Stefan Hofmann is still 58 years old, even if he felt a bit older last Saturday.
Yes, says the chairman of FSV Mainz 05, a game like the one in Cologne, which the team lost after a two-goal lead within the last half hour, annoys him as a spectator.
But Hofmann can look at such events in a differentiated way because he takes a different view of development than the normal fan. And what he sees is a coach with high standards and a squad that lives up to these standards, at least in their own stadium, so well that Relegation battle is not an issue this season.
All in all, this is a “very stable foundation”.
On this basis, the Rheinhessen, who receive Stuttgart this Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky), have never fallen behind the secured midfield in the current season.
Apparently those responsible can live with that;
Apparently they don't feel worried that this could turn into a gray midfield.
If you ask Hofmann what the club stands for in the Bundesliga, he replies: "For a certain type of football, and I'm extremely happy that we can say that about ourselves.
When spectators come to our stadium, they know quite clearly what kind of football this team and the coach want to play.
You will see Mainz 05 football.
That's the core that we've gotten back out, thank God, with Bo Svensson at the helm.”
Since Svensson took office in January last year, this type of football has been very offensive, even when it comes to defending, relying on aggressive duels far away from their own goal and on speed in the transition game.
In the meantime, the Dane has also further developed the game with the ball, a discipline in which the Mainz team had previously not been able to cope.
Anyone watching the home games of the 05ers wonders why this team recently lost touch with the international places.
Anyone who sees the away games knows the answer.
Even the coach does not hide his disappointment at the poor away record of eight points and often weak performances.
Of course, he always emphasizes that he cares about the performance of his professionals, about them tapping their potential, bringing 05 football onto the pitch.
If Svensson doesn't think differently than when he speaks publicly, he evaluates the performances largely independently of the result.
He doesn't talk about Europe, except when asked about it, and then he says he doesn't talk about it.
Sports director Christian Heidel does not address international business either.
Stefan Hofmann also sees no point in it.
The chairman does not believe that the approach of wanting to stay safe in the league becomes too modest at a certain point and makes one or the other player frugal.
"Bo works with the team every day and always wants to get the maximum out of it.
If he thought it would be helpful to set out a spreadsheet for getting that 1% or 2% that makes the difference between winning and losing a particular game, he would.”
In Mainz you always have to make sure that you remain as carefree as possible.
Just as the Freiburgers did, by the way.
"They are now so stable that they can make it, and yet Christian Streich will not say that Europe is the goal."
Targeted at young people
From May 1st, Hofmann will hold the position of CEO full-time;
his employer, the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Education, has given him leave until autumn 2024.
This means that from now on he can focus much more intensively on things that he previously had to do with a limited time budget.
A central theme: winning new fans and winning back old ones that the club didn't just lose due to the Corona crisis and football, which was unattractive for a long time.
“That will be our major task for the future,” he says.
Unlike Eintracht Frankfurt, Mainz neither had such a large catchment area nor a following that had grown over several generations.
"We don't have the families where the grandfather and father were already 05 fans and there is no other choice for the child." That's why the club has to recruit new fans through club and school partnerships, approach young people, be approachable and be authentic.
And the arguments against visiting the stadium should be taken as far as possible from the supporters who have come off the peg over the years.
“We have to make them understand that coming to our games is interesting.
Our team offers an excellent basis for this with the way they play football at the moment.”
The people of Frankfurt are a good example in this regard.
"Eleven or twelve years ago we were ahead of Eintracht in terms of sport, but they had their relegation experience in 2016, went to Berlin for the cup final in 2017 and won the cup in 2018," says Hofmann.
The club reinforced these emotional experiences with good marketing and communication strategies and thus experienced a huge influx of fans.
"During that time we were just in the Bundesliga and in between we've had a lot of problems with ourselves since 2016.
Now we are stable again, also in terms of sport, and can focus more on these issues.” If possible, without relegation.