Mainz is one of the surprises of European football with their electric play. It seems coach Thomas Tuchel's unusual training methods are a big reason why. He claims he used a psychological trick against Hamburg last weekend.
Mainz trailed 1-0 on a goal which should not have been given. So during his half-time team talk, he reminded his players about training camp in the winter when he intentionally upset half of his team by making them walk over a mile from the training pitch to the hotel, despite the fact they had beaten the other half in a penalty shoot-out competition.
The test was designed to see how the players responded to injustices - like the one last weekend - and to help them overcome such moments. "Every single whistle against the players or every foul which is not given, or is unfairly given, releases a feeling of injustice among the players," he explained. "The point of that exercise was to see how the players reacted and give them a reference point for them to remember back to. I reminded them of this at half-time."
Credit Tuchel for being a terrific motivator - it's great coaching like this that helps make the Bundesliga is great.
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