Accordingly, Werner is now optimistic: “One against two – that’s an incredibly awesome kick.” Such emotional announcements are not standard for the 33-year-old, who fits in perfectly with his down-to-earth nature in Bremen.
Mike Büskens finds the right buttons
What everyone in Gelsenkirchen also claims about Mike Büskens, who inherited the too staid Dimitrios Grammozis as interim coach at the beginning of March. When he was relieved, Schalke were still seven points behind Werder. “Both teams have a dream – and they want to live it,” says Büskens, who comes across as authentic and pragmatic. “It’s nice to see how closed this club is in the current phase”thinks the 54-year-old, but still catches up after five wins in a row “no one to spin”.
The playful upswing under his guidance is evident. “They changed the basic order so that the best individual players come into their own”praised Werner, who was not yet on the coaching bench in the 1-1 win in the first leg – as Werder benefited from an almost scandalous penalty after a swallow by Roger Assalé in injury time.
Clemens Fritz has fond memories
The Arena at Schalke is sold out, which shows the power of two brands that fought an electrifying title fight in 2007 when Werder played the best football, Schalke had the best starting position, but VfB Stuttgart snatched the cup in third place with a smile.
Clemens Fritz, who now holds Schröder’s position on the Weser, was already wearing Werder’s uniform back then, but the 41-year-old is not a fan of dwelling too much on the past. He remembers only one episode fondly: “That I once scored a not entirely unimportant goal at Schalke.” In his penultimate season as Werder captain, he actually contributed a goal and an assist to a 3-1 away win in the 2016 relegation battle.
Two accurate attack duos
Werner also wants to play for victory in the 2022 promotion battle: “We want to show Werder football and be brave.” Being content with a draw like against SV Sandhausen, FC St. Pauli and 1. FC Nürnberg (all 1:1) and then relying on the rest of the program (Holstein Kiel, Erzgebirge Aue, Jan Regensburg) is out of the question.
Especially since both teams with their excellent strike duos stand for an offensive approach anyway. Marvin Ducksch and Niclas Füllkrug scored 31 of Bremen’s 54 goals. The Schalke record of Marius Bülter (ten) and Simon Terodde (24th) reads just as well.
By the way, the commitment of the second division goalkeeper Terodde was a key personal aspect for Schröder: “In the 2nd division, it’s elementary to have a striker up front who has a certain aura and has already proven his performance. He pulls the whole ship.” Straight back to the Bundesliga?