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The 18th and final installment of our Bundesliga tactical previews here on Get German Football News will take a look at FSV Mainz 05. The Rheinhessen receive the final pre-Bundesliga section following the completion of this evening’s first leg Conference League playoff fixture. There was no choice but to choose Mainz as the final tactical section due to the fact that the club’s grueling early-season schedule left us with lots of extra scouting work to engage in. Right up until tonight’s result (a surprise away defeat against Norway’s Rosenborg BK) there was much positive to report.

Were Mainz’s celebrations of a “European Tour” at the end of last season premature? Not necessarily. This carnival club just completed an excellent undefeated pre-season and looks to be strong in all areas. No joke. There remains more than enough time to right the ship. Trainer Bo Henriksen might be a colossal joker, but he knows how to deliver seriously good football. Henriksen doesn’t run a “ship of fools”. These jesters won’t be crying the proverbial “tears of a clown”. Alright. That’s enough of the idioms.

Let’s talk football.

FSV Mainz 05

Mainz sporting CEO Christian Heidel – once he quickly distanced himself from the horror-show he partially orchestrated at Schalke – counts as of one of German football’s best functionaries. Upon his return to Mainz, it was Heidel and former sporting director Martin Schmidt (also a very skilled administrator) who hired Bo Svensson and completely turned the fortunes of this club around. Schmidt’s replacement Nico Bungert continues to build a good team together with Heidel. The pair have had a most productive summer.

Major personnel shifts, Mainz

Estimated summer transfer balance = +€13.8 million

Heidel and Bungert got ahead of the fully expected departure of Jonathan Burkardt by procuring Benedict Hollerbach from Union Berlin on the first day of June. A pair of young defensive prospects (Kasey Bos and Konstantin Schopp) also came in around about the same time. To much fanfare on a very well-negotiated loan deal, the FSV administrative team then hauled in highly intriguing Japanese midfield prospect Sota Kawasaki early in July.

The rest of the summer was spent negotiating departures. French striker Ludovic Ajorque’s long awaited return to his native country was actually completed last spring. Heidel and Bungert cut plenty more dead weight off their roster this offseason, at long last selling Edimilson Fernandes to Young Boys Bern and arranging another loan out with some fees attached for German midfielder Tom Krauß.

Two late summer loan outs were also sealed. South Korean attacking midfielder Hyun-Seok Hong’s move to Nantes ended up coming with a modest loan fee attached. After trying to move him all summer, Heidel and Bungert finally ended up parking Marco Richter in the 2. Bundesliga again with SV Darmstadt 98. It doesn’t appear as if the tandem secured any fees for the former Germany U21 international this time.

Notes from camp, Mainz

The first two creampuff friendlies enabled the “Bruchweg Boys” to defeat fellow Palatinate side SpVgg Ingelheim and Bavaria’s FC Bayern Alzenau by a combined 15-1 scoreline. Henriksen clearly liked what he saw from some eventual “winners from camp” in these two test fixtures, irrespective of how soft the competition was. Arnaud Nordin grabbed a hat trick in the first match and added two more goals in the second. Ben Bobzien registered assists on two goals in the second fixture and scored in the first.

Once it was time to get a bit more serious, the team travelled west to contest a friendly with Saarland neighbors 1. FC Saarbrücken. All went according to plan against the 3. Liga opponent. WIth Paul Nebel and Nelson Weiper still missing from camp due to their summer commitments with the Germany U21s, Bobzien started again and Dominik Kohr played higher up in attack. Nordin also moved up into the attacking trident in order to lend Kawasaki an audition at left wingback. Everything, and the author does mean everything, worked.

Kohr scored one goal and set up another. Bobzien scored again while Nordin and Kawasaki picked up assists. Hollerbach also recorded a brace in the 4-1 win. Offensive wobbles in what was supposed to be an easy tune-up against Austrian side SV Seekirchen left Henriksen somewhat concerned. The Pfälzer still beat the heavy underdogs 5-0 on a late July afternoon in Kössen, but were highly profligate in front of goal. Sieb scored, as did team leaders Silvan Widmer and Nadiem Amiri. Captain Widmer secured a brace for himself early on.

