When looking for a new coach, Mainz 05 found what they were looking for in Zurich. Bo Henriksen takes over Rheinhessen.
The Dane Bo Henriksen should lead Mainz 05 to stay in the league. The 49-year-old Dane comes from Swiss Super League team FC Zurich to the penultimate Bundesliga table, who parted ways with Jan Siewert on Monday after eleven winless games in a row. Mainz 05 only have twelve points so far. This means that the Rheinhessen are four points behind the relegation place and nine points behind Union Berlin in 15th place.
With Henriksen, the 05ers are relying on an external solution instead of installing Benjamin Hoffmann as head coach. The 44-year-old won the German championship with the Mainz U19 last year. Hoffmann has been coaching the Mainz U23s since January.
05ers need a sense of optimism
Henriksen, who has signed a contract until 2026, wants to give the 05 team their belief in their own strength again. “They are footballers. Normally they love playing football. At the moment they don’t love it because they are scared,” said Henriksen during his introduction. The new coach wants to create an atmosphere of optimism before the game against FC Augsburg.
The Dane focuses heavily on topics such as motivation and belief in one’s own strengths. In any case, he doesn’t want to back down and wall up the points in the fight against relegation. “I want to play power football. But the most important thing is to win,” said Henriksen, who spoke with great enthusiasm about his new task.
Klopp’s heirs – the coaches of Mainz 05
Mainz 05 is getting an emotional, open and opinionated coach
According to Heidel, Henriksen is “a very emotional, open and opinionated character who radiates incredibly positive energy.” Henriksen “succeeded repeatedly in his career and under very different conditions […]”To form teams and play football that is equally pragmatic, but also courageous and ultimately successful”.
In his home country, Henriksen is sometimes compared to 05 club legend Jürgen Klopp due to his impulsive nature. “I don’t know him personally,” the Dane said of Klopp. “But it seems like all of his players love him.” The coach relies on an emotional connection with the team. This becomes clear from his first appointment as 05 coach.
Henriksen comes to Mainz 05 from Zurich
Henriksen began his career in 2006 with the Danish third division club Brønshøj Boldklub, with whom he was promoted to the Danish second division in 2010. Four years later he moved to second division club AC Horsens and led the team from the Danish east coast to the Superliga in 2016. After six years in Horsens, Henriksen joined FC Midtjylland for a year and became Danish runner-up and cup winner with the team in 2022.
He most recently coached FC Zurich, which is currently in third place in the Swiss league. However, Henriksen had already announced a few days ago that he wanted to leave the club in the summer. It has been clear since Tuesday: Henriksen is already breaking new ground.