The Bravehearts of the Bundesliga

Going into the winter break, Mainz 05 looked relegation certainties - but their brilliant young coach Jürgen Klopp has turned things round, says Raphael Honigstein
Mainz 05's coach Juergen Klopp celebrates
Mainz 05's coach Juergen Klopp celebrates. Photograph: Herbert Knosowski/AP

Anyone remember the film Red Dawn? This nasty piece of Cold War propaganda from 1984, crude even by Rocky IV's standards, fictionalised the invasion of the United States by Soviets and Cubans, and the heroic resistance of a bunch kids from, yes, Colorado. In Germany, the film was called Die rote Flut (The Red Flood) - West Germany, to be precise; for some reason, they didn't screen it in the GDR - but the good, pacifist people of the Bundesrepublik refused to be swept along into the theatres. It sank, but not quite without a trace.

It might sound fanciful but the image of red forces overrunning the country has somehow left an indelible mark on the German football fans' psyche. More than 20 years on, "die rote Flut" still gets routinely referenced on the football pages, most often a little obliquely, as "die rote Gefahr", the red danger. You have to forgive my countrymen this penchant for paranoia: 20 championships from red-wearing Bayern München in 43 Bundesliga seasons will do that you.

After a weekend that saw all top three sides losing ground but fourth-placed Bayern winning tamely against sheep dressed as Wolves in the AllianzArena, half of Germany fears another red dawn again. Stuttgart's young wild brigade couldn't break down the Berlin Wall (0-0 v Hertha), Bremen got trampled on by the foals from Gladbach, the worst team in the league (2-2), and Schalke, who were so imperious not long ago, seem to have reverted to their bad old selves: "They sing, they drink, they fail in the final second" (TAZ).

Schalke's Brazilian playmaker Lincoln was so frustrated after his side's unexpected 0-1 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen that he cowardly picked on Bayer's Bernd Schneider (at 1:30), the one player on the pitch smaller than him. As far as handbags go, Lincoln's effort was as ugly, unwanted and potentially as costly as the £23,000 monster Louis Vuitton is trying to flog this season.

But Bayern's win was hardly a beauty either. The champions have their work cut out to qualify for the Champions League and are realistically too far behind - nine points - to stage another successful raid on the title. FC Hollywood still have enough allure to attract budding starlets like Estudiante's little prince Jose Sosa - the Argentine will move in the summer, according to reports - but this season's hit independent production is an uplifting tale of underdog success.

It is called "Mission Possible 15" - the official name of the fans' campaign to save Mainz 05 from relegation. (15th place is enough for survival). "MP15" is a determined effort to mobilise support in the Bruchwegstadion. Mainz, known and admired for their collective pressing game and high-tempo football, had become a pushover, even at home. Despite their supporters, who intone a decent You'll Never Walk Alone and behave like idolised versions of British fans, the self-professed Karnevalsverein (carnival club) went into the winter break nursing a hangover in bottom position, with a measly eleven points and eleven goals from 17 games, destined for the drop. They looked tired and weak.

But manager Jürgen Klopp, a young, unshaven man forever jumping up and down on an imaginary bouncy castle, gave his team belief and made three killer signings. Striker Mohamed "little Pharao" Zidan (six goals in six) and Danish midfield enforcer Leon Andreasen (three in six) came from Bremen, while Colombian Elkin Soto was plucked from utter obscurity. The trio have turned things around: Mainz' 2-1 win over Nürnberg was their fifth win in six games in the Rückrunde. Enough to get them up to tenth, and enough for some of the most enthusiastic fans in the league to dream about the Uefa Cup again (Mainz were invited to the competition last season thanks to their outstanding fair play stats.)

They are unlikely to manage that feat - Andreasen's red card on Saturday won't do them any favours in that department, but no one cares. "My team-mates fight as if the opponents are threatening to take their children away", says Andreasen admiringly; club president Harald Strutz thinks they are "the Bravehearts of the Bundesliga". Minus kilts and dodgy accents, obviously.

Mainz' renaissance is good news for German football in a wider context, too. "Kloppo", 39, is not only the Bundesliga's most energetic and tactically astute manager but also a star pundit on national TV. He's revolutionised the genre and, in doing so, helped broaden the horizon of football coverage in general. Before him, assorted has-beens would always blame defeats on "lack of character and effort" or alternatively, a "lack of leadership" - tactics or other pesty details were rarely mentioned.

Klopp, on the other hand, brought wit, intelligence and actual expertise to the table. Unfortunately for him, Germany is quite unlike the UK, where a failed coaching career is seen as a natural prerequisite for every pundit. We would most definitely not respect the explanations of a loser, at least not for long. Therefore, Mainz need to stay up for Klopp to stay on the screen.

Luckily, MP15 is heading for a happy end but it might yet come with a huge twist. Klopp's good deeds have not gone unnoticed on the Bayern board. He is fast becoming a credible candidate to succeed Hitzfeld. The financial muscle of the record champions, combined with Kloppo's brains and ambition? The red flood would become so strong, non-Bayern fans might be forced to flee to Colorado for safety.

Results: Stuttgart 0-0 Hertha BSC, Bayern München 2-1 Wolfsburg, Bochum 2-2 Alemannia Aachen, Energie Cottbus 2-1 Arminia Bielefeld, Hamburger SV 3-1 Eintracht Frankfurt, Hannover 4-2 Borussia Dortmund, Mainz 05 2-1 Nürnberg, Monchengladbach 2-2 Werder Bremen, Schalke 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen.