On Friday night in Berlin, the club couldn’t calm them down after a few weeks of chaos in Mainz. Union Berlin’s new head coach Jan-Moritz Lichte has a difficult job on his side, but before being judged, he needs some time.
To correct any mistakes Lichte had only four training sessions before Berlin, stepping in to replace Achim Beierlorzer, who on Monday was stripped of his duties as head coach after a mishandled situation that ended in a player strike, Lichte had only four training sessions before Berlin to correct any mistakes. It was never going to suffice.
Mainz looked as terrible as they did in Stuttgart’s hammering. Misplaced passes and focus lapses were an all too common problem, and it was troubling about the space Max Kruse and Marcus Ingvartsen had to score. The success of Mainz told a troubling tale of their week.
Surely, the 40-year-old won’t want to take his team as they were in Berlin on Friday night. Marvin Friedrich’s control over a static defense in a header was poor, but it was worse to allow Union’s latest loan signing Joel Pohjanpalo to stab home 35 seconds after coming on.
After the week that Mainz had it would have been unrealistic to demand anything more in such a short period.
When Mainz host Leverkusen and the international break is over, after the transfer window shuts, that is when first impressions can be made.
- FC Union Berlin – 1. FSV Mainz 05 4–0
Goals: Kruse 13, Ingvartsen 49, Friedrich 63, Pohjanpalo 64.
Yellow cards: Trimmel 32 – Mateta 53, Latza 59, Boetius 67, St. Juste 77.
