Thomas Tuchel
Mainz 05
### Mainz 05

Tuchel's time as the coach of Augsburg II impressed many top\-level German clubs, and he went on to be appointed by [Bundesliga](/wiki/Bundesliga "Bundesliga") club [Mainz 05](/wiki/1._FSV_Mainz_05 "1. FSV Mainz 05") in 2009, replacing [Jorn Andersen](/wiki/Jorn_Andersen "Jorn Andersen"). Having signed an initial two\-year contract, he was promoted into the role after acting as a youth coach at Mainz for the previous 12 months, during which he had won the U\-19 Bundesliga. According to club executive [Christian Heidel](/wiki/Christian_Heidel "Christian Heidel"), Tuchel's perfectionism, going as far as to analyze pitch maintenance prior to a game against [Olympiacos](/wiki/Olympiacos_F.C. "Olympiacos F.C."), contributed to his eventual appointment.

[thumb\|upright\|Tuchel at [Mainz 05](/wiki/1._FSV_Mainz_05 "1. FSV Mainz 05") in 2014](/wiki/File:ThomasTuchel2014_%28cropped%29.jpg "ThomasTuchel2014 (cropped).jpg")

The composition of the squad was seen in Tuchel's tactical approach at Mainz, as despite possessing technically inferior players, he instructed them to utilize long distribution and focus on pressing off the ball, typically overloading one portion of the opposition half in order to create less space to generate counter\-attacking opportunities, as relentless high\-pressure would create chances by dispossessing or forcing errors from the opposition. An initial disciplinarian, Tuchel reportedly forbade his players to leave the canteen while others were still eating, deeming it ill\-mannered. Tuchel's tactics based on pressing and positional play led Mainz to a ninth\-placed finish in [his first season as manager](/wiki/2009%E2%80%9310_Bundesliga "2009–10 Bundesliga").

In the [following campaign](/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Bundesliga "2010–11 Bundesliga"), Tuchel's Mainz enjoyed a perfect start to the season, winning seven of their first seven games, including an away victory over [Bayern Munich](/wiki/FC_Bayern_Munich "FC Bayern Munich"). This coincided with Tuchel's employment of [René Marić](/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Mari%C4%87 "René Marić") and Martin Rafelt, founders of the tactics blog *Spielverlagerung*, to compile occasional scouting reports on Mainz's opponents. Tuchel eventually led the team to a fifth\-placed finish as the club improved by 11 points to qualify for the [third\-qualifying round](/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_UEFA_Europa_League%23Third_qualifying_round "2011–12 UEFA Europa League#Third qualifying round") of the [2011–12 UEFA Europa League](/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_UEFA_Europa_League "2011–12 UEFA Europa League").[Match Report](http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/dfbpokal/spielrunde/dfb-pokal/2012-13/4/1877176/spielverlauf_1-fsv-mainz-05-30_sc-freiburg-7.html)   DFB\-Pokal 2012–13, accessed: 27 February 2013 Only four Bundesliga sides scored more goals than Mainz in the 2010–11 campaign, who had scored 52 goals in total. Of those goals, fifteen had been scored by rising star [André Schürrle](/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Sch%C3%BCrrle "André Schürrle"), and ten by [Sami Allagui](/wiki/Sami_Allagui "Sami Allagui"), who was a key part of Tuchel's pressing machine.

Mainz fell to a thirteenth\-placed finish the [following season](/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_1._FSV_Mainz_05_season "2011–12 1. FSV Mainz 05 season"), having notably lost Schürrle to [Bayer Leverkusen](/wiki/Bayer_04_Leverkusen "Bayer 04 Leverkusen") in the summer. Allagui's lack of form added to Mainz's issues in attack, although new signing [Eric Maxim Choupo\-Moting](/wiki/Eric_Maxim_Choupo-Moting "Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting") was able to score ten goals, and midfielder [Julian Baumgartlinger](/wiki/Julian_Baumgartlinger "Julian Baumgartlinger")'s organization and discipline helped the team and "marked him out" as a future club [captain](/wiki/Captain_%28association_football%29 "Captain (association football)"). Mainz suffered an early exit in the Europa League, and ended the season with 39 points, the lowest total during Tuchel's spell at the club. In the [2012–13 season](/wiki/2012%E2%80%9313_1._FSV_Mainz_05_season "2012–13 1. FSV Mainz 05 season"), Mainz would go on to repeat their thirteenth\-placed finish from the season prior. Despite a poor start and end to the season, there were significantly fewer struggles than in the previous campaign, and the team finished six points below seventh place. [Ádám Szalai](/wiki/%C3%81d%C3%A1m_Szalai "Ádám Szalai"), who netted thirteen times, solved the goal\-scoring issues up front, while [Nicolai Müller](/wiki/Nicolai_M%C3%BCller "Nicolai Müller") and [Andreas Ivanschitz](/wiki/Andreas_Ivanschitz "Andreas Ivanschitz") scored eight and seven goals respectively. Mainz was knocked out in the quarter\-finals of the [DFB\-Pokal](/wiki/DFB-Pokal "DFB-Pokal"). In what would turn out to be his [final season](/wiki/2013%E2%80%9314_1._FSV_Mainz_05_season "2013–14 1. FSV Mainz 05 season") with the club, Tuchel led Mainz to a seventh\-place finish, qualifying for the group stages of the [2014–15 UEFA Europa League](/wiki/2014%E2%80%9315_UEFA_Europa_League "2014–15 UEFA Europa League"). At the beginning of the season, he had brought in Japanese forward [Shinji Okazaki](/wiki/Shinji_Okazaki "Shinji Okazaki"). Deployed in a central striking role, he went on to have a prolific season, scoring 15 goals in the Bundesliga, a record for a Japanese player.

Despite approaches by [Schalke 04](/wiki/FC_Schalke_04 "FC Schalke 04") and Bayer Leverkusen for his services in the latter\-half of the 2013–14 season, Tuchel remained at Mainz until the end of the campaign. However, in May 2014, he asked to be released from his contract, later stating that he "couldn't see how \[the team] could reinvent \[itself] once more the coming summer." Tuchel explained that he had already made the decision to leave Mainz at the end of the season in autumn of 2013\. Mainz initially refused to release him from his contract, but on 11 May 2014, he was allowed to step down. Tuchel concluded his Mainz career with a record of 72 wins, 46 draws, and 64 losses, from 182 games, with a win percentage of 39\.56%; only the big four German clubs — [Bayern Munich](/wiki/Bayern_Munich "Bayern Munich"), [Schalke 04](/wiki/Schalke_04 "Schalke 04"), [Borussia Dortmund](/wiki/Borussia_Dortmund "Borussia Dortmund") and [Bayer Leverkusen](/wiki/Bayer_Leverkusen "Bayer Leverkusen") — amassed more league points than him, and he achieved a better points record at Mainz than [Jürgen Klopp](/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Klopp "Jürgen Klopp").


What strategies can Mainz use to improve their goal-scoring efficiency?