Mainz get their heads together

Bitter irony
As 2006 turned into 2007, few in German football doubted that Mainz coach Jürgen Klopp was a top candidate for the sack once the season resumed. A television commercial in which the coach intoned the words "I am standing by the pitch having a relaxed afternoon and in the end the results are fine", had long since taken on a bitterly ironic tone as his side nosedived.

Dizzy heights
However, a break in Spain, some key signings and a little help from newly-employed team psychologists have worked wonders for the one-time relegation favourites. With ten points from four matches since the winter break, Klopp's no-hopers have risen to the dizzy heights of 14th place, and are suddenly looking like a very tidy side.

Pivotal result
The 4-1 demolition of FC Energie Cottbus last weekend saw little evidence of the problems that had dogged Mainz's autumn campaign - a leaky defence and misfiring forward line. And if Klopp's decision to bring psychological coaches Steffen Thorhold and Albrecht Henze to their winter training camp in Spain's Costa Ballena seemed eccentric, it now looks a masterstroke.

Creative visualisation
Jürgen Klinsmann experimented with sports psychologists in 2006, and Klopp was convinced enough by the effectiveness of such tactics with the Germany squad that he hired Thorhold and Henze to try their "win power" techniques on his team. "Our talks entail us asking questions 80 per cent of the time, employing a lot of visualisation and getting the players to visualise things," said Henze.

Wache reinvigorated
It sounds complicated, but it has certainly benefited goalkeeper Dimo Wache, who had lost his first-team spot to Stefan Wetklo in the autumn. Wache says a combination of inspiring psychological literature and "a good glass of red wine" restored his faith, allowing him to reclaim his place and go three matches without conceding after the recess.

New signings
While the psychologists are available to speak to players from Wednesday to Friday each week, there is more to Mainz's revival than mind games. During the winter, sporting manager Christian Heidel accepted that the summer loss of Michael Thurk and Antonio da Silva had seriously undermined his side and endeavoured to bolster the squad with new signings.

Zidan coup
Accordingly, Romanian Marius Niculae, Dane Leon Andreasen and Colombian Elkin Soto have arrived. However, the big coup came when they secured the return of Mohamed Zidan from Werder Bremen. The Egyptian striker scored nine goals during a loan spell with Mainz in 2005/06, but after finding no way into the senior fold at Bremen, he was delighted to ink a permanent deal with Mainz.

'Mission probable'
The defeat of Cottbus proved to be Zidan's one-man show. The 25-year-old scored three times, and was hugged like a son by the delighted Klopp after each goal. During the autumn, the Mainz PR department had attempted to gee up supporters for the relegation fight with the slogan "Mission Possible". For possible, you can now read probable. Truly the power of the mind is a fearsome thing.