Afraid of Bayern’s “Hurri-Kane”?
Defense trouble and filling jug question stress Werder
08/18/2023, 12:18 p.m
Embarrassing cup-off at the third division, further unrest about striker Niclas Füllkrug – Werder Bremen receives record champions Bayern Munich at the wrong time. After the sovereign relegation, the North Germans are facing a very complicated season in the Bundesliga.
At Werder Bremen they are reminiscing these days. It’s been 20 years since the spectacular doubles season of the green-whites began. At the end Werder celebrated the championship at arch-rivals Bayern Munich two games before the end of the season, followed a little later by beating Alemannia Aachen in the DFB-Pokal. Before every home game, the television commentary on the decisive 3-1 win in Munich on Matchday 32 is played today – a goosebump moment for Werder fans. The NDR has dedicated a podcast to the best season in the history of the Bremen club, in which the Bremen supporters can relive the most important stages on the way to the double.
Back in reality, things don’t look nearly as rosy for Werder. The North Germans are facing a very complicated season – that was already shown by the bitter end in the first round of the DFB Cup last weekend at third division team Viktoria Köln. Before the league start against Bayern Munich with the new star striker Harry Kane (8.30 p.m./SAT.1 and DAZN as well as in the live ticker at ntv.de) there are more question marks than exclamation marks around the club. Is national striker Niclas Füllkrug really staying on the Weser? Which new additions are coming until August 31st? Will the king transfer Naby Keita fit quickly and can the attacking star brought in from Liverpool FC really help the team? And how does coach Ole Werner want to stop the negative trend of the past few months? It’s a lot of ballast that Werner and his team take with them into the notoriously difficult second year after promotion.
In any case, not much is left of the euphoria after promotion a year ago and the strong first half of the season that followed. In the back series, Werder was the second weakest team in the league and had the record of being relegated. There have only been three victories so far in the 2024 calendar year. Even Werner, who has always been described as the perfect coach for Werder, is now also viewed critically in the environment. After the embarrassing cup knockout. in Cologne, Füllkrug also caused a stir with public criticism of the defensive. The fact that he was reprimanded by football boss Clemens Fritz in the media is also unusual for Bremen.
Balance sheet is catastrophic
So something is brewing on the Weser, which is why captain Marco Friedl wanted to call the team together again before the league started. “We will sit down again this week so that everyone shares their opinion. That everyone says how they experience things,” said the Austrian.
The recent sporting record in the former North-South summit is catastrophic. Bremen have been waiting for a win for almost 15 years. At that time, there was a 5-2 win in the Allianz Arena. Since then there have been four draws between the clubs and 23 wins for FC Bayern. Nevertheless, Füllkrug can definitely imagine an end to the green-white series of failures. “The Weser Stadium will totally live up to its reputation as a Werder fortress. The whole world is looking at it and it will definitely be a nice event,” he said in the ran interview.
Meanwhile, Fritz and managing director Frank Baumann will try to provide Werner with at least one new signing. The Bremen coach had repeatedly criticized in the past second half that his hands were often tied because of the small squad. However, Werner does not want to change anything about the way he plays. “We want to keep playing Werder football. Something should happen when we’re on the pitch,” said the 35-year-old. It doesn’t have to be quite as much as in the 2003/2004 doubles season. At SV Werder 2023 they would be satisfied if there were one or two wins again.