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Thomas Tuchel Leaves Mainz


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Tuchel in happier times

In a shocking announcement on their official Website, 1.FSV Mainz have announced that manager Thomas Tuchel had left the club with immediate effect after the manager and the board had a 'big difference in opinion' on where the club was going. Tuchel who led Mainz to their highest ever league finish last season was apparently ahast after being told he would have no budget for the following season and resigned with immediate effect. The club was is said to be feeling the financial pinch after the recent opening of the brand new Coface Arena.

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Scott Jones announced as the New Mainz Manager


If the departure of crowd favourite Thomas Tuchel wasn't shocking enough Mainz have sent another shock wave to the Mainz faithful by appointing 36 year old Scott Jones as the man to take over the club. Jones, 36 played for a number of club back home in his native England but this will be his first managerial post. In his first media conference since taking over Jones said he willing to work with the financial constraints imposed by the board for the coming season and that he would look to continue the good work done by his predecessor.
 
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Pre-Season

Key Players

Marcel Risse (AMR)
Former German youth international and now a permanent signing after spending the previous 2 seasons out on loan. Young right winger whose going to be very crucial in my favoured 4-2-3-1 tactics

Zoltan Steiber (AML)
Another young winger signed from Aachen in the 2.bundesliga and like Risse above will play crucial role in the formation. His Risse's form wll probably be the deciding factor on how Mainz do.

Jan Kirchoff (Center Back)
Talented 20 year old central defender and also counts as a home grown player and still only 20. Will be seeing more and more game time as the season goes by.

Anthony Ujah (Striker)
The young pacy, talented Nigerian will initially start on the bench as I see him more as a super sub right now but a few good performances might change that.

Adam Szalai (Striker)
Another talented striker but one whose been out for 8 months with ligament damage and is unlikely to feature until about November at least. When fit he's one of the best strikers at the club. Allagui will lead the line in his absence.


Transfers


Out's
As mentioned earlier the board gave me no transfer budget to work with so it had to be a sell to buy policy. Reserve 'keeper Cristian Wetklo was sold to Bayern Munich for 2.8m and versatile player Florian Heller left for Austria Wienn with 1m coming to Mainz. Also leaving was youth striker Eric Drum who was sold to Braga in Portugal for 375k.

In's
All the outgoings generated 3.8m in capital for me to invest however it turned out be a frustrating time in the transfer market. Numerous bids were either turned down or players refused to join little Mainz. In the end I cast my eyes on potential rather than immediate quality. In came Gabriel Silva from Palmeiras initially on a loan but with a option to buy for 4m. He will cover the LB slot in the side. Another 2 Brazilians followed both a little more long term than Silva. Young AMC Adryan joined from Flamengo for 1.3m and will join up with the squad for the following season. Also signing was young RB Romario from Vitoria for 1.4m and will join up with the squad in January. Josh Mceachran was signed up on a season long loan from Chelsea.




 
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July-August



Europa league 3rd Qual. Round, Leg 1

Rad 1-5 Mainz (Noveskix3,

A very impressive first game in charge away in Serbia. A first half hattrick by Center back Nikolce Noveski ensured a comfortable evening against the Serbians who got a consolation in the 86th minute. However an injury to Choupo-Moting early in the 2nd half soured the game. The youngster will now miss 6 weeks due to a knee injury.

German Cup, Round 1
Meuselwitz 0-1 Mainz (Ujah)

If ever there was a game whose scoreline dosen't tell the whole story then this was it. Anthony Ujah's goal in the 34th minute gave us the lead but from then on the ball just wouldnt go in as we hit the bar 4 times and spurned numerous other chances. All's well that ends well however and Mainz go through to the next round.

