A clear task against Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen are the guests at the sold-out MEWA ARENA this Saturday (15:30 CEST). As 1. FSV Mainz 05 have often managed to do in the past, they would once again like to cause a top side problems this weekend. The visitors are undoubtedly just that – Xabi Alonso’s team are yet to be beaten and are level on points with FC Bayern, sitting second in the Bundesliga. The 05ers, who are yet to win, want to put up some resistance. “We need to do everything we can to make it as hard as possible for Leverkusen. That’s the task at hand,” explained head coach Bo Svensson at Thursday’s press conference.

Constructive dialogue instead of self-pity

Svensson says that he feels the need to compliment his team after the kick in the teeth in Augsburg. “They’ve trained really well, are marching onwards and are trying to tackle the current situation,” the head coach said, praising his players. He explained that there’s not a lot to gain from self-pity and that you should continue to work purposefully instead, even when everything isn’t going perfectly in training or games. “They’re doing everything to try to correct things. That really impresses me and it’s the only way forward for us,” Mainz’s head coach said, explaining that his side’s attitude has given him a “good feeling” despite all the setbacks.

Svensson recalled that FSV were clearly the better side in the opening quarter of an hour at FCA, putting in a courageous performance, whilst producing many of the aspects of their game that have been present over the course of the successful last two and a half years. Stefan Bell’s goal ruled out for a tight offside as well as the unlucky goal conceded shortly afterwards evidently “had an influence on the team” according to Svensson. “You need the right feeling and to have confidence in the things you’re doing,” the head coach explained. Both of these things went missing somewhat after these crucial points in the game. The Dane spoke about finding a way out of the current difficult situation, stating that the players need encouragement and that they need to help each other out and correct things with constructive dialogue.

Individual mistakes holding back a solid defence

One statistic that’s peculiar, as well as encouraging, is that the 05ers have faced the third fewest shots in the league, behind Bayern München and Leverkusen. “We have simply made too many individual errors,” Svensson said, putting it in a nutshell. One only needs to have watched the recent games against FC Augsburg and VfB Stuttgart, in which the opposition created little without Mainz’s assistance. “The goals that they scored were naturally clear-cut chances. We’ve got to cut those out,” the head coach urged. However, it’s positive to note that his team hasn’t given a lot away in their regular tactical set-up. 

Quality across the board

The 05ers defence will be tested at the very highest level by Bayer Leverkusen. Svensson said that Saturday’s opponents at the MEWA ARENA will be “very, very good,” and not only because of top scorer Victor Boniface, who has already got half a dozen goals this season. “He’s a top player, but they’ve also got Florian Wirtz and Jonas Hofmann, who complement him very nicely,” explained Svensson. He went on to say that, in Granit Xhaka, Leverkusen have “the best player in the league” at the moment in their ranks. Svensson noted that his presence and his footballing ability are good for Leverkusen’s game.

The head coach was full of praise for the Werkself: “They have a lot of depth in every position, play good football and are a high-quality outfit on an individual level and as a unit.” He expressed that it’s necessary to work well defensively against Bayer 04. The Dane kept his cards close to his chest, as he explained that we would see how things pan out on Saturday. In any case, he stressed that the team need to stand their ground and give it their all in order to cause Leverkusen problems. Svensson looked to the past and mentioned that, in their history, Mainz have pulled results like this off before by playing some “outstanding games” against favoured opposition. “Our goal is to do everything to make Leverkusen’s life as difficult as possible,” said the 44-year-old.

Guilavogui an option for the squad

Svensson revealed that there will only be a few changes to the squad’s make-up from last week. Phillipp Mwene has been training individually, and the 05ers coach reported that “This weekend could come too soon for him.” Apart from that, he has the same players available to him as he did in Augsburg. New signing Josuha Guilavogui has only trained individually up until now and isn’t 100% fit yet. The head coach explained that he’s “An option for the squad,” but that it’s too soon for him to feature in the starting XI. Anwar El Ghazi is further along the line than Guilavogui in terms of his physical fitness, has completed full training sessions with the team and is consequently an option to feature against Leverkusen.