Keeping a clear head against VfB

Shortly after midnight, Bo Henriksen was in the press conference room at the MEWA ARENA discussing the win over HSK Zrinjski Mostar in the UEFA Conference League. Not even 16 hours later, the head coach was back behind the podium, this time to discuss his side’s upcoming trip to Stuttgart on Sunday (17:30 CET). A total of 2,300 Mainz fans are expected to make the trip to support the team. 

VfB are currently in third place and are enjoying a four-game winning run in the league. Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß’ side fell to a defeat at Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday evening, but will certainly seek to bounce back on the weekend. “The win [against Mostar] last night was important and we now want to also win in Stuttgart. It won’t be easy, but it’s doable,” said Henriksen. The two sides will then also meet in the second round of the DFB-Pokal just three days after their Bundesliga clash, this time at the MEWA ARENA (Wednesday, 29th October, 18:00 CET). 

Bo Henriksen on...

…the team: “Everyone is fit and available for Sunday’s game. We’ll obviously have to wait and see, but right now it’s looking likely. We’re hoping to have everyone with us in Stuttgart.” 

...the busy weeks ahead: “We didn’t spend the day before the Mostar game in the hotel, because that would have made it a very long day with kick-off only at 9 p.m. We’ll travel to Stuttgart tomorrow already and spend the night there. It’s important that we all get some rest and that everything is ready for Sunday. Those players that didn’t feature much or at all yesterday were training today, and tomorrow we’ll have another light session.  We need to be smart because we have four games in ten days. It’s crazy but we’re doing everything we can to ensure that we’re focused on all of those games.” 

...VfB Stuttgart: “They have plenty of strengths, are strong on the ball and have also been defending well this season. They want to attack their opponents and prefer to keep the ball on the ground. Last year, we really struggled against them. We know that Stuttgart are a strong opponent and hope that we’re ready to face a team like that. Of course, we also watched their game against Fenerbahce last night. They’re in the same boat as us in terms of their schedule, but it’s neither a pro nor a con for us.” 

…having rotated his starting line-up against Mostar: “We have lots of games and are only focused on what we can do to ensure that we win the next one. Yesterday, we fielded a strong team. It could be the case that several of those players also feature on Sunday, but we’ll have to see. It’s important that we’re able to bring fresh energy and power to the pitch, in order to feel good and get a strong result. We can only achieve that if we win and do our best. The win last night was important, and we now want to also win in Stuttgart. It won’t be easy, but it’s doable.” 

…keeping possession: "Stuttgart are welcome to keep the ball, that’s no problem for me. Having possession doesn’t matter; what matters is winning. That’s our philosophy. We want to see an energetic performance, run hard and defend well. Those are the basics that we want to see. We did a good job of it last season, and now need to repeat the feat — that’s what’s most important for us. We want to be smart and stick to our game plan of remaining compact, playing with power and looking to attack.” 

…individual errors: “It happens in football. If we keep talking about it all the time, then we’re more likely to keep making mistakes. I’m not afraid of that. It would be a real issue if we didn’t take any risks. We can’t be afraid of making mistakes. The important thing is that we do our best, keep our heads clear and then we’ll see what happens. We want to be successful over the next weeks and if we manage to do everything we can to achieve that, then we’ll have a strong team. Mentality is an important part of football, which is why it’s something we’ve spoken about. We have more or less the same team we did last year, so we need to make sure that we’re keeping our minds clear.”