Football Season Guide

Last season proved to be a taxing one for Mainz fans as their team flirted with relegation and European qualification before ultimately settling for midtable obscurity. After taking over from Kasper Hjulmand midway through the season, Martin Schmidt looked to be leading his side to a second successive Europa League appearance, only to see the dream dashed by a dip in form near the end. However that could be a blessing in disguise and could allow Schmidt more time to improve the cohesion of the team. The new season promises to be another difficult one for Mainz who have seen two of their key players depart the club during the summer. Shinji Okazaki was the top scorer for Mainz in each of the two seasons that he was at the club but has since moved on to English side Leicester City while midfield lynchpin Johannes Geis has been sold to Schalke. Florian Niederlechner enjoyed a good season with Heidenheim in 2.Bundesliga, scoring 15 goals in the process, but it remains to be seen whether he has enough quality against Bundesliga defense. Yoshinori Muto has been signed to boost Mainz's Japanese contingent but Fabian Frei will be the man to watch for Mainz, with the Swiss midfielder expected to replace Geis in the starting lineup alongside Julian Baumgartlinger. While Schmidt has looked to improve the overall quality of his side, majority of his signings have never played in the Bundesliga. Okazaki and Geis' departure have weakened the team and Schmidt will be looking to ensure that his side can manage to cope without the Japanese striker's goals and Geis' dangerous deliveries from set pieces. With Mainz facing a fairly difficult set of opening fixtures that sees them play Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim, Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayern Munchen in their first seven games, their prospects this season will be largely dependent on how quickly the new signings will settle down and gel with the team.