“We have to back up that performance”

The 37th Rhine-Main derby in Bundesliga history will take place at the MEWA ARENA on Saturday afternoon (15:30, live on Sky and 05ER.fm). With both sides having recorded eleven wins each so far, along with 14 draws, Mainz would dearly love to move ahead in that head-to-head record after the weekend (more facts and figures on #M05SGE can be found here). There is no question that another top performance will be needed to do so, as the Mainz 05 head coach also emphasised during the press conference on the day before the match. “We have to back up our performance in Hamburg and focus on ourselves. At the same time, I assume that Adi Hütter will have come up with something to make life difficult for us,” said Urs Fischer, who can also look forward to the return of his number one.

The Swiss coach also spoke about...

...the personnel situation: “Robin Zentner is fit again. Eric Martel has returned to training, but it is too early for him to be named in the squad. For that, he needs a full week of training with the team. Apart from that, it is clear that Dominik Kohr, Silas, Paul Nebel and Silvan Widmer will not be involved.”

...the different starts to the season for the two sides (editor’s note: FSV have four points from two games, Eintracht one point from two): “What has happened so far must not play too big a role. We can take a few things from it, but above all we have to back up the performance from Hamburg and focus on ourselves. It will come down to the basics, and I assume that Adi Hütter will have come up with something to make life difficult for us.”

...Jonny Burkardt’s return: “He is a striker through and through and extremely dangerous in the penalty area. We have to be alert there. That is not something one player can defend alone; it requires everyone. He has a nose for goal and knows where he needs to be. We want to prevent him from getting into his situations.”

...being spoilt for choice as a coach: “For me, the challenge every week is: ‘Who do you send out?’ Because actually, everyone is doing well. For a coach, that is a luxury, but of course I also have to disappoint someone again and again. After a 5-0 win, the lads who were on the pitch naturally have arguments on their side.”

...the most positive takeaways from Hamburg: “The compactness was very good, paired with the necessary patience that we never lost. We had a plan for where on the pitch we wanted to put the opposition under pressure. We did that very well, and the organisation was good.”

...the requirements for success on Saturday: “We always want to bring the principles we have trained onto the pitch. Doing it perfectly will rarely be possible. But our approach is always to be better than last time. In our analyses, we try to show the lads week after week what we can improve. Against Frankfurt, the rest defence will be important, not least; a lot will be about second balls. We have to bring our plan onto the pitch in order to come away with something.”

...Paul Nebel’s situation: “I hope he will return before the international break. He feels very good, but I don’t want to say too much and make the wrong prediction.”