The Mainz 05 Chronicle
Squad31 Aug 2026
Robin Zentner keeps Mainz 05 in it on his own
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market31 Aug 2026
Eyes on Phillip Tietz again
The phone has started ringing about Phillip Tietz again, and this time the name on the line is Werder Bremen. Mainz 05 are listening politely and promising nothing.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Eric Martel pops up at the right end — 7.69
7.69, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Mainz 05
Anthony Caci 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Phillip Tietz 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Benedict Hollerbach was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.56. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Match29 Aug 2026
Benedict Hollerbach answers VfB Stuttgart immediately
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Benedict Hollerbach had Mainz 05 level again within 3 minutes, and VfB Stuttgart never got to play with a lead at all.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Phillip Tietz could have had three
9 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Ransford Königsdörffer
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
In brief
- Match Honours even between Mainz 05 and VfB Stuttgart
- Squad 5 new faces, and Mainz 05 are still learning each other
- Market The Nadiem Amiri question follows Mainz 05 around