developed this way and that I’ve been able to be here for so long and be an important player,” he says. After a few setbacks under Svensson, he became an undisputed regular. “From then on I was able to show what value I can be to the team when I perform. I’m happy that I was able to turn the wheel again.”
