Bundesliga
Dane Henriksen is supposed to save FSV Mainz 05 from relegation
The Dane Bo Henriksen is the new coach of FSV Mainz 05. Photo
© Luis Vieira/AP/dpa
Once again a Dane is supposed to help Mainz 05 in an emergency. The penultimate Bundesliga table signs Bo Henriksen in the relegation battle.
FSV Mainz 05 is once again relying on a Dane to rescue them in dire relegation trouble. The penultimate team has hired Bo Henriksen as their new coach. With his Danish compatriot Bo Svensson, the Rheinhessen had already managed to stay in the league in 2021 despite a hopeless situation.
The 49-year-old Henriksen was with the Swiss first division club until last weekend FC Zurich signed a contract until 2026, as the Mainz team announced. His mission to stay in the league begins on Saturday (3:30 p.m./Sky) with the home game against FC Augsburg.
“We have looked intensively at our current situation and analyzed which type of coach with which footballing approach suits us in this difficult sporting situation,” said Mainz sports director Christian Heidel. Henriksen is a coach “who has succeeded in forming teams repeatedly in his career and under very different conditions.”
Heidel added that he played “pragmatic but also courageous and ultimately successful football.” “In addition, Bo Henriksen is a very emotional, open and opinionated character who radiates incredibly positive energy and will fit in very well with Mainz 05.” The Rhine-Hesse people look more often to Northern Europe: Before Svensson and Henriksen, the Dane Kasper Hjulmand and the Norwegian Jörg Anderson had already worked at FSV.
Good job in Zurich
The new hope takes over from Jan Siewert, who was released on Rose Monday after just three months in office after eleven games without a win. After winning his first game as Mainz coach at RB Leipzig, there was no further success. However, he had inherited a difficult inheritance from Svensson. After three points from nine Bundesliga games, 18th place in the table and the round of 16 exit in the DFB Cup, his predecessor resigned.
In October 2022, the new Mainz coach took over FC Zurich in last place in the Swiss Super League and secured relegation. The traditional Swiss club is currently third in the table. Last week, Henriksen announced that he would not be extending his contract in Zurich, which expires at the end of the season. “Of course we regret this development, but we understand that Bo Henriksen would like to seize the opportunity to work in the Bundesliga,” FC Zurich said in a statement.
Sand involved behind the scenes?
“Bo Henriksen had a good coaching job, but this is a different category. This is a huge job,” commented football expert for the Danish television station TV 2 Sport, Morten Bruun, on the move. “But it is also a very, very difficult mission that has been given to him.” However, with his charismatic nature, Henriksen is someone who can generate new energy. “Mainz needs something different than what was before. They need energy and a lot of testosterone.”
The Danish “Ekstra Bladet” wrote that ex-Schalke player Ebbe Sand was involved with his excellent contacts behind the scenes. The newspaper apparently meant Sand’s good relationship with Heidel. Sand and Henriksen were in Mainz on Monday to clarify the final details. “If anyone can save Mainz from relegation, it is Bo,” Sand was quoted as saying by the paper.