A 120-minute scrimmage against Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace followed. Amiri proved himself to be fully in fifth gear during this one. After falling behind early thanks to a Danny da Costa own-goal, Henriksen’s charges put four unanswered past Glasner’s crew. Bobzien, Weiper, Sieb, and Schopp scored in what would wrap in a 4-3 aggregate victory. A double header against Racing Straßburg (2:1, 0:0) then helped Mainz wrap an undefeated preseason. Sieb scored again. Young midfield prospect Daniel Glieber also added his second goal of the pre-season.

Winners from camp, Mainz

Arnaud Nordin, LW/RW

The highly-touted January 2025 signing from Montpelier barely saw any action last spring. Nordin made only six very brief relief appearances under Henriksen, playing more than ten minutes on just one occasion. As we all know, Mainz’s Danish trainer likes to take his time with new players and absolutely loves playing them out of position. It actually came as quite the surprise to this writer to learn that the 27-year-old French Olympic representative is actually a natural attacker. Henriksen played him at left wingback so many times during the pre-season that it was assumed that’s where Nordin was trained.

Nordin did so well that it seemed he might be poised to displace Phillipp Mwene as the starting left wingback. He still might feature there often during the heavy squad rotations this season. The Bundesliga newbie nevertheless also shined when playing higher up on the left. Here we have the first reason why Mainz aren’t considered about losing Nelson Weiper and the 20-year-old’s push for more playing time proves totally misguided. Weiper plays a losing hand with this stacked attack.

Armindo Sieb, ATTM

Another player who turned in a disappointing campaign last year squeezes Weiper out. The story of this Germany U21 international continues to intrigue. A short, yet stocky specimen (sort of a German version of Xherdan Shaqiri that happens to be even more muscular), Sieb has always caught the eye of those of us who had the privilege of scouting him in person. Sieb came up through the Bayern youth ranks until the record champs sold him to SpVgg Greuther Fürth in the summer of 2022. Bayern nevertheless retained a buyback option, which they exercised two years later after he began to blossom.

Bayern then sent the Halle-native on one of those rare extended two-year-loans to Mainz. Sieb didn’t accomplish much during his first season in the German top flight as Henriksen didn’t consider him worthy of regular starts just yet. The 22-year-old did manage to score two goals and tack on three assists. Most memorably, he assisted on both goals in the 2-1 matchday 14 upset over Bayern. Sieb – an emergency replacement for Burkardt on that day – wasn’t even supposed to be playing. We should see him easily eclipse his 2024/25 total of six starts this year.

Ben Bobzien, CF

Mainz de-facto captain Nadiem Amiri already said all that needed to be said about this 22-year-old striker. Here we have the third reason why Weiper will likely be on the move shortly. Bobzien returns from his third consecutive loan out having clearly learned quite a bit during his developmental sojourns. One of those German prospects who worked under current Werder Bremen head coach Horst Steffen at Elversberg, the Gießen-native surely gleaned something from that even though he didn’t produce the stats.

He did much better at Austria Lustenau and Austria Klagenfurt and now prepares for the German Bundesliga. What a monster pre-season! Can’t wait to see him in meaningful official action! Weipers spot on both the right-hand-side of attack and behind the lead striker as a service man is totally “Weiper-ed out” by the presence of Bobzien and Sieb. As Amiri duly noted, Bobzien does clearly need a little bit more time. Based on the pre-season scout, however, one assumes he’ll be banging them in by Christmas.

Nadiem Amiri, CM

We can surely expect more uplifting stories involving German football’s “comeback kid” this season. Amiri picks up precisely where he left off, excluding enthusiasm for football with every touch he garners on the pitch. With respect to media relations this offseason, Amiri’s previous zest for where he’s at professionally during this stage of his career hasn’t flickered even the tiniest bit. Just fabulous. An ardent “midfield metronome”. A total wizard on set-pieces. One genuinely looks forward to see him back on the German national team soon.

Losers from camp, Mainz

Nelson Weiper, LS

The Mainz-native unquestionably owed his hometown club a great deal more respect. After all, its thanks to the FSV medical staff and the club’s facilities that he was able to rehab his injury and re-launch his career. The sections above lay out in full detail how badly Weiper miscalculated his playing prospects with the club. Why not sign a lucrative contract extension and push for a transfer later? There really wasn’t anything to gain by pushing the higher-ups on the playing time issue. Weiper has done himself in.