Europa league 3rd Qual. Round, Leg 2
Mainz 2-2 Rad (Steiber, Gopko)

With us as good as through to the next round I decided to rest plenty of players keeping the game against Hertha at the weekend in mind. Goals from Steiber and Gopko put us 2-0 ahead at half time in a game we thoroughly dominated. Rad came back a different team in the 2nd half eager to salvage some pride and through owen goals by Muller and then Gopko in the 89th minute snatched a draw. We go through 7-3 on aggregate.

Bundesliga, Round 1
Mainz 5-1 Hertha Berlin (Allagui, Risse, Steiber x2)

A brilliant performance in what was our first game at the new stadium. We outfought, out battled and thoroughly out played the newly promoted side with a staggering 20 shots on goal. Allgui gave us the lead on 29 minutes only for Hertha to cancel out the goal 3 minutes later. Marcel Risse put us ahead once again on 36 minutes to put us 2-1 ahead. A 2nd half brace from Steiber made it 4-1 before an own goal capped a miserable time for Hertha.

Bundesliga, Round 2
Leverkusen 1-3 Mainz (Noveski, Steiber, Zabavnik)

A perfect away performance by Mainz. We held firm to some early Leverkusen pressure before 2 goals on the stroke of half time killed them off. Leverkusen then went down to 10 men beofre we increased our lead further. Sidney Sam got a late consolation. a 3 week injury to Fathi clouded a very good night.

Europa League 4th Qual. Round, Leg 1
Mainz 0-0 Sturm Graz

Some very poor finishing at home now leaves us with a tough task away if we are to progress into the group stage which is whats expected of me.

Bundesliga, Round 3
Mainz 1-2 Dortmund (Risse)

A creditable performance against the reigning champions who got the winner in the 86 th minute to comple a good comeback after bieng 1-0 down at the break. We suffered yet another injury with our first choice striker being sidelined for 2 weeks.

Europa League 4th Qual. Round, Leg 2
Sturm Graz 0-1 Mainz (own goal)

Another game where our finishing let us down but we spared extra time by a 67th minute goal by the Austrians ensured our progress through to the group stages with a 1-0 aggregate win.

Europa League Draw

Twente
Sporting
Mainz
Westerlo

Twente and Sporting will be favourites but by no means certain to go through. If we can win both our games against the Belgians then one upset in the other games might be enough.

Bundesliga, Round 4
Nurmberg 2-0 Mainz

Disappointing result as both teams were very even and it took 2 goals in the last 10 minutes to hand them the win. We need to be more clinical in our finishing.


July-August Review
Overall a very pleasing start to life in Mainz. Good start to the league season and progress to the group stages of the Europa League. The injuries are proving to be worrying as we dont have a very big squad.











 
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September


Bundesliga, Round 5
Kaiserslautern 1-3 Mainz (Ujahx2, Risse)

A very routine and easy victory away against what was a very poor Kaiserslautern side. Ujah filled in very well for the injured Allagui grabbing a brace. But as has been the case we lose yet another player to injury. This time its Gabriel Silva who's set to be out for 6 weeks with a torn hamstring.

Europa League, Match Day 1
Twente 0-0 Mainz

A very creditable and hard earned draw against Twente. Twente dominated most of the game without creating many clearcut chances.

Bundesliga, Round 6
Mainz 2-1 Werder Bremen (Allagui, Muller)
Very good win in what was an even game against one of the traditional strong sides in Germany. Muller's goal 10 minutes before full time proved to be the difference between the 2 sides.

Bundesliga, Round 7
Hamburg 2-3 Mainz (Own Goal, Risse, Ujah)

Another very even game with both teams having identical possession and total shots stats. We lead by 2 goals inside the first 20 minutes only for Hamburg to claw their way back into it and make it 2-2 with 25 minutes to go. And just when it seemed their momentum might see them win substitute Ujah scored a wonderful goal on the counter to secure a lucky win. Yet more bad news with regards to injuries as Muller, back up to Risse was ruled out for a month with a torn hamstring.

