“It’s important to stay on track”

Matchday 20 of the Bundesliga season sees FSV head to Leipzig, where a tricky game against the side currently in fourth place awaits them. Urs Fischer’s side have picked up a number of points in recent weeks and have closed the gap between them and safety from relegation. Around 1,200 fans are expected to accompany the 05ers to Leipzig, bringing with them a real sense of positivity after last weekend’s win against Wolfsburg.

Fischer was full of praise for his side after their second home win in a row against Wolfsburg, but he also knows that there is still a lot of work for his side to do: “It’s important to stay on track,“ said the Swiss on Thursday in his press conference ahead of the game. According to Fischer, staying compact against a side who are good on the ball and who have a lot of pace, especially out wide, combined with confidence when his side get the ball, are the essentials for dealing with the challenge presented by Ole Werner’s Leipzig side. The motto is: “There are three points up for grabs. Winning them has to be the goal in every game, no matter where you go.” The head-to-head between the sides is very respectable – you have to go back to the 2021/22 season for the last time Mainz left Leipzig empty-handed.

Urs Fischer on...

...the availability of his squad: “Sota Kawasaki had to end yesterday’s training session early. We’ll get more information once he’s been through further examinations. Andreas Hanche-Olsen is still training individually. Nadiem Amiri is fit again. When you’re carrying a knock and then play a really intense 30 minutes, it can leave a mark. Everything is fine, though, and he’s been able to train with the team all week. Phillipp Mwene was also able to take part in every session. That will help him get into a rhythm. I don’t want to go into too much detail about Hanche-Olsen, Robin Zentner and Niki Veratschnig. They’re training individually and working on their returns, as is Anthony Caci. It will take a little longer, though. Our medical staff are working to get them back as soon as possible. There’s no point giving a timeframe – we’ll just take things day by day.”

...a potential 300th Bundesliga game for Stefan Bell: “It’s an impressive record. 300 games for one club is exceptional these days. It was more common back when I was playing. You can see his role within the team when you watch him on the pitch – he is a leader and leads by example. He’s always trying to help the lads out in training.”

...how his side is developing: “I think the guys have noticed now that I'm never 100% satisfied. There are always things to work on and improve. I was very pleased with the performance against Wolfsburg. When you start a game like that and go behind, then fight your way back, a compliment is in order. My motto is: “If it’s working, do more of it. If it’s not, keep it simpler.” So we've got work to do.”

...the quality of Saturday’s opponents: “They are a side who want the ball and will always look to use their wingers Nusa and Diomandé. They’ve got a lot of pace, and I don’t think that’s something you can defend against as individuals – it has to be a whole team effort. We have a few challenges ahead of us and we need to be aware of that. They will constantly play through pressure and out wide, while looking to counter-attack to get in behind us. They rarely play long balls. We have our own tactics and will prepare the team as best we can for the challenge they will face.”

...the possible approach against a top side: “It’s important to stay on track. We’ve taken further steps forward since the Bayern game, which we need to keep up. We obviously need to be able to defend against Leipzig’s speed. We can’t allow them too much space, because they have so much quality. It’s about being compact, but even against Bayern, we told ourselves that we needed to do something when we had the ball. Just chasing the ball around will be difficult in the long run.”

…the aim for Saturday: “There are three points for the taking here. That has to be the goal in every game we play, no matter where we travel to. If you believe anything else, you may as well not get on the bus or the plane.”
 
 ...Stefan Posch’s debut for Mainz: “If a player can look that comfortable, having trained just twice with a new squad around them, you know you’ve got real quality at your disposal. He struggled on a couple of occasions right at the start, but the whole team found it difficult in those first 15 minutes. As the game went on, though, he just got better and better. He shows brilliant anticipation in his positional play, he trusts himself to be on the ball, gets properly stuck into the action, and even poses a threat from set pieces. He’s been training well, and we’ll see if he can make the starting XI for this weekend.”