FSV Mainz 05 played a sensational second half of the Bundesliga season. Coach Bo Svensson and sporting director Christian Heidel are very satisfied after staying in the league.
In winter, almost nobody believed in another Bundesliga season with 1. FSV Mainz 05. The Rheinhessen had just got seven points in the first half of the season. But then coach Bo Svensson and sports director Christian Heidel came back to the 05ers. With a sensational second half of the season with 32 points, the 05ers bagged the league early on.
But how do you manage to rebuild a team after such a weak first half of the season? “There was no incendiary speech,” said Svensson at SWR Sport in Rhineland-Palatinate about his early days last winter. It was much more important to him to give the team a clear plan right from the start.
Svensson worked on the intensity – in training and play
The main part of this clear plan was to increase the intensity that the team lacked in the weak preliminary round. “It was about increasing the demands on yourself,” said Svensson. That applies to training, as well as to the 90-minute Bundesliga on the weekend.
In addition, a real team spirit has developed. “There is a way of dealing with each other when you play at Mainz 05,” said Svensson, who made it clear how important it is to work with different types of players and characters and ultimately to benefit from them as a team.
Svensson: “I don’t have to pat myself on the shoulder”
At the final press round for the season, Svensson had already shown himself relaxed on Sunday morning. “I don’t have to pat myself on the shoulder, you do that,” said the 41-year-old in a good mood. It gets interesting, however, if no 32 points per half series jump out.
Svensson regretted that the fans factor did not exist in the successful second half of the season. “I’m just imagining what would have happened here if we had a full house,” said Svensson. This “emotional component” was missing a little to understand what he and his team had achieved.
Heidel: The focus was absolutely on football
Sports director Heidel again reminded that the 05ers were practically out of the window in winter and praised the spirit that has reigned at the club since his return. Football was the absolute focus of the past six months. A basic requirement for the successful course of the second half of the season.
In addition, he and Svensson were received with open arms in Mainz. It was eminently important that people came together in winter for whom the FSV was not new territory, but already had a history in the club. “It was clear to me that I would only do it if I could bring people with me that I trust,” said Heidel.
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