Mainz: A fresh face on the Bundesliga top order
Stadion am Bruchweg heard the final whistle blow on Saturday afternoon and the happy yet surprised fans cheered for what is a highly unlikely and an impossible record. Mainz just won seven games out of 7 games in the Bundesliga this season and equalled their
record for the best ever league start for any German team.
Mainz next play against Hamburg at home and would now be looking to break this record. It is a great achievement and befits any Hollywood script to see how far the side has come after only its’ second season in the top division.
The mastermind and architect behind this fairytale run is Thomas Tuchel, manager of Mainz. The German previously had spells with youth teams at Augsburg, Stuttgart and Mainz. Tuchel was promoted as the manager of Mainz after the teams’ promotion in 2009-09
and was handed the task to keep the outfit in Bundesliga.
However the 37-year-old exceeded expectations as Mainz finished the 2008-09 season in 9th place but the achievements and performances of Mainz this season have caught everyone’s eye.
Thomas Tuchel is already being compared to a young Jose Mourinho as he got 3 points at Wolfsburg (Steve McLaren’s team), Werder Bremen and even more surprisingly, a win at Bayern Munich, the current league champions and then racked up home wins against Stuttgart
and Hoffenheim and dispelled any notions or suggestions that the excellent start to this campaign was because they only had relegation stricken teams.
His performances and dealings in the transfer window ignited the club and took Mainz to the next level, something nobody expected to come so soon.
First he bought 22-year-old young Hungarian striker, Adam Szalai for only €1 million from Real Madrid. The youngster seems to be a great transfer bargain after scoring 3 goals already so far this season.
Then he brought Lewis Holtby on loan from Schalke and the youngsters’ performances prompted German national coach Joachim Low to say that Holtby might be given a call up when Germany play Sweden.
Andre Schurrle, the 19-year-old product of Mainz academy has also been yet another revelation and is also under Joachim Lowe’s radar for a national team call-up. It’s yet to be seen though if Mainz will carry on with such a great start to the season so far
but from 350-1, their title odds have gone down to 9-1 with many bookmakers.
Tuchel however, is still keeping his feet on the ground and is playing down his side’s chances to do the unbelievable. His main concentration right now seems to be establishing Mainz in the Bundesliga first before even dreaming of contending for silverware
as it should.
It is always refreshing to see new and fresh faces on top of any league in the world and around the title contention picture but practically thinking, it is more important to get established in the league first and get a constant flow of money at the club
so that ‘One Hit Wonders’ theory doesn’t come along.
Whether Mainz finishes in the top half or go on to qualify for the Champions League, Thomas Tuchel is already building his reputation as a top class manager in the Bundesliga and perhaps after sometime, in Europe.
It is very important for the Mainz fans to keep their feet on the ground as well because these are still early days and Mainz is a team made up of relatively young players who are still learning the game in spite of having great potential in them.
Right now, it is good to know that after a long time, Bundesliga has found a manager who has a great knack of picking up talent from a club where it’s not appreciated. Let’s see how far the fairytale continues for the German club.
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