Perhaps the greatest praise for Bo Svensson and his players was given by Thomas Müller on Saturday: "The Mainz team are top at what they do anyway," said the Bayern Munich offensive man appreciatively and sounded as if he had done it before this 15th Known Bundesliga matchday, but have just been confirmed again. The Rheinhessen could not buy anything from this compliment, the 1: 2 defeat did not result in a draw. But at least. As Svensson also noted, the 05er had demonstrated again this season that they can keep up with the very best. After the final whistle, the emotions ranged between “proud” of the performance and “extremely annoyed” about the result.
The thing with the "very best" can be expanded in the second half of the season. If you take the current table as a benchmark, the Mainz team lost to the top three: in Munich, Dortmund (1: 3) and Leverkusen (0: 1) - but a little potential for improvement for the second half series is not bad either.
There are still two opportunities to improve the record, on Tuesday evening against Hertha BSC and then on Saturday in Frankfurt's Waldstadion. Two games with a lot of potential for shifts on the satisfaction scale. In both directions. But the 05er are already in light years better than they were a year ago at this time. At that time they were bottom of the table with six points after 15 matchdays (it wasn't more until Christmas), now they are eighth with 21 points, five points before relegation place, eleven before relegation place, but close to the ranks that are in international business to lead.
The difference in goal difference is also striking: then 14:33, today 21:16. Above all, the number to the right of the colon expresses the stability that the team has developed, the matter of course with which it has succeeded in most cases in replacing even absolute regulars such as central defender Jeremiah St. Juste or midfield boss Dominik Kohr.
It is becoming increasingly clear how well the Rheinhessen have strengthened in summer. Right-back Silvan Widmer has more than closed the gap for Danny da Costa, who has returned to Eintracht, Anton Stach, who had to wait a long time to get into the front row, thrilled in the sixth position against VfL Wolfsburg and also played a strong part in Munich And Jae-sung Lee, the dynamic South Korean, won the hearts of the fans at the latest against VfL.
They all have one thing in common, no matter what position they play in: In Mainz-05 football, which was revived by Svensson, every single player has to work against the ball.
“Everyone knows what to do,” says Christian Heidel, “this team has a plan.” And it works so well that Mainz have already conceded five games of the season without conceding a goal.