Werder Bremen is one of the mainstays of German football. Since the Bundesliga was formed they have only spent one season outside it. However, it’s been 15 years since their last league title and 10 years since they last won the DFB-Pokal but should they be looking up or looking down?
Transfer Business Overview
The good news is they haven’t lost anyone of great importance. On the other hand, have they really done enough to push on from a respectable eighth-place finish last season?
Headlining the new signings is Niclas Fullkrug who arrives from Hannover for €6.5 million. Marco Friedl has come in from Bayern Munich while Benjamin Goller of Schalke has arrived on a free. Omer Toprak of Borussia Dortmund will also be at the club after signing on loan. Werder has promoted quite a few players from their seconds and U19’s with David Philipp, Ilia Greuv, Simon Straudi and Jonah Osabutey all joining the first-team squad.
The main departure is Max Kruse who has joined Fenerbahce on a free. Others leaving this summer are Thanos Petsos, Ole Kauper, Aron Johansson, Thore Jacobsen, Jonah Osabutey, Felix Beijmo, Jannes Vollert, Jan-Niklas Beste, Jean Manuel Mbom, Boubacar Barry, Niklas Schmidt and Michael Zetterer.
Manager
At 36 years old, Florian Kohfeldt is extremely young to be a manager but he has put in the hard yards and had to work his way up to get where he is now. He joined Werder Bremen as a youth coach in 2006 before being promoted to manage the second string in 2016. A year later it was announced that he would be promoted to the senior team and he has led the team to 11th and eighth in his two seasons.
Player to Watch
Werder Bremen have a few decent players but one of their best is Maximilian Eggestein. The midfielder impressed for Germany U21 in the UEFA U21 Championships in the summer which will have come as no surprise to Bundesliga followers. He made his debut in November 2014 at 17 years old and has become a regular in the team over the years. He is very highly rated and the club has done well to hang onto a player that will no doubt attract the interest of some of the games biggest clubs.
One for the Future
The USA is starting to bring through some very good young footballers with a lot of them ending up in Germany. Another such talent is Josh Sargent who is just 19 years old but has already broken into the first-team squad. He scored seven goals in 12 outings for the second team last season which led to him getting chances with the senior team. He mostly came off the bench but he managed to get two goals and that taste of the big time will no doubt help him lay the foundations for what could be a good season for him.
Predicted Finish
Werder finished eighth last season and something similar would be good this season. They haven’t spent a huge amount of money so it will be tough to move much further forward but they should have enough about them that they won’t drop any lower than the top half of the bottom half and their long Bundesliga history should be safe.