Svensson acknowleges difficulty in squad selection: "It was tough to sit some of the lads on the bench."
Following a crucial win at home, FSV Mainz 05 trainer Bo Svensson wasn't in much of a mood to give himself too much credit on Saturday.
| Bo Svensson. | Photo: GEPA Pictures/Wolfgang Jannach |
"I'd be pretty blind if I didn't notice the quality we have in training," the Danish head-coach said, shaking his head when a Sky reporter asked if the super-subs constituted some sort of master-plan, "It was tough to sit some of the lads down on the bench. Maybe some of them are a little mad at their coach, but not at the team. The one's that came on helped out and that's a good thing."
Svensson, who has been rolling out an interesting 3-4-3 for the last seven rounds, seemingly failed to directly address last week's debacle at Schalke by leaving two of his more more potent attackers on the bench this week. Given that the team already finds itself without captain Danny Latza and offensive spark-plug Karim Onisiwo, the initial XI raised some eyebrows.
Veteran Adam Szalai started up front for the sixth consecutive match. Jonathan Burkhardt also maintained his place beside him. In one significant change, Jean-Paul Boetius took over for Leandro Barreiro at the anchoring midfield position.