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In an interview set to be published in the Monday print edition of Kicker, Mainz 05 head coach Urs Fischer has spoken on how he managed to turn a dead last Bundesliga side into a European contender. Fischer’s Mainz are not only still alive as a quarterfinalist in the Conference League, but (incredibly enough) might even qualify for Europe next year via the Bundesliga table.
Taking over for sacked Bo Henriksen in early December, Fischer inherited a club dead last in the Bundesliga table on six points. After helping the team draw both Bayern Munich and St. Pauli in the league to enter the winter break on eight points, Fischer’s Rheinhessen have now picked up 25 points in the 2026 calendar year. Incredibly, Mainz have moved halfway up the table into 9th place.
On 33 points with six matchdays remaining, Mainz appear effectively safe from Bundesliga relegation. In his Kicker interview, the 60-year-old nevertheless didn’t wish to take the same line as the man coaching his former Bundesliga club Union Berlin. Steffen Baumgart believes Union will probably avoid the drop via their 32 points collected through 28 matchdays.
One point more isn’t good enough for Fischer. It should still be noted that the interview took place before Mainz upset Champions League contenders Hoffenheim this weekend. Things do look different now that Mainz have beaten another top opponent. Fischer’s team have now taken points off Bayern, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Hoffenheim since his arrival.
Urs Fischer insists Mainz 05 aren’t safe
“I don’t see [my time here] as a success just yet,” Fischer said. “In terms of results, success may have arrived, but we’re still fighting for survival. If Kicker does a rundown of the teams in the relegation battle and Mainz isn’t on the list, I can’t understand that. That doesn’t match our mindset, even if the situation has improved. We’re still in the relegation battle, and nothing has been achieved yet.
“It sounds cliched, but one has to take it one match at a time,” Fischer continued. “We’re fighting to survive in the league and, at the same time, switching gears to try and accomplish something on the international stage. We ourselves remain clear about the situation while distancing ourselves from the outside assessments.”
Fischer on his first matches in charge
“It was primarily about tweaking the little things and achieving a certain stability through organization on the field,” Fischer noted. “We managed that quite well in the 1-1 draw against Lech Poznan. Then we had to face Bayern. Getting a 2-2 draw there is probably worth more than a win elsewhere. After that, we qualified directly for the Conference League round of 16 with a 2-0 win over Samsunspor.
“There was a certain sense of confidence,” Fischer continued. “No meeting and no pep talk helps you as much as results do. Right before the winter break, we played to a 0-0 draw against St. Pauli. It gave us a certain amount of confidence heading into the short Christmas break. It’s important to go into the short break on a positive note. Overall, we tried not to change too much.“
Fischer on his coaching style and ‘modern football’
“Compactness and organization are very important in football these days,” Fsicher said. “The old-school, all-out style of football is practically gone. Everyone plays in some way compactly and with a certain level of organization. The so-called “small” teams of the past no longer exist. They can really make things difficult for you by being compactly organized. Compactness is a prerequisite for success.
“These days, you have a lot more conversations,” Fischer continued. “That didn’t exist at all in my playing days. The support staff around the coach has changed quite a bit. Back then, there was an assistant, maybe a goalkeeper coach and a fitness coach. Today, the coach has three analysts, three assistant coaches, three athletic trainers, physios, a team manager, and so on.
“You find specialists in every area, and you have to let them do their thing because that’s their area of expertise,” Fischer went on to point out, also emphasizing: “Data is an additional tool. Period. It’s still about my own perception of how I see a player. Does he have qualities or not? Has he already proven them or not? Data can be helpful, but you shouldn’t let yourself be guided solely by data.“
