The list of shortcomings that Bo Svensson presented on Thursday morning was long.
He didn't like the body language of his players, aggressiveness and intensity left a lot to be desired.
"Against the ball the gaps were too big, we were too slow with the ball, not clean enough when we captured the ball, and we didn't play in the right spaces," complained the coach of FSV Mainz 05. After losing the ball, he was counter-pressing and the rest of the defense dissatisfied.
"And the standards were decent offensively, but not so good defensively."
Amazingly enough that the Rheinhessen had come out of the game against 1. FC Köln with one point last Sunday, despite these extensive deficits. Nevertheless, it would be negligent to choose the same approach on this Friday evening if they open the 13th matchday with the match at VfB Stuttgart (8.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and at DAZN). Even if the Swabians slipped to 16th place in the table and are eight points behind the 05ers, Svensson warns of them. His team has to be wide awake and tactically up-to-date in order to gain access and have a chance of success.
With their good positional play, their variable room layout and the ability to react flexibly to challenges even during the 90 minutes, the Stuttgart team could cause problems for any opponent.
Despite the recent 2-1 defeat in Dortmund, they also demonstrated their "special quality when playing with the ball".
"No other team plays like this in the Bundesliga."
Intensity and aggressiveness required
The fact that VfB only managed ten points is due to the numerous failures, including the long injury breaks of the goal-scoring Saša Kalajdzic and Silas Wamangituka. What needs to be done against the team from Pellegrino Matarazzo can be summed up quickly: It is important to do better everything that recently aroused the coach's displeasure. "Bo showed us some scenes that weren't good," said right-back Silvan Widmer this week. "I had the feeling that we all have the will to do better immediately."
Especially in terms of aggressiveness and intensity, Svensson wants to see a different demeanor, without these elements his team could not keep up in the Bundesliga. "If we want to fill our game with life, we have to bring these components to the field." Even without Dominik Kohr, the loan from Eintracht Frankfurt, who was one of the central figures for the upswing in the second half of last season and also in is doing an outstanding job in the sixth position during the current season.
Kohr suffered a muscle tendon injury on his thigh on Sunday, had to be replaced and will probably not show up again before Christmas.
In addition, the suspended Stefan Bell is missing in Stuttgart.
“The two have played an important role since I've been here,” says Svensson, “but we also have other guys who are in the squad for a reason.
They have to show themselves and I'm looking forward to it. ”Leandro Barreiro should be the first choice as Kohr replacement.
And if Svensson does not change the system, David Nemeth will probably make his fourth competitive appearance in the three-man chain.