The Impact of Nadiem Amiri on Mainz 05’s Set Piece Success

15 of Mainz 05’s 39 goals this season were scored from set pieces. Nadiem Amiri has been the regular set piece taker since the end of January. He set up seven goals.

In a frenzy of joy: Nadiem Amiri (right) and Silvan Widmer. IMAGO/regios24

Five free kicks and two corners from Nadiem Amiri were converted into goals, meaning he has been involved in 70 percent of Mainz’s ten set-piece goals since the winter break. Jonathan Burkardt (from a penalty), Brajan Gruda (from a free kick) and Silvan Widmer (from a throw-in) each scored one. In the first half of the year, set-piece goals came from corners from Gruda, Edimilson Fernandes and Marco Richter (once each) and from two free kicks from Fernandes. Since Aaron left last summer, Mainz has been lacking a proven set-piece taker.

The club landed this and much more by signing Amiri. The former reserve player from Bayer Leverkusen was a real hit, organized the FSV game from the start and led the team, together with the new coach, to staying in the league. A few days after the 16th Bundesliga season in a row was perfect, Amiri extended his contract early by two more years until 2028.

Captain Widmer had also explicitly advocated this. “I spoke to him after the last game of the season and tried to tell him again how important he could be for us if he committed himself to the club for the long term. He assured me that he would get in touch with me as soon as there was any news. The day before the signing, I heard from him that it would come to that, and I was incredibly happy about that. First and foremost for him personally, because I see how comfortable he feels with us and how he has performed week after week. For the club, I am very happy that we have such a great player, it is also a sign that great work is being done here. Overall, it is a great story.”

Bungert’s future role is still open

With a standard goal rate of 38.5 percent, Mainz has been one of the top 3 in the league since the winter break. Only Union Berlin (43.8 percent) and VfL Bochum (45.8) are more successful. Niko Bungert (37) has been responsible for FSV’s standards since the beginning of the year. Bungert and Sören Hartung (40) were promoted to assistants in the team led by then head coach Jan Siewert. After the switch to Bo Henriksen, Michael Silberbauer (42) joined as another assistant coach.

Henriksen, sports director Christian Heidel and sports director Martin Schmidt made it clear after the team stayed in the league that nothing would change in the overall constellation. Silberbauer and Hartung still have current contracts, and a new contract is to be negotiated with Bungert. However, the ex-professional recently successfully completed the “Management in Professional Football” certificate course run by the DFL and DFB. He also acted as a club ambassador until January. Talks about his future role are ongoing.

Michael Ebert, Steffen Geyer

2024-05-30 10:51:00
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