It is astonishing that Jan-Moritz Lichte does not want to show any emotion, even with a gap of almost exactly one year. December 17, 2019 was a historic day for Mainz 05, a cold, wet Tuesday evening on which the audience in Bremen’s Weser Stadium had expected that SV Werder would succeed in a liberation in the relegation battle.
But then the zero fives played their way into a frenzy – and won 5-0. Lichte sat as assistant coach to Achim Beierlorzer on the dugout and saw up close how the Mainz attack waves with the cranked Robin Quaison overran the Bremen people like a storm surge over the softened Weser dike.
Mainz and Werder play differently than a year ago
Offensive it was perhaps the best that the Rheinhessen offered over the entire season. “But I don’t think that offers any clue”says Lichte before they meet again. The 40-year-old is also convinced that showing the beautiful pictures from back then again has no constructive effect.
You could also add June 20, when the Mainz team made the league perfect with a deserved 3-1 on matchday 33 against Bremen. “We don’t have to remind you of that.” Werder have changed their style of play this season. “I’m expecting a very, very compact opponent who will defend with all hands deep in their own half.” There is not enough space for an early fireworks display. And for that, the in many ways cautious light is not the right coach.
In the end there was no shot on goal
It is noticeable how he thinks very differently from Beierlorzer. Defensive stability has now become the basis of all action, even if this is clearly at the expense of the offensive. Mainz have only scored twelve goals, exactly one per game. Most recently at the bleak zero in Berlin, there was no shot on goal – but Hertha did not either.
Games with Mainz participation are often tough to look at because there are hardly any scoring opportunities. The last pass and the last flank often do not come. A lot looks cumbersome at the front, not properly thought out. Automatisms hardly seem to exist. The defense is held together by a chain of three, in which Alexander Hack has recently been placed as the central head.
In return, Lichte was unable to revive the offensive. If the football teacher, who has been promoted until further notice, fails, then because of this accusation. Most recently, he even left his best striker Jean-Philippe Mateta (seven hits) on the bench. In Berlin, Quaison and Onisiwo “worked well against the ball “which is actually not the decisive criterion for a striker.
Werder’s back three hardly moves forward
But Mainz are not alone with their shortcomings. Werder also becomes more helpless the closer the team gets to the opposing goal. Bremen lacks play points, but also often the conviction and the penalty area occupation to create opportunities. One consequence of the fact that Florian Kohfeldt usually relies on a chain of three (Ömer Toprak, Christian Groß, Marco Friedl), which widens against the ball to form a chain of five. Rarely does one of the three players move into midfield.
The 38-year-old countered this accusation immediately. The game system is still very variable, the deliberately very deep approach was only chosen at FC Bayern (1: 1) and, for example, started against VfB Stuttgart (1: 2) in 4-2-3-1 and also “bravely pushed through”. Before the duel in Mainz, he answers the system question of whether a back three or four with one “klaren Jein”.
Bremen are missing three strikers
What Kohfeldt can cite as a relief for a lack of offensive power: With Niclas Füllkrug, Milot Rashica and Davie Selke, three storms are missing. Kohfeldt says it is now important to find the right mix against the Mainz team: “Occupying the penalty area, depth and spaces”. But he doesn’t want to play a game with an open eye.
Sounds like a wait-and-see basic alignment, although Werder, according to his head coach “a lot to win” has, because: “If you had a lead of four to six points over the relegation place at Christmas and all opponents from the top of the table with the exception of Leverkusen, then I would have said before the season: That’s great.”
Moreover, with a win he would have made peace with the two defeats from the previous season. “I have to honestly say that I can’t push these games away emotionally. Mainz hurt us extremely twice. We almost got relegated in Mainz. It would be nice if things could turn around now.“
The playful poverty at Schalke is terrifying
FC Schalke 04 and Arminia Bielefeld are also longing for the liberation. The opponents have the statistically weakest offensives. With eight goals each, both are far behind, and the chances they have won – Schalke only 35, Bielefeld only 28 – are negative records. The confrontation will probably not be a feast for the eyes, especially since the rescuer Huub Stevens, who is now standing in, is known for attaching importance to solid defense work.
His unsuccessful predecessor Manuel Baum was unable to find a style of play that creates at least an approach of creativity, even if the second coach of this chaos season last played with a back four. But instead of combination football, the “Royal Blues” have been creating a festival of bad passes for weeks that is difficult to bear. While at Schalke the playful poverty can partly be located in the mind, the problem at Bielefeld could simply be related to the individual quality.
In Bielelfeld only one goal is dangerous
Attack boss Fabian Klos worked well in the second division, but only met once in the Bundesliga. The most successful goalscorer in the Ostwestfalen is Ritsu Doan (two goals / two assists). The Japanese loan from PSV Eindhoven be “the only one who can create opportunities with us”, stated sports director Samir Arabi recently with a slight resignation.
The manager wants more punch and speed in the attack and will certainly be looking for reinforcements in transfer period II. With a single offensive player suitable for the Bundesliga, it should be difficult for Arminia to keep the class.
Stand: 18.12.2020, 13:27
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