Concentrating on defending

Servette Genf and Novara Calcio will be Mainz’s friendly opponents at their Aostatal training camp on Wednesday and Thursday. Both games will kick off at 18:00 CEST at the Zerofivers’ training stadium in Saint-Vincent.

“We will not be focusing on our opponent during these matches but instead on our own tasks. Our focus is on defending and winning the ball back,” said Martin Schmidt. The head coach has been trying to stress these points in training for some time now. Delaying the opposition, moving in a block , being ready to close space and not jumping into challenges are all things that the Swiss coach has been working with his players on. Schmidt: “When we get the chance implement our attacking system, I’ll be happy to see it. However, if we hold our ground, and play well these things will come naturally. Countering and attacking will are topics for the next few weeks.”   

The plan is also the use the match on Wednesday against Servette Genf to give players who joined training late or who have had to sit out match practice. Schmidt is laying more worth on the match on Thursday against Novara Calcio. “As the coach, I want to use the coming matches to sharpen up a playing squad of 14 or 15 players. That will mean little by little they will be upping their time on the pitch from 70 to 90 minutes.”