Take the first exit off the Europaplatz on the Saarstraße and follow the road around to the construction site that, in 2011, will become the Coface Arena, a 33,500 capacity stadium situated near the University complex. Once complete, it will become the new home of FSV Mainz 05 of the German Bundesliga. But while the new stadium is intended to help cement this relatively small club’s future in the top flight, three and a half kilometers away in the old Stadion Am Bruchweg, the current squad of players are creating a present that could result in much more than Bundesliga stability. Mainz now sit proudly atop the Bundesliga table after seven consecutive wins after defeating Hoffenheim 4-2 last Saturday.
Historically, Mainz have, for the most part, been a second division club until they were promoted to the first division in 2005. The club managed two consecutive 11th placed finishes under the stewardship of current Borussia Dortmund coach, Jurgen Klopp before finally succumbing to relegation. Two seasons later, under a different coach, Jorn Anderson, they were back in the big time. However, on the eve of the 2009/10 season, Anderson was sacked. His replacement, Thomas Tuchel, was a young rookie who had previously been coaching the Under 19 squad, was given the job on a permanent basis.
Clearly the club’s general manager Christian Heidel knew something that the rest of us did not and despite concerns that chaos would ensue as a result of the staffing change so close to the start of the season, Tuchel steered Mainz to a ninth place finished, a record for the Rhineland-Palatinate based club. Aristide Bance led the forward line with Andreas Ivanschitz providing the ammunition.
When Bance left the club in the summer, many (including myself) felt that Mainz would struggle to beat their best ever league season. Well, it’s early days but it’s looking very likely that we will be wrong. Tuchel has brought on some of the younger players that he introduced last season and recruited some experienced heads to supplement their precocious talent. In their seven match run, Mainz have beaten pre-season title contenders Werder Bremen, Stuttgart and, of course, the Bundesliga champions and Champions League runners-up, Bayern Munich.
A central figure in Mainz’ record equaling run is Lewis Holtby. A former Borussia Monchengladbach youngster and Almenia Aachen player, Holtby is an on-loan attacking midfielder from Schalke. He spent last year at nearby Bochum, making eleven appearances and scoring two goals in the that club’s vain attempt to stay in the 1.Bundesliga. Despite good notices, Schalke coach Felix Magath chose to send the German Under-21 captain away for another season to Mainz, where he has blossomed into one of the stars of the season so far with four goals in all competition and six assists. Everton fans should know that young Lewis is a committed Evertonian, like his old man, and has publicly stated that his dream is to wear the blue of the Goodison club.
Another headline grabber is Andre Schürrle, who broke into the first team ranks last season with five goals. Due to join Bayer Leverkusen at the end of this season, the 19-year-old was magnificent in Mainz’ win against Werder Bremen and has scored four goals so far this season. Both he and Holtby have earned the respect of German national team boss Joachim Lowe, who was gushing in his praise at the weekend. Neither player has been chosen for the Mannschaft’s squad to play Turkey and Kazakhstan in the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers. This probably says more about the depth of talent available to Lowe than the players themselves.
Just behind Holtby and Schürrle in the goalscoring charts are Tunisian Sami Allagui and Hungarian Adám Szalai. Both have scored three goals apiece and both scored in the 0-Fives’ magnificent and famous victory at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich, a performance so breathtaking that it left the Munich club’s coach Louis van Gaal wondering aloud if Mainz can go all the way and win the Bundesliga title.
The problem with answering that question is that a succession of pundits (and more than a few bloggers) have been made to look a little foolish when it comes to predicting what will happen to Mainz next. Tuchel’s squad has its fair share of youngsters but is not inexperienced. Midfielder Eugen Polanski has been ever present so far this season. This is his second season at the club after spending a season at Getafe. The only other player not rotated by coach Tuchel is the captain Nikolce Noveski, a 31-year-old defender. Christian Fuchs joined Mainz on loan from Bochum and has contributed three assists from the full back position.
This mixture of bright young things and experience journeymen mean that it is still hard to imagine Noveski lifting the Bundesliga trophy in May. Some have suggested that they will have a season similar to Hoffenheim in the 2008/09 season when the newly promoted team won the Winter Championship before falling away in the second half of the season. Personally, I believe their campaign will be more like Hertha BSC’s in that very same season. The Berlin club finished in fourth place and were the feel good story of the season. We will certainly know more about their prospects after the next three very tough fixtures against Hamburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund, If the impressive Thomas Tuchel can emulate that achievement then perhaps the new Coface Arena will be hosting Europa League matches next season, hopefully while not getting relegated, as Hertha did, at the same time.
Tags: Bundesliga, Mainz