Europa League, Match Day 2
Mainz 2-1 Westerlo (Allaguix2)

This was a must win game if we harbored any hopes of making it through to the knockout stages and the players didn't disappoint with a good performance. Scoreline could've been more convincing with better finishing but 3 very important points.



September Review

A great month as Mainz won all the games in the league beating some tough teams and a good start to the Europa League campaign.

League Table
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Europa League
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It's been a good month for you by the looks of it :) Keep it up
 
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October


Bundesliga, Round 8
Mainz 2-0 Stuttgart (Kirchoff, Ujah)

Comfortable victory against the fallen giants with Ujah bagging another one continuing on his impressive form this season. Also face them in the German Cup.

Bundesliga, Round 9
Augsburg 0-4 Mainz (Allagui, Steiberx3)

Comfortable victory against the bottom side in the league with only 1 win all season. Steiber came back from a small injury with a hattrick.

Europa League, Match Day 3
Mainz 0-1 Sporting

Absolutely gutting result. Dominated the game from start to finish, having thrice the number of shots as them only for them to score a deflected effort in the 86th minute. Golden chance to solidify our 2nd place missed leaving us with an uphill task now.

Bundesliga, Round 10

Mainz 6-3 Hannover (Steiberx2, Soto, Mali, Allagui, Kirchoff)

Brilliant game as the scoreline suggests but the only reason Hannover were in it was due to Ya Konan who was unplayable on the night. Good result against a team that was flying high in the league.

German Cup, Round 2
Mainz 2-1 Stuttgart (Soto, McAechran)

Much closer game than the league game earlier and was a game of late goals. Okazaki equalised in the 88th minute much to my dismay taking the game to extra time and then Josh MceAchran popped up with the winner and his first goal of the season in the 122nd minute to avert penalties. Got another tough draw, this time away at Bremen.

Bundesliga, Round 11
Koln 1-1 Mainz (Pospech)

Overall quite pleased with the result. Had to play a very mismatched team after the exertions of the cup and Koln are a good side themselves. A point earned in my book.

October Review


Having a great time domestically. With 11 games played Mainz are top of the table 2 points ahead of 2nd placed Dortmund. The Europa League has been more of a disappointment, our inability to take our chances has in all likelihood killed of our hopes of qualifying. And although I havent mentioned injuries this time, having a torrid time with them.



 
It's been a good month for you by the looks of it :) Keep it up
Thanks mate:)

First time I am doing a story, so any constructive criticism welcome if anyone follows the story that is
 
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November


Europa League, Match Day 4

Sporting 2-1 Mainz (Soto)

Almost identical story to the home game against them although they were a bit better this time round. We were the better team and should've at least got a point. This now means we are as good as knocked out of the Europa League.

Bundesliga, Round 12
Mainz 2-2 Schalke (Soto, Steiber)

Another good performance where we didnt kill of the opposition which has eventually cost us points. We need to be taking our chances or defend better than we have been this season.

Bundesliga, Round 13
Gladbach 0-0 Mainz

Very poor performance against a struggling Gladbach side who quite honestly speaking deserved to win. Only positive of the night was a clean sheet which has been rare this season.

Bundesliga, Round 14
Mainz 1-1 Freiburg (Soto)

Another stinker of a performance. Took the lead against the run of play but Freiburg equalised soon after and were unlucky not to take all 3 points.

Europa League, Match Day 5
Mainz 0-2 Twente

Rested the first team with no real chance of going through and it wasn't a bad performance in the first half but Twente completely dominated the 2nd half and pick up 3 points knocking us out of the competition.



November Review

An awful month in every possible way. Knocked out of Europe and havent won a game domestically. We haven't lost since the 28th of August but haven't won since the 23rd of October. Injuries aren't exactly helping either.


 
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December


Bundesliga, Match Day 15
Hoffenheim 2-2 Mainz (Allagui, Ujah)

Another poor performance against strugglers Hoffenheim. How we came away with a point I don't know, they were the much better team throughout the match.

