Svensson praises team for performing in ad-hoc tactics against Bremen
An ad-hoc defensive back-three put together by FSV Mainz 05 trainer Bo Svensson actually kept a clean sheet on Saturday against one of the Bundesliga's best-scoring sides.
After the 2-0 win against Bremen, the FSV gaffer praised Dominik Kohr for leading his defensive-line on short notice. Leandro Barreiro and Anton Stach also did well from a six-slot that neither had worked much in this season.
Already without Maxim Leitsch and captain Silvan Widmer, Mainz head-coach Bo Svensson had a stressful week trying to put together defensive ranks. The Rheinhessen gaffer already had Edimilson Fernandes operating at an unnatural position in his back-three. When Stefan Bell had to be scratched with a cold on late notice, Svensson was surely ready to pull his hair out.
After the 2-0 win against Bremen, the FSV gaffer praised Dominik Kohr for leading his defensive-line on short notice. Leandro Barreiro and Anton Stach also did well from a six-slot that neither had worked much in this season.
Bundesliga journeyman Dominik "Hard" Kohr had to step in to lead the back-three against a team that had already netted 20 league goals this season. There would nevertheless be no goals from SV Werder Bremen on this day. Mainz earned a clean-sheet against German football's top attacking duo of Niclas Füllkrug and Marvin Ducksch.
"After the week we've just been through, to play here against "the team of the moment" with the crowd behind us," Svensson reflected in his post-match interview with Sky Germany after the win, "no matter who was on the pitch in which position - that's definitely Mainz."
"Even before scoring the 1-0, we were excellent at winning balls in midfield," Svensson continued with a gush, "We wanted to be very aggressive and make some incursions. We succeeded in doing so and Marcus [Ingvartsen] did a great job with that [opening] goal."
Svensson called his team's performance in the second half "intelligent" and remarked that it "certainly wasn't easy" to keep Bremen (the Bundesliga's current "comeback kings) at bay. Kohr played an important role in ensuring that Ole Werner's usual subs never came anywhere close.
"I played for Augsburg in Dortmund once in central defense," Kohr himself remarked in his post-match interview, "and have worked on it some with Bo in training. I think it worked out quite well. I can run down a lot of balls with my speed and I like to jump in. The six remains my preferred position, though."
Both Svensson and Kohr praised many other actors on the squad for what was a complete team performance. Keeper and acting captain Robin Zentner pulled off some fine saves. Leandro Barreiro and Anton Stach put through some excellent balls from their double-six slot, where neither had been playing much this year.
"Everyone fit into their position seamlessly," an elated Stach noted in his post-match interview, "We've have seen that we have options."