“It’s felt like 800 years” – Burkardt on the hunt for three points

Exactly two weeks ago, Jonny Burkardt was the first 05 player to speak about his first impressions of new head coach Bo Henriksen, and he showed himself to be impressed with the Dane. When the 05ers picked up their second win of the season three days later, the forward had to watch from the sidelines. According to him, a mild cold had left him completely sedentary. “I watched [the 1-0 win over Augsburg] on TV. On the two days before that, I just lay at home and stared at the wall.” He would have loved to have been there, celebrated with his teammates and experienced life in the league under the new coach. He returned to team training on Tuesday and said he is “all the more-fired up” now.

In the second public training session of the week, held in spring-like weather at the Bruchweg, Burkardt was a member of a winning team. The competition was held in the form of a five-a-side tournament, which was won by a team of Burkardt, Dominik Kohr, Karim Onisiwo, Phillipp Mwene and Tom Krauß. This was both a good confidence booster and another session under his belt. The 23-year-old wants to be in perfect condition for the weekend and put himself in consideration for the starting eleven for the match against Borussia Mönchengladbach (Saturday, 15:30 CET). Most of all though, he wants to win in order to finally experience the feeling of celebrating after 90 minutes on the pitch again. He himself has been waiting for that for almost a year and a half, since the 5-0 win over 1. FC Köln on 21st October 2022. “It’s felt like 800 years,” he said with a chuckle.

In perfect condition against Gladbach

This victory was followed by a long period out, before he made his return in autumn 2023. “A win gives you confidence and always confirms that what you’re doing in training is working. Wins are the most important thing, particularly in our situation, but also for every individual player. Of course we want to get one against Gladbach,” said Burkardt, who is expecting a short period of reintegration, emphasising that “my running stats before the illness were better than ever before.” He also felt great in the first training sessions of the week.

He wants to build on that and push forward FSV’s battle for survival. The foundations have already been laid in Burkardt’s view. “You can tell that the mood has turned, that there is a lot of energy on the pitch, and that everyone has found an extra one or two percent. That starts in training. The coach is bringing positivity. Everyone can see that.” Remaining positive, exuding confidence and being difficult to play against are all it will come down to, according to Burkardt. Looking away from that would be a waste of time in his view. “We don’t really want to pay attention to the table or the opponents’ position in it. We can only influence the here and now and our own performances. At the weekend, we’ve got an exciting home game against another opponent. I hope that we’ll play just like we have recently. Particularly at home, we want to stick to the 05 way. That means being aggressive, pressing high and attacking with purpose. Simply being difficult to play against. That’s what Mainz 05 has stood for traditionally. Things have happened in the last few weeks which should give us confidence. We’ll take this momentum with us into the game.”

“They’ve managed to generate some real hype”

The first team, who will be at almost full strength, can also take at least some momentum from their experiences in the stands of the Bruchwegstadion on Tuesday evening. Burkardt of course watched the 05 U19s sensational 2-1 UEFA Youth League win over Manchester City. More than 7,000 delighted FSV fans raised the roof at our old home ground. The former 05 youth player described the performance of his fellow Mainz homegrown talents as “infectious and really cool.” “I’m really happy to be able to go and watch the game each time. It’s great fun. It’s brilliant that they’re through to the next round and particularly that they’ll be at home. I can only congratulate the team. They’ve managed to generate some real hype and earned all the support. You can see how many fans they’ve mobilised. You could definitely even sell a few thousand more tickets. Without a doubt, it’s bringing positivity to the club and the city and is also a great platform for Mainz 05, as well as for every individual player.”