Werder Bremen weakens and is the worst Bundesliga club of the year. Many fans have the “snout full” of playing players and resentment in the team. Why did the European Cup hopes on the Weser result in a solid crisis? An analysis.
Werder is in a descent – and the Bremen fans put it on a simple denominator: “Whoever wears this jersey has to tear.” A lot must have happened when the “Green White Wonderwall” crumbles in the Weser Stadium and the patient supporters sake, struggle and mentality from their team in such a vehement demand.
“We know what we have about the fans,” said Mitchell Weiser Kleinlaut. Against VfL Wolfsburg (1-2) he scored the goal for Werder, which the angry mood hardly alleviated.
Within a few weeks, the green-whites were finally torn from all dreams from the European Cup. After the fifth bankruptcy at a time – and only one win in the ten competitive games of the new year – the euphoria of the Hin series has gone. Frustration, perplexity and sometimes even fear of relegation spread out. Also because internal quarrels and jealousy dull the mood. How could it get that far in the otherwise notoriously healing Werder world?
“A group of alpha animals”
“We are a group of alpha animals,” said Niklas Stark, who is currently representing the injured Marco Friedl as head of defense and captain. “Sometimes it is the case that there are problems.” A simple explanation that does not meet the scope nor the seriousness of the deficits. If players are on the pitch, it does not necessarily have to be dramatic.
However, if players are obviously no longer willing to iron out mistakes from the adjoining man, if not everyone pulls together, the group is at the expense of the group – and the success. As the saying goes, it should just be rumbling between the more experienced players.
Trainer Werner publicly criticizes
Head coach Ole Werner indicated that there have been inconsistencies in the past two and a half years of his work on the Weser: “They come from time to time when the results are not possible.” NEW – and urgency – however – is the public discourse of the 36 -year -old. If necessary things were sometimes spoken a little harder, he has nothing against it. “This is sometimes quite good. It is crucial that you still do everything for each other on the square and is ready to support the other who made a mistake.”
Unusually open tones at the Bremen Easter dike, which apparently have an effect. The team presented itself in the duel of the trophy Pleitiers against Wolfsburg – Werder had lost at third division club Bielefeld, the VfL in Leipzig – at least. Sometimes even as a team. The bottom line was that a stupid mistake by keeper Michael Zetterer and a dream goal of the double successful Patrick Wimmer was defeated. Another sloped home game also cemented that Werder remains the worst Bundesliga club this year after only five points in nine games.
On matchday 15, shortly before Christmas 2024, the green-whites were still seventh seventh with 25 points. Now, ten game days before the end of the season, Werder ranked twelve – 13 points in front of the relegation place with 30 points.
Burke again after two years from the start
“Today the appearance of the team was positive,” Werner recognized – despite all the shortcomings against Wolfsburg – a delicate silver streak on the horizon. He also praised the playful. “The only thing we were missing was the same effectiveness as the opponent.” In fact, the 41,152 spectators in the Weser Stadium experienced a different, a fresh spirit and cohesion in the team, which not only left a different impression.
The injured Marvin Ducksch has hardly been missed in the past few weeks. In addition to Friedl, who was missing for the fifth time, the sick Romano Schmid and Marco Grüll also had to be replaced. One of the beneficiaries was Oliver Burke, who was allowed to play again after two years. Like André Silva, he brought a fresh wind, although she too failed on the strong “wolves” goalkeeper Marius Müller.
Always the same structures, hardly changed squad
Nevertheless, it paid off that Werner – finally! – brave. The remaining in the same structures should be a weak point that fans and many critics persistently complain about. Everyone should sign that Ducksch, in order to just edge one example, is indispensable for Werder in top form. But a duck in the form of the past few weeks is not a player who makes the “difference” described.
But it is not just Ducksch that remains a puzzling way far behind its normal form. And that shows another weak point. The squad remained largely unchanged before the season. This pays for established processes and mechanisms, but not on new impulses and a healthy competition.
Fritz: Trainer Werner is not up for discussion
A creative player as a counterpart to Romano Schmid was not brought – or could not be taken for financial reasons. The “borrowing” by Leipzig striker Silva and Issa Kaboré (Manchester City) were born out of necessity because of the financial necessities. Knowing that the integration usually lasts, as Jens Stage and Senne Lynen last.
Nevertheless, coach Werner is firmly in the saddle. With all the resentment among the green and white followers, nobody shakes his position at Werder. “We can close the trainer topic directly,” emphasizes Managing Director Clemens Fritz. “He is not up for discussion at all.” It is part of the truth that the successor to Frank Baumann is just as under pressure in the new job as Peter Niemeyer, who took over Fritz ‘job as a professional football boss this season.
Hercules task with Meister Leverkusen
In his first year, the Schleswig-Holsteiner Werner made the climb in his first year at the Easter dike, and then mastered the subsequent difficult phases confidently. The head coach under his Werder cap cannot be seen that the current problems and the impending decline are gnawing at him.
But now he has to prove that he can upset an unsettled team and bring back to the road to success. Despite all the opposites with injuries, shapes as well as playful and mental defects, he should now succeed on Saturday with Meister Bayer Leverkusen (3:30 p.m., in the NDR LIVECENTER). A Herculean task.
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Sports club | 02.03.2025 | 11:25 p.m.
