Looking forward to taking on Crystal Palace: “An important game for us”

Fresh from a day off on Sunday, Mainz 05’s players were back on the training ground in Tyrol on Monday for day six of their pre-season training camp. Ahead of the friendly against Premier League side Crystal Palace on Tuesday (14:00 CEST) at the Hans-Ludwig Stadion just outside Salzburg, the 05ers worked on their defensive tactics at the Sportzentrum Wörgl. The FA Cup holders, who have former FSV man Jean-Philippe Mateta in their squad, are sure to provide Mainz with more of a workout than they got in last Friday’s 5-0 friendly victory over SV Seekirchen. We’re looking forward to it. It’s an important game for us,” stressed Bo Henriksen. “It’s not just important from a fitness perspective, but also to continue developing our tactics and for the experience too,” added the FSV head coach.

While Andreas Hanche-Olsen, Niki Veratschnig and Jae-sung Lee completed individual sessions with rehabilitation coach Axel Busenkell, the rest of the squad focused on defending their own goal in a range of game-based drills. These included defending in a low block, building up play under pressure, and applying high pressing to win the ball back. “Things were looking good,” said a pleased Bo Henriksen afterwards. “It’s important that we defend the box well and stick to our principles. We need to have that ingrained 100 percent. We conceded the third fewest goals in the league last season and we want to defend well again this year,” the Dane stressed.

Hong on the way to France

There was one 05er not on the training ground on Monday. Hyun-seok Hong departed Austria in the morning to head to France. The South Korean is set to sign on loan for FC Nantes. “There are just a few formalities left. He’s doing his medical there and then we’ll loan him out for a year. It’s a decision we made together with him,” confirmed board member for sport and communication Christian Heidel.