05ers in Marbella: A delicate balancing act

The short period of time between 1. FSV Mainz’s final Bundesliga game of 2023 against Borussia Dortmund and their first match of the new year against VfL Wolfsburg (Saturday, 13th January, 15:30 CET) has impacted the club’s preparation for the second half of the campaign hugely. New head coach Jan Siewert and his coaching staff face the task of ensuring that the squad is fit enough to play, while also pushing them to improve, in the space of just two weeks.

One of the biggest challenges Siewert and Co. face is tailoring the training to the needs of each individual player, especially those who are only just returning from long spells out injured, like Andreas Hanche-Olsen, Josuha Guilavogui, Maxim Leitsch, Edimilson Fernandes and Leandro Barreiro. Even Silvan Widmer and Jonny Burkardt, who returned to action just before the end of 2023, have to be taken into account. As a solution, the coaches scheduled athletic and stamina drills to take place on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon after the tactical sessions in the morning.

Load management takes priority

“We’ve got to see how different players are doing individually. We’ve got some players who’ve been playing a lot for a long time and have a lot of running under their belt already, whereas we also have to make sure that others acclimatise to this level of football. The sessions in the afternoon will allow us to manage this really well, especially given the training in the morning,” said Siewert when asked about the morning sessions on Thursday. 05’s head coach emphasised that it was important for the squad as a whole, too. “For instance, they needed a lot of energy for our exercises that practiced runs in behind yesterday, so we had a shorter session this morning that required less physical effort.”

The coaching team are in constant communication with fitness and rehab coaches, as well as the medical department about load management. They keep an eye on the fitness levels of each individual player and incorporate feedback into their training plans. 

Looking to improve fundamentals ahead of the restart

On Thursday morning, the coaching staff took the side’s tactical training to the next level. In contrast to Wednesday, where the 05ers practiced creating space in the opposition ranks with a focus on balls in behind, on Thursday, the players practiced closing down space, especially down the flanks, by making the pitch smaller. Siewert reported, “Today, it was more so about positioning and finding room down the middle or on the diagonals when we can’t play balls in behind. In our last few games, like when we played against Hoffenheim and Dortmund, we found ourselves in situations where we couldn’t find a way through the opposition and subsequently ended up under pressure again. We need to find better ways of dealing with that, since moments like that can be decisive. The players did a great job of putting what we trained yesterday into practice today.”

All the little things the players learn in these sessions will add together to strengthen their overall understanding of Siewert’s desired style of play and allow them to build on it. There’s not long left now before the 05ers are back in Bundesliga action. The side will have a training session on the pitch before a friendly on Saturday (12:30 CET) at the Marbella Football Center against Feyenoord. The game will be split into two hour-long halves. After the side return to Mainz, they’ll have training as usual from Tuesday at the Bruchweg before they face off against VfL Wolfsburg at the MEWA ARENA in nine days’ time.