Under the floodlights at the Millerntor on Saturday evening, 1. FSV Mainz 05 will be looking for their second away win of the still relatively new season (kick-off 18:30 CEST). With almost 3,000 fans travelling to support them at the sold-out ground, the 05ers will certainly want to do better than last time out against Heidenheim, however do not want to let that affect them in their approach. After all, as the head coach emphasised at the press conference on Friday afternoon, it is a self-hindrance in football, as in everyday life, to overthink things beforehand. “It’s crucial to make the boys realise that if they focus solely on their performance and play their football, they can be a really good team,” said Bo Henriksen.
The head coach also spoke about:
Reasons for the loss against Heidenheim
“If you overthink things in football, then that is when problems will arise. In my opinion, in the first 20 minutes, the team had it on their minds that they hadn’t won a home game yet and we were really poor. It only got better after the sending-off. It’s crucial to make the boys realise that if they focus solely on their performance and play their football, they can be a really good team. Our aim is to do that and to win tomorrow.’
Similarities with last season
“We had a similar situation last season. It’s never helpful in life if you worry too much about possible consequences beforehand. That was the case in April in the games against Freiburg, Köln and Heidenheim. We’d had a great run of games leading up to that and found ourselves on the verge of achieving our aim, achieving something very special. It’s a question of mentality first and foremost. Strikers often feel the same way when they are in the midst of a drought. At some point you start overthinking and that is what you have to fight against.”
His responsibilty
“It is my job is to clear the players’ heads, because nobody goes into a game hoping to win only 35 per cent of the duels within the first 25 minutes like last week. If we can manage that then we can achieve a lot with this group, even if we are having to work things at the moment. When I arrived here almost eight months ago, there were very similar issues present. We keep teaching them to not be afraid, to attack, have fun in training and during the matches.”
The aim for the clash at the Millentor
“On Saturday, the account of ourselves that we give will be the most important thing, as it is in life, both for us footballers and for you as journalists. If we do that over 34 matchdays, we will ultimately get what we deserve.”
The opponent
“St Pauli are a good team but we will go into the game wanting to implement our plan. There are only good teams in this league, so we need our A-game every weekend.”
Young and talented 05ers at the ready
“When choosing the starting XI, I always base my selection on quality and never on age. I want to win and so that is how the squad is put together each week.”
Absentees
“Everyone is available apart from Andreas Hanche-Olsen, of course.