Mainz in the Doldrums
November 9, 2006
"This defeat just feels wretched and dirty," said Klopp immediately after his team lost to 2-1 at home to Wolfsburg on Tuesday. The game summed up the likeable Western German club's whole season. Mainz had the majority of possession, but it was their opponents who made more of their opportunities.
When Mainz were promoted in 2004, most experts predicted they would go straight back down to the second division. Klopp defied the odds, keeping the underdogs in the first division with an aggressive brand of attacking soccer that was both entertaining and successful.
Klopp himself, who is as excitable as any fan on the sidelines, is arguably the league's most popular coach. But ten winless games on the trot have left Mainz in the relegation zone and given Klopp more reason to tear at his hair than to pump his fists.
"At the moment it's a very difficult test," Klopp said after the disappointment against Wolfsburg. "But we'll get through it. I take heart from the fact that we kept trying for 90 minutes. The ball just didn't want to go in."
Anemic attack
That, in a nutshell, is Mainz's problem. The team has scored only 10 goals this season, exactly half of its tally at this point in the 2004 campaign, Mainz's first in the top flight.
This shortcoming is understandable considering that Mainz lost all three of its top strikers last year in the off-season. Andreas Thurk and Benjamin Auer signed with Frankfurt and Bochum respectively, and Mohamed Zidan, who was on loan from Bremen, was recalled to the current league leaders.
That trio scored 30 goals for Klopp last season -- a total their replacements haven't even begun to match. Strikers Mimoun Azaouagh and Imre Szabics have only two goals apiece, far too few for a team whose approach to the game is predicated on its forwards.
Bremen salvation?
Mainz management has made little secret of the fact they'd like to bring back Zidan, who has seen little playing time at Bremen. But thus far, Werder has refused to let the striker go.
Mainz fans can take comfort in the fact that Klopp saved the club in a tooth-and-nails relegation battle last season. Whether he can repeat that feat this time around may depend on decisions made not in Mainz, but in Bremen.