Bundesliga, Round 16
Mainz 2-2 Wolfsborg (Steiberx2)

Finally a good performance and even then we managed to throw it away. Wolfsborg barely had a sniff the whole game but got a lucky equaliser on the stroke of half time. Steiber then got himself sent off with 15 minutes to go and with 7 minutes to go Wolfsborg made us pay. Thats now 6 consecutive draws, incredibly frustrating.

Europa League, Match Day 6
Westerlo 1-1 Mainz (Ujah)

Second team strode out again for our final group game. Even game with neither team deserving to win and it showed. Poor game.

Bundesliga, Round 17
Bayern Munich 3-0 Mainz

Competed fairly well, given the gulf in class between the 2 sides. Defense could not deal with Arjen Robben tormented us everytime they came forward.

German Cup, Round 3
Werder Bremen 2-1 Mainz (Risse)

Quite unlucky. We were better than them for most of the game and to concede the winner in the 86th minute is quite gutting. So thats another cup competition over for us.


December Review

Our run of miserable draws ended with the 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Bayern but that means we now haven't won in the league since the 23rd of October. So by the time we next play a game we will not have had a league win for almost 3 months which is not good enough. We are now out of both competitions so our small-ish squad should be able to cope with that.

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We're still in 5th place, so not all is bad but we need to up our game after the winter break. We are also the top scorers in the league which is pleasing.





 
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January

Transfer window

In's

Only 2 incoming transfers and both youth players who wont be much help to me this season. Francisco Ramos, 16 year old DM from Porto joins for just 6k. A small gamble that might or might not pay off. Was too cheap not to sign. The second player coming in is Manchester United's young attacking midfielder Davide Petrucci. Very talented and if possible I'll be looking to give him some game time. Romario, the Right back I signed in the summer has also joined up with the squad.

Out's


Peter Perchtold leaves for Koln for 400k. Hadn't made a single appearance and Koln are more than welcome to him. Eugen Gopko has agreed to join Sandhausen on a free in the summer. Talented young striker Shawn Parker leaves on loan and can hopefully get some good minutes under his belt.

Bundesliga, Round 18

Hertha Berlin 0-0 Mainz

Same old story unfortunately, dominating possession, creating chances but not finishing them off. Dosen't help that my leading scorer in Allagui is away with Tunisia for the African Cup of Nations.

Bundesliga, Round 19
Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Mainz (Steiber, Own Goal)

Yet another draw, but this time quite pleased as Leverkusen are a very good side I see this as a point gained than 2 lost.

January Review

Quite incredibly, despite failing to win my last 10 games I have gone upto 4th in the table. If we can pull our sicks up we can at least make the top 6 this season.

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February


Bundesliga, Round 20
Dortmund 1-2 Mainz (Risse, Ujah)

What a way to end our winless of streak of over 3 months! Dortmund were all over us in the first half and were unlucky not to put the game beyond us, instead we got a lucky equaliser through the brilliant Steiber. A formation change and tactical reshuffle in the 2nd half saw a much more even game and we created more chances than them until Ujah eventually scored.

Bundesliga, Round 21
Mainz 0-0 Nurmberg

And we are back to our good 'ol draws. I lost my first choice keeper in Muller in training for 3 weeks and had to play my reserve keeper who quite frankly isnt that good. Nurmberg dominated vast stretches of the game and I am quite pleased with a point.

Bundesliga, Round 22
Mainz 1-0 Kaiserslautern (Risse)

16 shots to 1 and 66% ball possession and yet we somehow score only 1. Fortunately we kept the back door closed and escape with 3 deserved points.


February Review

Feels great to finally win a game again, so 2 wins and draw is a fantastic month for us. And despite our poor run of form earlier we are now in contention for the 4th place due to the likes of Schalke and Bremen under-performing.

