Somewhere in the stands of the Ruhr Stadium on Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky) there will be a few people who have been with VfL Bochum for many years, but this time are crossing their fingers for FSV Mainz 05.

Members of the Leitsch family, whose 24-year-old offspring Maxim has embarked on a new path.

After 14 seasons with the Ruhr area club in youth, the second and first Bundesliga, he joined the Rheinhessen in May, who paid three million euros for the central defender.

After almost a decade and a half of loyalty to the club, Leitsch wanted to “get out of the comfort zone”, and Mainz needed a prophylactic replacement for Moussa Niakhaté.

The Frenchman's departure was considered likely, in fact he later moved to Nottingham - and Leitsch faces the challenge of having to fill the big gap of the previous captain.

This task involves a learning process.

Because acting in a three-man chain is new for the left foot, so far he has always been in a four-man network.

Leitsch admits that the processes have not yet been perfected.

In the Mainz system, as a central defender, he was more involved in the game than in Bochum, and coach Bo Svensson also defended higher.

"It takes time to get in there," says the player, "but I hope it gets better from game to game."

new formation

Niakhaté's move to Leitsch does not entail any significant changes in the game of the back team, says Svensson.

After all, the 05ers had signed the native of Essen because, like his predecessor, he has the pace, a robust body and good ball handling.

The difference at the moment: "Moussa knew the processes better, he had 50 more games in the constellation", i.e. mainly with Stefan Bell and Alexander Hack.

Leitsch needs more experience, but "it won't take 50 games" to reach the level the coach wants.

Niakhaté also lacked this experience four years ago - "and he also made some mistakes at the beginning".

In a direct comparison, the new man does even better than the long-standing leader.

Both completed their first competitive game for Mainz in the DFB Cup at Erzgebirge Aue.

Leitsch was on the field for the entire duration of last Sunday's 3-0 win, Niakhaté's involvement was limited to three minutes at the time - then he saw the red card for an emergency brake and was happy that his colleagues did the same thing with ten men settled.

Mainz weaknesses

In the course of the preparation, Leitsch got an ever better understanding of his tasks with and without the ball, Svensson attests to the “intelligent boy who also asks his teammates and then implements things.

His development isn't over yet, but he's on the right track."

The counterattack was an element that the Mainz coach was not satisfied with in Aue.

His new central defender sees it the same way and warns against neglecting defense in Bochum when attacking.

A defensive midfielder must always hold his position in order to be able to create a majority in the event of opposing switching attacks - a prerequisite for Mainz leaving the Ruhr Stadium on Saturday more successfully than last season in their poor games in the championship (0: 2) and cup (1: 3).

Maxim Leitsch does not believe that the Bochum fans could give him an unfriendly reception just because he made use of his exit clause in the spring.

"I've always given everything for the club and can't blame myself for anything."