Mainz have not managed to win any games to nil lately. Despite personnel problems, FSV still has the second best defence in the league.
Ten goals conceded – after ten matchdays, only SC Freiburg (seven) have fewer. The low FSV ratio is all the more astonishing because at least one centre-back has always been absent in recent weeks. In Mainz’s 2-1 win in Bielefeld, there were even two. “It was impressive from my team, you also have to remember who was missing for us. The chain defended it away well against very unpleasant opponents, that was a key,” Bo Svensson praised David Nemeth, Stefan Bell and Alexander Hack.
The coach had to do without Jeremiah St. Juste and Moussa Niakhaté in Bielefeld. While St. Juste will be out until at least the winter break due to shoulder surgery, the reason for Niakhaté’s absence was stress management. The 05 captain had taken weeks off until recently due to a muscle injury and was on the pitch longer than planned in the DFB Cup match against Bielefeld because of extra time.
“We put in a very good performance over 90 minutes, controlled the game well after a quarter of an hour and should have led by more. Then we bring Bielefeld back into the game through an individual mistake. In the second half, it wasn’t spectacular, but very composed and disciplined. I am proud of my team’s performance,” said Svensson, who was completely satisfied this time. On Tuesday, there had been even more cause for criticism from his perspective after the 3:2 in the DFB Cup.
“The last time we were in fifth place … “
“The only Bielefeld chances had to do with carelessness on our part, or fatigue after three games in a week. But if you can celebrate three wins in the end, you can be highly satisfied. We are the deserved winners and go home happy,” said sport director Martin Schmidt.
Svensson does not want to know anything about a new target due to the good position in the table: “Ten games have been played. The last time we were in fifth place, I got exactly the same questions, then we lost three games in a row. We’re going by the performance, which has been good for three games now. We are well advised to keep the focus on performance. “
