Now Mainz 05 also have their first Corona case in the new year. The club announced on Wednesday that captain Moussa Niakhaté had tested positive for the virus, with the 25-year-old said to be symptom-free.
Niakhaté had already been absent from Tuesday morning’s training session and was in domestic isolation. “The entire professional section of the 05ers, including players, coaching team, staff and officials, is on 2G status,” an FSV statement said. The team has been back in training after the short Christmas break since Sunday and has been tested daily since then to detect infections as early as possible. “Training operations will continue in compliance with existing hygiene regulations and in close coordination with the relevant authorities,” the club explained.
Niakhaté’s absence forces coach Bo Svensson to reshuffle the back three. Alexander Hack will probably move from the central position to the left and Stefan Bell from the right to the centre. David Nemeth could come into the team as a right centre-back. The 20-year-old Austrian had already taken on this role in his three starting appearances this season in the DFB Cup against Bielefeld and in the league at Arminia and VfB Stuttgart. “He played a good game twice and then a not so good one in Stuttgart, but that’s normal with young players,” Svensson explained recently. The former central defender and current football coach pointed out that young talents are rather rare, especially in defence: “That’s why it’s a big challenge. David has also known that, it’s a leap he has to make and he’s fully developing.” Both club and player are aware that Nemeth still needs to improve physically, in terms of pace and speed of action, as well as mentally. “We are still convinced that he will become a permanent Bundesliga player with us,” Svensson said. In 2020/21 Mainz had loaned the Austrian U-21 international to Sturm Graz, where he became a regular player.
Widmer would bring more experience
Besides the variant with Nemeth as Niakhaté replacement, however, another solution is also conceivable. Right-back Silvan Widmer has already had to help out in central defence a few times given the injury-prone nature of Mainz’s back three. The 28-year-old Swiss international brings much more experience than Nemeth, which could be an advantage in view of the next opponent. The 05ers have repeatedly conceded heavy defeats at RB Leipzig, who host Mainz on Saturday, including the 0:8 on matchday 10 in 2019/20, the highest Bundesliga defeat in the club’s history.
