Hjulmand needs time

It would not be a groundbreaking hypothesis to suggest Manchester United and FSV Mainz 05 compete at opposite ends of the sporting food chain.

One is on the verge of smashing the British transfer record to sign Real Madrid's Angel di Maria in a deal that reportedly could rise to 188 million euros ($249 million), while the other's record transaction stands at only five million euros.

One is a truly global brand, floated on the New York Stock Exchange and with corporate partners, ranging from an official noodle partner in Japan, to a tire partner in India. The other has a playing budget worth a fraction of these combined deals.

Manchester United break down borders around the world and engage in a sporting diplomacy only seen during the Olympic Games. Mainz, meanwhile, are a little different and the city's locals pride themselves on the club's modest, community-focused profile. The club's rise over the last decade has seen brushes with European football and a progressive rise up the ladder.

Only three years ago, in a milestone moment for Mainz, they had outgrown their derelict, but traditional home at the Stadion am Bruchweg, and so, a brand-new 34,000-capacity stadium was constructed. The club's training center is no longer just a couple of building site cabins that continued to generate acclaim from the German FA.

The brains behind the operation has been sporting director Christian Heidel, but the eyes of this meteoric rise was Thomas Tuchel who served as head coach for a period of eight years. He kept the club in the Bundesliga, and then some; Mainz have spent eight of the last 10 seasons in the German top-flight.

But after guiding the Mainz 05 to an outstanding seventh-placed finish, Tuchel stepped down. It was an inevitable decision, yet the timing would have caught any "Nüllfunfer" off-guard, just hours before the last match of the season.

This is where a club of the prestige of Manchester United return to the picture. United, led by Sir Alex Ferguson for more than two decades, had been left with a mammoth hole to fill, one whose scope was scarcely considered, until now.

United - and the club's shareholders - have no time for transition, as Ferguson's successor David Moyes found out to his undoing. Similarly, replacing Tuchel, who had built a fortified relationship with his team, was always going to be an awkward transition for the club.

After Jürgen Klopp left Mainz following seven-and-a-bit years at the club in 2008, his successor Jörn Andersen was shown the door just over 12 months later.

Time is the healer

In three short weeks, Kasper Hjulmand has watched his new side crash out of the UEFA Europa League to Greek minnows Asteras Tripolis, lose to third division Chemnitz on penalties in the German Cup, and drop points at SC Paderborn, a club who had never played in the Bundesliga before this weekend.

The former FC Nordsjaelland coach was under no illusions prior to Sunday's meeting in Paderborn. A side that was competing in the top flight for the first time may have just as easily taken points from many other clubs in the league.

But Mainz's deficiencies hung around ponderously, overshadowing Koo Ja-cheol's stoppage time equalizer. Hjulmand's attacking ideas and demands in possession are slightly different from former coach Tuchel who liked to emphasize the need for quick end-to-end transitions.

One tactic prevalent under his predecessor was the direct option from defense to allow Shinji Okazaki the room to launch a quick counter-attack. However, the Dane wants short and controlled passing, combined with a higher defensive line that has proved vulnerable in the early weeks of his tenure.

Furthermore, Hjulmand's high-pressing strategy in attack is clearly in its infancy. Heidel has been powerless to stop two of the club's main sources of penetration leaving, with Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting joining Schalke and Nicolai Müller heading for Hamburg.

The third wing of Mainz's attacking armor was the interchangeable combination between Zdenek Pospech - the Czech has also departed - and Christoph Moritz. To ask for an alternative strategy, albeit forced with departures and early matches, is naturally taking longer than expected.

With such a concerted focus on attacking through the middle, Serbian creator Filip Djuricic, on loan from Benfica, will require time to strike up a relationship with Okazaki. Perhaps the final week of the transfer window will offer Hjulmand a final chance to put his stamp on the squad.

The need for a critical, uniting moment

Aside from such strategic elements, the Dane and his colleagues could require a bonding moment when the chips are down. For instance, Klopp was agonizingly denied promotion to the Bundesliga on three occasions: the club missed out by a point in 2002, by one goal in 2003, then eventually going up by a single goal in 2004.

Klopp suffered some pretty embarrassing German Cup exits, at the same time. Likewise, Tuchel lost 10 of the first 12 matches in 2011 and next season had overseen the club's shock exit to Gaz Metan in the UEFA Europa League that, as he notes himself, shattered the confidence in his squad. It was a heart-to-heart with his players that brought Mainz's season back on track.

A European exit in Greece and a Cup loss in Chemnitz later, external pressure on Heidel, Hjulmand and his troops have already been forthcoming. But considering the club's impressive progress with team cohesion, structure and sustainability at the heart of every operation, the Dane is shrewd enough to deliver results, if afforded time.