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March


Bundesliga, Round 23
Werder Bremen 1-2 Mainz (Steiber, Ujah)

Game of early and late drama. Hunt opened the scoring in the very first minute after my reserve goalie messed up a routine save. After that we piled on the pressure for most of the match though we didnt create all that many chances. The equaliser finally came in the 85th minute and just when it looked being a draw Ujah scores the winner in the 92nd minute.

Bundesliga, Round 24
Mainz 0-0 Hamburg

60% ball possessiom, 17 shots to 7 and we didnt win. AGAIN.

Bundesliga, Round 25
Stuttgart 1-3 Mainz (Szalai, Steiber, Risse)

Scoreline flatters us a bit. Stuttgart had a lot of the ball without doing much with and we nicked 3 goals with 2 of them coming on the counter. Szalai finally gets of the mark this season after the horrific injury.

Bundesliga, Round 26
Mainz 4-0 Augsborg (Risse, Noveski, Szalai, Muller)

Dominated the game and made our chances count against the bottom side. Szalai gets another one.

Bundesliga, Round 27
Hannover 4-0 Mainz

An embarrassing performance if ever there was once. It could quite easily have been 8 and it probably would've still flattered us. Just didnt turn up.

Bundesliga, Round 28
Mainz 2-1 Koln (Soto, Noveski)

Huge win. Not only did we make amends for the Hannover game but Koln are our direct rivals for 4th spot so win here has given us some breathing space.


March Review

That loss against Hannover aside this was a very good month for us. We have now opened up a 6 point gap to 5th place Hannover and as long as we dont implode 4th place is our hands now. This month also saw Szalai get back into scoring form and saw 18 year old Right back Romario get some game time and he impresses a lot.

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An optimistic persom would probably point out that we are only 3 points adrift of Leverkusen in 3rd..




 
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April


Bundesliga, Round 29
Schalke 2-1 Mainz (Bungert)

The better team lost as has been the case for us for most of the season. Huntelaar grabbed the winner in the 85th minute. I would kill to have a striker like him right now.

Bundesliga, Round 30
Mainz 1-2 Gladbach (Ujah)

Gladbach were the better side for most of the game but its still disappointing to lose at home after taking the lead. We are throwing at all away now...

Bundesliga, Round 31
Freiburg 1-2 Mainz (Risse, Soto)

Delighted with the much needed win and we came from behind to do it. Result aside this was another drab performance and we were lucky to come away with all 3 points.

Bundesliga, Round 32

Mainz 1-2 Hoffenheim (Steiber)

Another poor performance from us and Hoffenheim fully deserved the 3 points. Defensively poor and just didnt get going as far as attacking goes.

Bundesliga, Round 33
Wolfsborg 1-1 Mainz (Ujah)

Yet another disappointing performance from, becoming something of a habbit now. Wolfsborg will be the disappointed team after missing several chances and got relegated as a result.


April Review

4 points from a possible 15 makes this an appalling month for us. We've gone from being 7 points clear in 4th place to 2 points adrift of Koln in 4th whilst only being 2 ahead of 6th place Hannover with a game to go. Big game coming up against Bayern Munich.






 
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May


Going into the last game of the season and the permutation with regard to qualifying for the Champions League was quite straightforward. The 2 games in question were

Hannover (6th) vs Koln (4th)
Mainz (5th) vs Bayern Munich (1st champions)

The table was:-


4. Koln 58
5. Mainz 56
6. Hannover 55

So a win for Mainz coupled with a loss for Koln would see us leapfrog them into the CL places.
However a loss for us coupled with a win for Hannover would see us drop down to 6th.

Bundesliga, Final Day

Nils Petersen gave Bayern the lead after only 9 minutes. Switching immediately onto attacking tactics we gave Bayern everything we had but just could not put the ball into the net. We were guilty of missing about 4 tap ins before half time alone as we went into the break 1-0 down.

Back in Hannover it was still 0-0 as Koln were just about hanging on despite Hannover being very dominant. So as things stand it would be status-quo and there was no change in positions.

