Mainz: 2021/22 season preview
Bo Svensson performed nothing short of a miracle in saving Mainz from relegation last season. Now he's had a run-up for the season, how far can he lead the 05ers off a clean slate?
Last season
Not only did the outlook appear bleak for Mainz at the midway stage of last season. They had just seven points and were eight adrift of the relegation play-off berth, and should have been goners. Historically, no club had ever recovered from such a dismal first half of a Bundesliga season to stay up. But the transformation under Svensson made history.
Svensson arrived after a 5-2 defeat at Bayern Munich, inheriting a team with just six points. Derby defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt followed and, while there were some much-needed promising signs in a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund, a 2-0 loss at home to Wolfsburg left them with a mountain to climb. But by the time they beat eventual champions Bayern with three games to go, safety was pretty much theirs. Only Bayern, Dortmund and Frankfurt picked up more points than Svensson's Mainz (32) in the second half of the season, and it is off the back of that Champions League pace that they come into the new campaign.
New arrivals
Svensson was praised for the signings he made last winter, with Danny da Costa and Dominik Kohr - who has returned on loan for a second season - making major contributions to their great escape, and the Danish tactician has made more moves in the transfer market which could prove to belong the very same category of astuteness.
Silvan Widmer has arrived from Basel, and should fill the void left by da Costa's return to Frankfurt, and young defensive midfielder Anton Stach comes in from Greuther Fürth. Svensson does not look at age or reputation when he judges new players, all he insists on is that they fit within his philosophy, and exciting South Korean attacking midfielder Jae-sung Lee ticks all the boxes after three impressive seasons in Bundesliga 2 with Holstein Kiel. Anderson Lucoqui also looks an astute signing from Arminia Bielefeld.
How might Mainz line up?
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What to expect
If Svensson was the miracle-maker last season, boasting a better points-per-game average than illustrious predecessors on the Mainz bench, such as Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel, then why should the 05ers not be aiming high in 2021/22? Tuchel led them into Europe for the first time back in 2011 and you do not need to be a mathematician to work out what that means for Svensson.
Having had a whole pre-season to prepare, rather than being handed the rudder of a sinking ship with the crew in a state of panic, Svensson has had time to reinforce a message which already seemed pretty clear last season. Having already put his name out there in the same sentence as Klopp and Tuchel, now Svensson will want to ensure Mainz's name gets more of the headlines at home and, who knows, across the continent in 2022.
Opening fixtures
DFB Cup: Elversberg 2-2 Mainz (Mainz win 8-7 on penalties)
Mainz vs. RB Leipzig (Sunday, 15 August)
Bochum vs. Mainz (Saturday, 21 August)
Mainz vs. Greuther Fürth (Saturday, 28 August)
Hoffenheim vs. Mainz (Saturday, 11 September)
Mainz vs. Freiburg (Saturday, 18 September)
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Freiburg (Saturday, 25 September)
Click here to download all of Mainz's Bundesliga fixtures to your calendar
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