Marked for Daniel Sauer
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Oct 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 16 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Oct 2041
Words at Mainz 05 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eric Martel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match19 Oct 2041
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Oct 2041
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mainz 05 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Oct 2041
Tobias Jäger gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The terraces21 Oct 2041
The spotlight tightens on Tobias Jäger
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Oct 2041
Union Berlin will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Mainz 05 were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad14 Oct 2041
The match ball belongs to Steven Watson, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad14 Oct 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Oct 2041
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings14 Oct 2041
Age has not caught Paul Nebel yet — 8.34
At 39 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.34 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad14 Oct 2041
Eric Martel falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match12 Oct 2041
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Mainz 05 and Union Berlin, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings14 Oct 2041
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings14 Oct 2041
Ninety minutes of Steven Watson at his very best
Marked 9.52. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mainz 05.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces7 Oct 2041
Anger at Mainz 05 spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad7 Oct 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 30 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Oct 2041
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mainz 05, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings7 Oct 2041
Age has not caught Paul Nebel yet — 8.05
At 39 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.05 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad7 Oct 2041
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eric Martel and Mainz 05 agree another 2 years.
Squad7 Oct 2041
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mainz 05 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match25 Sep 2041
Cup progress for Mainz 05
A 2‑0 win over St. Pauli, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad30 Sep 2041
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad30 Sep 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 37 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings30 Sep 2041
24 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad30 Sep 2041
Eric Martel falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad30 Sep 2041
Immanuel Hess was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match28 Sep 2041
0‑2 to Borussia Dortmund, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market30 Sep 2041
The name of Tobias Sommer keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mainz 05 say nothing, which says plenty.
Player ratings30 Sep 2041
A defender's afternoon for David Berger
Defensive actions: 12. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Sep 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 44 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings23 Sep 2041
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.35, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad23 Sep 2041
Words at Mainz 05 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eric Martel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match21 Sep 2041
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad23 Sep 2041
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mainz 05 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Sep 2041
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dru Yearwood and Mainz 05 agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings23 Sep 2041
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market23 Sep 2041
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Stephan Winter leaves Mainz 05 the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Sep 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 51 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Sep 2041
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mainz 05 know it.
Squad16 Sep 2041
The manager makes an example of Steven Watson
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad16 Sep 2041
Angelo Bico falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match14 Sep 2041
It needed Klaus Haas to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Köln, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings16 Sep 2041
Chances created: 7. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
Market16 Sep 2041
The name of Christoph Busch keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Mainz 05 say nothing, which says plenty.
Player ratings16 Sep 2041
Paul Nebel runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 7. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market16 Sep 2041
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Christoph Kraus leaves Mainz 05 the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces9 Sep 2041
Anger at Mainz 05 spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad9 Sep 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 58 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings9 Sep 2041
Two goals and a mark of 8.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market9 Sep 2041
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Mainz 05, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Sep 2041
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad9 Sep 2041
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Paul Nebel and Mainz 05 agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Sep 2041
Words at Mainz 05 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eric Martel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match7 Sep 2041
It finished 2‑1, and it was Philipp Lorenz’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mainz 05.
Match7 Sep 2041
Mainz 05 hit back inside 3 minutes
SC Freiburg held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Mainz 05 answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Aug 2041
Mainz 05 are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 12 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad2 Sep 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad2 Sep 2041
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Paul Nebel commits to Mainz 05 for another 2 years.
Match31 Aug 2041
The wait goes on for Mainz 05
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad2 Sep 2041
Eric Martel falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match31 Aug 2041
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Sep 2041
Robert Gautier was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market2 Sep 2041
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Tobias Jäger has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mainz 05.
Player ratings2 Sep 2041
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Aug 2041
Mainz 05 are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 11 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad26 Aug 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 72 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings26 Aug 2041
Up for the corner, and Angelo Bico delivers — 7.68
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Angelo Bico scored, was marked 7.68, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Match24 Aug 2041
4 matches without a win for Mainz 05
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Mainz 05 are no longer polite ones.
Squad26 Aug 2041
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ralf Hoffmann is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match24 Aug 2041
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Mainz 05 and VfB Stuttgart, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match24 Aug 2041
VfB Stuttgart left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom26 Aug 2041
Graduation day at Mainz 05
11 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad26 Aug 2041
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mainz 05 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Aug 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 79 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad19 Aug 2041
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mainz 05 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Aug 2041
Eric Martel falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces12 Aug 2041
Anger at Mainz 05 spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad12 Aug 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 86 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Aug 2041
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mainz 05 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Aug 2041
Mainz 05 interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Match5 Aug 2041
Every point is an argument now for Mainz 05
Position 16 and 26 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad5 Aug 2041
A fracture rules Daniel Sauer out for 93 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mainz 05 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Aug 2041
Marin Grbic has been here 10 seasons
37 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Squad5 Aug 2041
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Angelo Bico commits to Mainz 05 for another 2 years.
Squad5 Aug 2041
Robert Gautier was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.