The 2nd half began in the same way as the first, we were dominating the champions elect but from nowhere Bayern had a great 20 minute spell where they could and should've wrapped up the match. Both Robben and Petersen were denied by the post. With 20 minutes to go we thew caution to the wind by going into overload mode and lay siege onto the Bayern goal. And with 7 minutes we got our just rewards as center back and captain Noveski headed in from a Risse corner to make it 1-1.

Meanwhile it was still 0-0 in Hannover as Koln continued to survive an onslaught from the home side to remian in 4th place on the table as things stand.

With 90 minutes up the 4th official held his board up to indicate a minimum of 4 minutes of added on time which egged us on further. And then in the 92nd minute after a cleared corner fell to Risse whose deflected shot fell kindly in the path of Soto who smashed it past Neuer to had us a fantastic win.

In Hannover it was still 0-0 and the game was in the 3rd minute of stoppage time when a inswinging corner fell onto the head of Ya Konan who scored to cruelly deny Koln a champions League place.

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Mainz players celebrate with the fans after news of Ya Konan's late winner tricked in

Mainz 2-1 Bayern Munich (Noveski, Soto)
Hannover 1-0 Koln


ReviewQuite simply put an unbelievable end to the season. With 90 minutes on the clock we were heading for 5th place until 2 goals deep into stoppage for us and Hannover sent us into the Champions League. Football ****** ****!!!! Dramatic to say the least and was almost jumping for joy as the latest scores updated.

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Season Review later on today after I've calmed down...


 
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Season Review

Bundesliga

The chairman wanted a comfortable mid table standing, the media predicted 15th position and we end up in 4th so safe to say the season has been a resounding success. We were a bit lucky to 4th in truth with poor seasons for some of the stronger teams in Werder Bremen and Schalke who have both sacked their managers.

Europa League

Chairman expectation was to make the group stages which we duly did. However I was a bit disappointed not to make it out of the group and those 2 games against Sporting eventually proved to be our undoing.

German Cup

Chairman expectation was to make Round 3 which I did. We were a bit unlucky with the draw getting Stuttgart and Bremen so early in the competition. With a better draw I am quite hopeful of going further into the competition next season.

Key Players

Zoltan Steiber - 15 Goals and 10 assists
Marcel Risse - 10 Goals and 11 Assists
Anthony Ujah - 11 Goals and 2 Assists

Mainz Player of the Season is Zoltan Steiber!

Zoltan Steiber was also named as the second best midfielder of the season.

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Finances

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Stadium Expansion

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Transfers

Its been a busy time at Mainz with regards to transfers. The major priority was to get rid of players who had no future at the club and so wouldnt eat up wages. Denis Yilmaz and Maxim Choupo-Moting were at the top of the list and unfortunately I havent managed to get rid of either of them which is surprising as both of them are good enough for the top tier. Couldn't even get rid of them on loan deals.

The other aim was to lower the age of the squad without it affecting the quality of the squad. Elkin Soto and Andreas Ivanschitz were the 2 men I had in mind. Soto was really disappointing last season and if I had someone ready to take over from him he would've been dropped. Ivanschitz on the other hand played a lot but Steiber's season meant I could get rid of him if I could get hold of a good replacement.

The major signings were Zezinho, Gabriel Silva, Vincent Pajot and Paul Pogba who comes in on loan from Manchester United. Luis Guilherme, Botafoago's talented 'keeper will join the team in January and hopefully will eventually replace Muller in the nets. Adryan will join up the squad this season after we agreed a fee for him last summer. Stefan Bell returns from his successful loan at Frankfurt and is one for the future.

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Pre-Season

Mainz 3-0 FSV Frankfurt
Mainz 6-2 tigres
Mainz 1-0 Steaua
Verl 0-2 Mainz
Offenbach 0-7 Mainz
Mainz 3-0 Sandhausen


So the perfect pre-season for us. Main positives were the performances of Gabriel Silva, Romario, Zezinho and Petrucci. I feel all of them are ready to do a job for the first team. Zezinho in particular was a highlight and should prove to be a very useful player. Unfortunately the performances of Romario havent gone unnoticed with both Sevilla and Milan inquiring about him only to be politely turned down.

