When Bo Henriksen came to Mainz last year, they were nine points of safety with 13 games of the remaining Bundesliga season. Not only did he maintain them, but now he has chased them Champions League football in his first full season that was in charge.
It is an extraordinary story, but then Henriksen is an extraordinary man. The 50-year-old Dane, once a striker in the lower competitions of English football with Kidderminster Harriers and Bristol Rovers, is one of his best players and a genius of his boss.
What is unmistakable is that he does something special at Mainz. This club is famous because it is coached by Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel, but neither ended in the top four. Now is a team that rinses away last season, only two points discount with four games to play.
How did Henriksen do it?
“By taking away the fear,” he says Sky Sports. “I had to take that away immediately and create a culture in which people dared to be themselves, dared to make mistakes.
“And it was so bad at the time, they would listen to everyone, even a long -haired Dane.”
Maybe. But Henriksen supported his words with actions. In his second game that was in charge, Mainz held undefeated leaders Bayer Leverkusen halfway through the second half when goalkeeper Robin Zentner rumbled in the net.
“I have heard so many coaches talk about faith and trust and then a second later someone makes a mistake and they are on television and say they have lost the game because this player did not move here or that player did not do that. And then it is destroyed.”
Henriksen supported his keeper. “I told him that he would be part of it next week. You can talk and talk, but if you don't show your players that you believe in it, they will never believe in you.” For more than a year and Zentner has still not missed a competition.
So much have improved. Jonathan Burkardt is a striking one. He had been at one point of one goal in 21 games at one stage prior to Henriksen's appointment. This season, only three men have scored Bundesliga goals. The playing style has been transformed.
“When we entered, they just made it high and long,” says Henriksen. “We changed it, wanted to play more in half the spaces, actually creating opportunities. I think we have become one of the most intense teams in the Bundesliga, high.”
He proudly talks about their pace. “The intensity is incredible.” And when they fall short, as they recently did in Borussia Dortmund, it annoys him. “We were perhaps 98 percent there. That's not enough. I hate to be average. I was an average player.”
Lessons from Kidderminster
For the English public, one of the most curious aspects of Henriksen's rise is to become one of the most exciting coaches in the Bundesliga that this so -called average player is also the top scorer of Kidderminster in the football competition.
It was a short period for club and player in the early 2000s, but Henriksen had an influence on Worcestershire and the experience had an impact on him. “It is a fantastic place and it was really nice because it was my youth hero Jan Molby who brought me there.”
Henriksen already knew he wanted to coach and wanted to learn more about the game in what he calls it at home. So what did he discover? “Drinking a lot. Fighting in training. Things I had never seen before in my life,” he answers laughing.
“It was a special culture because it was the last chance for these players. If they didn't make it there, they had to go to the factory. In Denmark it was a bit different. You would become a lawyer or something. At least it felt different at that time.
“I learned from it in many ways and not just about football. I have learned about people, about how they can be in a group, how to treat each other. It was all about respect. I get goosebumps when I talk about it because that was an eye opening at that time.”
He remembers a certain occasion when he dived into the box to earn a fine. Harriers won the game, but it was his own captain Sean Flynn who then confronted him. “He was a fantastic person. He had me against the hut,” Henriksen recalls.
“He said:” What are you doing, man? I never want you to play in my team again when you try to cheat '. For me it was wonderful. It was a fantastic feeling to hear that. I could feel it that he would rather lose. Of course that was the old days … “
Creating a new story at Mainz
And yet the hairstyle remains. “We can't really change who we are.” And the lessons of that time remain in England. “Culture for me is everything. And I am proud of the culture we have created.” It's still all about forging bonds, building relationships.
“If you don't like your boss, there is no chance that you will do your best for him. Maybe you will do it for six months for fear. After that your body doesn't want it anymore. That is why I believe that if you don't create a good culture, success will not last long.”
He should know because the Journeyman Player is not a journeyman coach. “I had seven years at one club, six to another. I know what is needed.” That explains his early years in Denmark, building clubs. He went on to Midtjylland in 2021 and won the Danish Cup.
Interesting is that his next job, which prior to saving Mainz, saw him turn around at FC Zurich, who had been at the bottom of the Swiss Super League. “I have been the underdog for the past 20 years,” he holds full. But this achievement with Mainz is a different level.
Why? Because he didn't save them alone, he kicked. Henriksen talks about the difference between avoiding and reaching. After the Escape Act, Mainz lost some of their best players, Sepp Van den Berg moved to Brentford and Brajan Gruda to Brighton.
“A little fear came back to the team,” he admits. “They thought we had to rebuild everything. That was probably my most difficult task here in Mainz, perhaps even a bigger miracle than to save them from relegation. We had to create a new story.”
It was a shaky start, but Mainz improved and won six of seven in the winter, including a victory over Bayern Munich. “We've got better and better.” They believed again. No wonder Mainz's sports director Christian Heidel calls him a motivating genius.
“I can't help anyone if I don't have that relationship,” says Henriksen. “Life is about relationships.” Such as the one with midfielder Nadiem Amiri, who calls him “positive crazy” and whose fine shape has given him a recall after five years by Germany.
“I think they think I'm crazy because I dare to be. When I dance in the dressing room, I don't know why I dance, I just dance because I feel it. I want to make an environment where people can do what they feel.
“I know that Nadim has never seen that in football before. He probably thinks I am not a normal coach, but I think I am the most normal coach in the world because I am just me. I am not good at anyone else. It makes sense to me. Just be yourself.”
As Heidel has noticed, Henriksen is received in a loft as only a motivator, but there is clearly more to the man. “Of course we have changed tactically.” But Henriksen, just like Klopp for him, credits that to be curious and to surround themselves with experts.
“Today we have so many assistants and analysts around us to help with the small details, the tactics. And we have been tactically fantastic, my employees have been extremely good. But of course it is about culture about culture.”
What does the motivator motivate? “It is the little things. It is people. When I see Jonny smiling when he is called up for the National Team or Amiri, that is enough for me. I get my energy from that, what the heart is pumping.”
What will come afterwards? That is the fascination. Well, Henriksen speaks about a possible visit to Kidderminster. “I have to go back one day.” But for that the big question is whether they can end the job and qualify for Europe, perhaps even the Champions League itself.
“We haven't won anything yet, but we have had a fantastic season.” Complete the double over Bayern Munich this weekend and it can be something completely different. “It would be very special for the entire region.” A region transformed by Bo Henriksen.