Doing everything to get good results and make memories

1. FSV Mainz’s 2024/25 season gets underway on the other side of the Rhine on Friday (18:00 CEST). The 05ers’ first competitive fixture of the season is a first-round DFB-Pokal clash against SV Wehen Wiesbaden. 3,500 supporters are expected to accompany FSV to the Brita Arena in Wiesbaden - the shortest away trip of the year. Mainz head coach Bo Henriksen described the knockout game against the third-division side as a “very important, but also a very tough prospect” as he fielded questions from journalists alongside board member for sport Christian Heidel during Wednesday’s press conference.

It’s the 05ers’ first competitive match after six weeks of pre-season. Henriksen’s side got valuable minutes in the tank, as they played friendlies against Langenlonsheim, Basara Mainz, Trier, Münster, Kiel and Montpellier. Mainz also used their one-week training camp in Brixental to polish their tactics on and off the ball, as well as for team bonding. Even still, the 05ers will be going into the game on Friday with somewhat of a disadvantage compared to their opposition, who are already two games into their 3. Liga campaign. Henriksen is well aware that his side will only be able to get to the next round if they give it their all. “If we’re not prepared to give 100%, then we’ll lose.” He noted that he’s been drumming this idea into his team all week. 

A third-division team full of beans

SVWW have bounced back after losing their relegation play-off game and subsequently falling to the third tier of German football, having picked up four points from matches against Verl and Rostock. Led by coach Nils Dörnig, who played the most games in his career for Mainz’s U23s, Wiesbaden are full of beans and eagerly anticipating their biggest match of the season so far. “It’s the most important game of the year for them,” acknowledged Henriksen, who has been following the DFB-Pokal avidly “for 25 or maybe 30 years,” even from Denmark. That’s why the Dane is well aware that many of the favourites stumble in the first round. “Teams from the second and third division have a lot of quality. We’re going to do everything we can to make some memories in this competition. First things first, though – we need to give it our all on Friday.” For Henriksen, a good start to the season is hugely important.

This begs the question of which players Henriksen is going to start to try come away with a victory on Friday. Captain Silvan Widmer’s involevement is doubtful, as he has been too ill to take part in this week’s training sessions and is not expected to have recovered by Friday. However, the win against Montpellier has doubtless given Henriksen some inspiration. The 05ers’ head coach admitted that he did not know for certain whether he would make any personnel changes to the XI that started against the French side. “We played very well against Montpellier. Most of the boys who started that game will also be involved from the outset on Friday.”

A lot of options up front

It’s unclear whether Brajann Gruda will be one of those players. According to board member for sport Heidel, the 05ers have been in talks with Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion for the past few days, though nothing has been finalised yet. “I freely admit, however, that the transfer is very likely to happen.” Irrespective of that, Henriksen believes he has enough attacking options at his disposal. The Dane has a choice of seven players to fill three positions, as new arrival Armindo Sieb, Nelson Weiper, Jonny Burkardt, the returning Paul Nebel, Marco Richter, Jae-sung Lee and Karim Onisiwo are all vying for starting spots up front. Henriksen pointed out that the Austrian in particular has looked like a different player of late.  

He continued by noting that Japanese international Kaishu Sano is ready to start alongside Nadiem Amiri in central midfield. Sano took part in the 05ers’ training camp and has been working hard on and off the pitch, as he has been taking language classes to improve his English and German. Henriksen explained that feels better and better about Sano with each passing day. “He’s a good guy and wants to give it his all.” He might get the chance to do just that for the first time in a competitive outing for Mainz on Friday.