Tactical training followed by media duty

The second phase of pre-season preparation has begun. After a one-week break, head coach Bo Svensson was able to welcome the whole squad and a number of youth team players to the WOLFGANG FRANK CAMPUS at Bruchweg on Monday morning.

Not only is the focus of training different to the first phase, which focused more on physical elements, but the group of players also has a different look. The 25 outfield players and three goalkeepers who kicked off the new week of training on Monday included internationals Aymen Barkok (completing his first session as a Mainz player), Leandro Barreiro, Jonny Burkardt, Anton Stach and Silvan Widmer, who each returned from their summer break for the first time. Anderson Lucoqui, whose transfer to Hannover 96 had fallen through and had been training with the U23s, also returned to the first-team group. Jae-sung Lee also returned to the pitch for the first time since suffering an injury in the final game of the season.

Jonny celebrates 22nd birthday

This training day started with a song for birthday boy Jonny Burkardt in front of about 100 fans at the training ground. Karim Onisiwo did not make his return due to a light illness, while Niklas Tauer also missed training after testing positive for coronavirus. The rest of the team got to work on tactical drills, as Svensson had stated before the week-long break and after the 4-0 win over Wormatia Worms in Guntersblum.

“When we were organising our pre-season, we asked ourselves, ‘when is it most worth doing what?’” said Svensson after the game. “After the short break, seven players came back who are important for our team and bring us the quality that we need. After that, we’ll take the next step and introduce a lot of drills and tactical elements to our training camp sessions. Then we’ll work on improving them.”

Some of Svensson’s plans were evident in his first session with a full squad. After the morning session, there was another task on the schedule for the players. Monday was the organised Media Day, when the official team picture is taken in the ground and the players take part in photo shoots and video recordings for the DFL.

Eight days in Chiemgau and two friendlies

The team will complete their next public training session at Bruchweg on Tuesday morning (10:00 CEST). Afterwards, Svensson will announce the squad for the week-long training camp in Grassau in Chiemgau. The camp will begin on Wednesday and include two friendly matches: Friday 15th July (kick-off 20:15 CEST) against Besiktas Istanbul and Monday 18th July (kick-off 16:00 CEST) against Newcastle United. Both matches will be played at the Grenzlandstadion in Kufstein (Fischergries 34, 6330 Kufstein, Austria).