Expectation

A repeat of last season might be a bit too much to hope for but I am confident of at least securing a top half finish and maybe pushing for a place in Europe. Getting to the group stage might be tough as we are certain to face a stronger than us.






 
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August

Champions league Draw

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Bundesliga, Round 1
Mainz 2-1 1860 Munich (Steiber, Risse)

A very convincing performance even if the scoreline does not reflect it. Created plenty of chances and never looked like dropping points even when they reduced the deficit.

Bundesliga, Round 2
Hamburg 0-1 Mainz (Allagui)

A quite perfect away performance. We didn't create much but Hamburg created nothing. New boy Adryan played in a lovely through ball on the strike of half time for Allagui to finish of calmly.

German Cup, Round 1
Aue 0-2 Mainz (Petrucci, own goal)
Not the most convincing performance but I'll take the win. We had most of the chances but Aue had some sitters of their own. Our luck deserted us in the 2nd draw however leaving us with a tough game against Schalke at home.

Champions League Play-off, Leg 1

Atletico Madrid 1-3 Mainz (Steiber, Bungertx2)

What a performance by the lads in Spain. We not only matched them but outplayed them for large parts of the game and were unlucky not to score more. Atletico now need to win by 3 clear goals to progress. So its ours to lose from here.

Bundesliga, Round 3
Bayer Leverkusen 3-3 Mainz (Bungertx2, Allagui)

Might seem a good result initially but we were ****** 3-0 up at half time with Leverkusen hardly troubling us. To lose a 3-0 lead like that is just unacceptable and I've let the lads know that. On the plus side we played really well going forward and Adryan already looks class.

Champions League Play-off, Leg 2
Mainz 2-1 Atletico Madrid (Zezinho, own goal)

Another very good performance by us. 60% possession and 19 shots to 6 tells the story. More importantly Mainz are through to the knockout stages of the champions League.

Champions League Draw

Being seeded 4th I was expecting a mightly tough group so I wasnt too surprised when we got this

Manchester United
Napoli
Shakhtar
Mainz


There's no weak team in there and by the looks of things even getting the Europa League spot will be very tough.


August Review

A very good month for us overall. The draw against Leverksuing was annoying but making it into the group stage of the champions League more than makes up for it. We'll have to do very well even to salvage 3rd place from that group though.





 
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September

Bundesliga, Round 4
Mainz 3-0 Dortmund (Bungert, Allaguix2)

Well this was a smash and a grab and some more. Dortmund were the better team for most of the game but we took our chances on the break and they didn't. Bad news is Adryan got injured and will now miss 2 months. Bad news as Petrucci hasnt quite clicked yet.

Bundesliga, Round 5
Freiburg 1-2 (Allagui, Risse)

If the last win was fortuitous this was anything but. 22 shots away from goal is a good sign. The only concern was our inability to deal with Cisse's pace and power.

Champions league, Match Day 1
Mainz 0-0 Shakhtar

Classic game of 2 halves this. Shakhtar were all over us in the first half and should've converted their dominance into goals. Got it wrong tactically and after tweaking our formation for the 2nd half we dominated the game and should've converted one or two of our chances. Overall, fair result.

Bundesliga, Round 6
Mainz 1-1 Stuttgart (Allagui)

Very disappointing to concede what looked like a harsh penalty in the 85th minute but the result was probably fair in the end. Never looked comfortable with the lead.

Bundesliga, Round 7
Werder Bremen 0-2 Mainz (Risse, Allagui)

very good away performance especially in defense. Bremen never looked like scoring and a couple of goals from us gives us a hard earned win at a tough place.