Lennard Maloney, CM

Sigh. It genuinely wasn’t that long ago that the USMNT international reaped praise for leading the Bundesliga in distance-covered. Somehow, the former Heidenheim professional went from enjoying the reputation of being one of German football’s most committed hard workers to being accused of being lazy. Double sigh. Gio Reyna vibes anyone? Whatever the cause, there’s definitely no room for Maloney in midfield here and it was a very questionable idea for the 25-year-old to join this club in the first place.

Niklas Tauer, CM

Another midfielder for whom there’s simply no room. The current state of the 24-year-old’s FSV contract isn’t clear, but another loan out doesn’t appear to be a possibility. Surely the last extension Tauer signed in 2022 is due to run out at the end of the season. A buyer for the €500,000-valued player likely doesn’t exist. The promise this former Germany U20 international once displayed literally counts as ancient history. Looks to be a season spent representing the reserves for this homegrown talent.

Tactical scout, Mainz

We’ve two matches to cover here. Amiri scored absolute stunners in both instances. Unfortunately, Amiri remains the lone actor to have scored at all for Mainz in their two competitive fixtures thus far. The Monday Pokal fixture against Dresden constituted one serious stinker of an opening round draw. No one wants to head to the Rudolph-Harbig-Stadion to kick off the season. The carnival club got bossed around early by their hardened East German hosts while employing this set up in the opening 45.

Lineup—Mainz (DFB Pokal)

Amiri’s 22nd-minute 1-0 off a free kick ensured that Mainz were able to take a very flattering 1-0 lead into the locker room. The south Germans did significantly better after the restart. Nordin narrowly missed out on a chance to make it 2-0 not long after the break. Henriksen clearly ordered everyone back to defend the slender lead after the team survived a penalty scare in the 66th. There wasn’t much to speak of from the top flight side after that. Keeper Robin Zentner didn’t have to work hard at all during the soft penalty take, but did do a lot to preserve the victory down the stretch.

Lineup—Mainz (Conference League)

Henriksen made three changes to the previous XI for the opening round of the Conference League playoff. Jae-Sung Lee replaced Sieb in attack. Mwene and Anthony Caci replaced Nordin and Widmer on a full wingback rotate-out. Some midfield re-jiggering, including a flip of the sixes, aimed to construct a more attack-minded constellation. The back-three flattened out considerably.

Whatever Henriksen had in mind ran straight into the teeth of a very determined set of underdogs. The Norwegian hosts silenced the FSV charge early and executed several dangerous counterattacks. It was again Amiri scoring against the run-of-play with a pile-driver from nearly 30 meters out in the 26th-minute. A questionable penalty nonetheless led to Rosenborg pulling back a deserved equalizer from the spot before the break.

A brief spark of offensive activity after the re-start quickly petered out. The Mainzer midfield still closed ranks better and the rolling Norwegian counterattacks were at least halted. Andreas Hanche-Olsen – a talented Norwegian defender recently signed to a contract extension – was forced on for the injured Kohr at the half and did an admirable job helping Stefan Bell captain the defensive ranks.

The 90th-minute 2-1 winner for the hosts still felt deserved as the Norwegians were significantly more courageous in the midfield duels. Mainz fell apart after the backbreaking late goal. The Germans can consider themselves lucky to have escaped with a one-goal-loss. At least that bodes well for the aggregate.

Where do we go from here?

Lineup—Mainz (Projected)

Bring back the captain to take over for the possibly departing Anthony Caci. Mwene can maintain his place while Nordin receives an attacking deployment. Reversing the rearward pivot doesn’t pose much of a risk against the struggling Bundesliga newcomers 1. FC Köln. Three points are within reach. So too is the “light at the end of the tunnel”. 

It’s imperative that Henriksen gives everybody Monday off, maybe for one of his “open-mic” nights at the local carnival hall. Stress still exists, but (as always) remains temporary. A respite from it all, however brief, always goes a long way. Only three more fixtures until the international break….

….and carnival season is just around the corner!

GGFN | Peter Weis