In scenes that made you check it was not May next year, there was an outbreak of euphoria on the banks of the Rhine on Saturday. Up the hill on Martin Luther King Weg, Mainz 05’s Bruchweg Stadium was rocking.
Fans who arrived an hour before kick-off stayed an hour after a landmark 4-2 defeat of Hoffenheim that cemented Mainz’s shock position at the top of the Bundesliga. They are 13 points ahead of Bayern Munich.
The victory, Mainz’s seventh in their first seven games of the season, meant history for club and league. A city near Frankfurt known for its carnival spirit embraced the moment. So did the Mainz 05 players. You would have thought they had won the Ryder Cup.
This peripheral club are not trophy-laden. Mainz have never won Germany’s league or Cup, and they still haven’t. But they have equalled the Bundesliga’s best start, matching Bayern’s achievement from 1995 and Kaiserslautern’s from 2001, and, should they win their next game at home to Hamburg, Mainz will have set a record.
Promoted two seasons ago, Mainz’s rise is akin to Blackpool’s, only greater. That was why the 05 players - the club was formed in 1905 - performed a lap of honour on Saturday. They had already climbed the fence at the standing section to lead communal chanting. It is some story.
And within it lies another: Lewis Holtby. A month ago Holtby was a teenager on loan at Mainz from Schalke. It did not register as one of the transfers of the summer but it looks one now. Indeed, the 20-year-old has become the smiling emblem of Mainz’s surge.
Man of the match on Saturday, Holtby created three goals and scored the other. Simultaneously, Holtby has moved on to the radar in England due to his form and his name. Holtby’s father, Chris, is English.
Even though Holtby is Germany’s Under 21 captain, that should have made ears pr**k at the Football Association before now. Until he is capped by Germany at senior level, he is available to Fabio Capello.
Holtby, who supports Everton, hinted that he might choose England ahead of the land of his birth and his mother, Heidi. The growing debate soon changed that. On German television he declared Germany as his national team, a selection he confirmed on Saturday to Sportsmail.
‘I think it would be difficult for England snatching the Germany Under 21 captain,’ Holtby said, in English. ‘For the English players it would be slightly bizarre and that would make it difficult for me to settle in. Everyone else is full-English. I would come as a German, as a German captain. It’d be quite bizarre.
'I love England, I love my family there but I have to pay respect to Germany. I love Germany very much and when I sing the national anthem it gives me goosebumps.
‘If Capello would talk to me I’d listen. But I’d tell him I’ve decided to play for Germany.’
Understandably, Capello may feel Holtby’s stance non-negotiable. But the issue may surface again in this world of increasing migration — 750,000 English people live in Spain alone.
While Capello watched Emile Heskey on Saturday, his German opposite, Joachim Low, was in Mainz.
Low has omitted Holtby from his latest Germany squad but a first cap is expected to come in a friendly against Sweden next month. Low left Mainz happy.
In less than two minutes Holtby established himself as the game’s dominant creative force. Taking possession in the centre circle, he looked up and then delivered a pass on a plate to his striker. It was clean enough to be served on Masterchef and Hoffenheim’s defence was split. It was soon 1-0.
Low said: ‘Holtby’s pass for the first was worth the entrance fee alone.’
Holtby is left-footed, 5ft 8½in but looks smaller. At kick-off he lined up on Mainz’s right touchline. That brought a natural Adam Johnson comparison: Johnson is 5ft 9in but appears taller.
Perhaps Holtby’s low centre of gravity accounts for this. That and his position on the left evokes reminders of Emre and, in this region hailed for its wine, there are hints of Beardsley and Mendieta.
In Germany they see Mesut Ozil similarities and Holtby certainly shares his energy. Capello can counter that England have Jack Wilshere, 15 months younger and playing in the Champions League against better defences than Hoffenheim’s.
But what sort of player will England be missing?
Thomas Tuchel is Mainz’s 37-year-old manager, and he said: ‘Lewis is a very creative player, good on one-on-one, good at running — again and again. He can win the ball.
‘He has a good character. He’s only 20 but very focused. He smiles, he has a positive energy that he brings to the club. But when the game starts, he’s focused. He has made a huge step in the last eight weeks with us.
‘This is an important step for him, to play at a little club instead of Schalke. There’s no fear or expectation. Unfortunately, Schalke will get him back but we have him for the season.
‘It’s a pleasure to work with him. He’s special — he knows about his own ability but he also knows his role in the team. He doesn’t behave like he’s something special.’
Holtby’s equilibrium will be tested. He was interviewed live on television on the pitch for about 15 minutes on Saturday. Radio and newspapers followed.
He and his two young strike partners, Adam Szalai and Andre Schurrle, mimic a band when they have scored and are known as the Bruchweg Boys. T-shirts were being sold outside the stadium. Holtby’s fame is galloping like Mainz’s form.
‘It’s just running for us,’ he said. ‘We’re playing our own football, we’re not playing deep. It’s unbelievable for Mainz.
‘Thank you for coming.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1317998/Lewis-Holtby-How-did-England-miss-boy-Midas-touch.html