Review

Another pleasing month and we are still undefeated going into October which is a great achievment. Our 2nd half showing against Shakhtar will give us confidence and we go into our other games knowing we can compete. The loss of Adryan through injury is a blow and Petrucci hasnt filled the void very well.

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October

Champions League, Match Day 2
Napoli 3-1 Mainz (Bell)

We actually took the lead in the game despite some severe Napoli pressure but eventually succumbed to their quality. Always looked a question of when rather than if they were going to score.

Bundesliga, Round 8
Mainz 2-0 Kaiserslautern (Allaguix2)

A routine win over a side in the relegation battle. Allagui once again coming up with the goods to continue on the his good scoring record this season.

Bundesliga, Round 9
Hertha Berlin 0-3 Mainz (Steiberx2, Ujah)

Fantastic victory away in Berlin and a very good performance to go with it. Ujah getting on the scoresheet is important as Allagui has been away with Tunisia so missed the game.

Champions League, Match Day 3

Mainz 1-4 Manchester United (Kirchoff)

Like the Napoli game we took the lead the lead in this game as well before conceding under the constant bombardment by United. That said the scoreline was a bit harsh towards us and 3-1 would've reflected the game. Results put us all but out of contention.

Bundesliga, Round 10
Mainz 1-2 Bayern Munich (Ujah)

Bayern's 26 shots tell the story better than I could. An injury time consolation adds a bit respectability to the scoreline but we didnt deserve it in the slightest. Also puts an end to our unbeaten start to the season leaving Bayern as the only team yet to have lost this season.

German Cup, Round 2
Mainz 3-1 Schalke (Ujah, Kirchoff, Zezinho)

We needed to get back on track after 2 consecutive defeats and we did just that dispatching off Schalke in impressive fashion. They had more possession but we created the better chances and deserved to go through. Our reward is another tough draw against 3rd place hamburg. Not having much luck with Cup draws.


Review


3 wins and 3 losses this month but none of the losses were unexpected. We won the games we were expected to progressed to the next round of the German Cup where we await Hamburg. We are all but out of contention to finish in the top 2 of our group in the champions League but Shakhtar not doing any better we are still in contention for the Europa League spot. Another positive was Ujah stepping up in the absence of Allagui. Sam cannot be said of Szalai however who has been very poor and if I get a good offer I might sell him in January and promote someone from the Under-19's

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November


Bundesliga, Round 11
Mainz 2-2 Frankfurt (Allaguix2)

The biggest game of the season for the fans with this being the Derby. We didnt deserve to win this but still disappointed to throw the lead away twice and conceding in the last 5 minutes of the game.

Champions league, Match Day 4
Manchester United 3-1 Mainz (Caligiuri)

Quite frankly speaking the gap in quality between the two teams was embarrassing to say the least and the scoreline flattered us. This mathematically rules us out of the knockout stages. But Shakhtar being as bad us so far, we are still very much in the hunt for that 3rd place.

Bundesliga, Round 12
Mainz 2-0 Koln (Polanski, Bell)

We were just about the better team in this and deserved to win it although it took 2 set pieces to for us to get the goals in this one.

Bundesliga, Round 13
Schalke 1-1 Mainz (Ujah)

A very dramatic game to say the least. Schalke dominated the game and when Romario was sent off in the 73rd minute it looked a question of when rather if. Instead we got the breakthrough 4 minutes from time on the counter and just as it looked like we might escape with a very lucky win Holtby equalised in the 89th minute.

Champions League, Match Day 5
Shakhtar 0-0 Mainz

With both of us level on points I faced a bit of a dilemma on whether to go for the win and secure 3rd place or go for the 0-0 and see what we could do in Germany against Napoli. In the end considering how good Shakhtar I went for the latter and we succeeded in achieving our goal.

Review

Bit of a rocky month for us. Only 1 win in all competitions and knocked out of the champions League. We still have a decent chance to progress into the last 32 of the Europa League come the final match day. Domestically we are in the 2nd place but the difference has been trimmed.

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