Day one in Schladming

1. FSV Mainz 05 have arrived in Schladming. The team bus reached the Falkensteiner Hotel just before midday on Wednesday afternoon with 30 players on board, plus Bo Svensson and the coaching team. The Zerofivers left Mainz early in the morning and flew from Frankfurt to Salzburg. They then drove from Salzburg to Schladming.

The first training session in Schladming took place at 16:30 CEST after lunch and a short break. The weather was unpredictable on the first day in Austria, but the sun thankfully had come out by the time training had started. The players completed a number of drills, including ones that worked on their shooting, after the warm-up. 

“My first impressions are positive,” said a happy Svensson, even if the pitch had suffered a bit due to the rain. “Hopefully it will be better over the coming days. The important thing is that the lads are doing well and we all have what we need here,” he added. 

PICTURES FROM THE FIRST TRAINING SESSION IN SCHLADMING

"There is a reason why we work so hard here"

The Zerofivers will play Swiss first-division side FC St. Gallen in a friendly on Tuesday, 1st August. The game will be at Salzburger AK’s ground at 16:00 CEST. “We obviously want to get through it with no injuries,” stressed Svensson, who also wants to see certain things in that game. “I want to notice that the team is growing closer together and that they can play the way we want to, even if things aren’t going to plan.” A closer-knit group is one of the main goals for this training camp: “There is a reason why we work so hard here. We spend a lot of time with each other away from the football pitch too.”

New signings Sepp van den Berg and Tom Krauß were in training for the first time with the club, whereas Daniel Batz has been involved for the whole of pre-season. “They are two good lads. They will quickly understand what we want to see from them,” commented Svensson. Two injured players, Jonny Burkardt and Silvan Widmer, have also travelled to Austria to complete individual recovery programmes. “We strongly believe that they will play an important role again. They are not two ordinary players, they play a big role within the group and contribute a lot.”

“That’s as important as training”

The Mainz players will have lots of opportunity to hang out together, eat together and enjoy some team building exercises. “As always, the lads have organised something. That’s as important as training.” The Zerofivers have a full day of training planned on Thursday in Schladming.