Relegation looms: Bundesliga club faces a rude awakening | OneFootball

What seemed to be beautiful in the world at the Weser? The departure of successful coach Ole Werner was directly compensated by successful coach Horst Steffen. A future in which the Elversberg talent magician trains upcoming stars on the Weser and at the same time plays good football was ahead of SVW. Only a few weeks later, however, a very, very difficult season is now threatening. What's going on in Bremen?

The preparation of the green and whites was extremely bumpy. Captain Marco Friedl recently warned: "We have to address a lot and do better." The problem is not the many defeats in friendly matches, which should never be overestimated, but a blatant weakness that has shown itself in all games: Werder does not conjure up any goal danger under offensive football preacher Steffen.

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0:0 against Parma, 0:1 and 0:3 in the double test against Hoffenheim, as well as 0:1 and 1:2 in the double test against Udinese, where the only own goal was scored after a penalty. The Bremen attack machine is stuttering, which is why it is all the more surprising that Marvin Ducksch was recently sold to Birmingham City for the mini-sum of two million euros. The 31-year-old contributed 32 goals and 27 assists in the last three Bundesliga seasons.

Can Silva replace Ducksch?

He is now likely to be replaced by André Silva (9 goals, 6 assists in the last three years) from RB Leipzig. The 31-year-old is still living off the fact that he once scored 28 goals for Frankfurt, but in the second half of the season he did not convince as a loan player at Werder. A change of coach and system is supposed to help him now, but Silva had his best time at Eintracht in a three-chain system with a double tip, similar to what Werner also played in Bremen. That doesn't sound like a savior at first.

Horst Steffen is switching to a 4-2-3-1 with a clear center forward at Werder. Silva is supposed to take over this position, but currently, it is occupied by Keke Topp. The 21-year-old showed himself to be committed in preparation, but probably needs a little more time. Behind him, Mitchell Weiser, Marco Grüll, Justin Njinmah, Romano Schmid, and ten-million newcomer Samuel Mbangula are supposed to swirl. The latter could have already been a prelude to a possible Schmid sale, however. After all, Werder wants to generate a transfer surplus of 7.5 million euros, according to their own statement when setting up the fan loan. Currently, they are at minus 7.5 million euros.

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While Weiser will be out until winter, Mbangula showed against Udinese with his dribbling and speed that he can have fun, but first, he has to prove that he can deliver consistently over a whole Bundesliga season.

Currently, there are very many question marks in the attack. The burden of answering them should not be placed on the existing offensive talents like Patrice Covic, Leon Opitz, or Isak Hansen-Aarøen just yet.

Fittingly, Steffen has also decided on the experienced Michael Zetterer as number one to provide more security. Backup keeper Mio Backhaus (21 years old) has to be patient for now.

In addition, the coach is still hoping for transfers to improve: "I'm always impatient because I always want high quality and as quickly as possible. But I see that everyone is working on it," said Steffen to 'Sportschau'. Without further reinforcements, however, one has to wonder whether this offense is strong enough for the first league.

The start has it all

The team will not have much time to find themselves either. In the DFB-Pokal, the heaviest possible opponent in the first round is waiting with second division leader and last year's finalist Arminia Bielefeld. Given the numerous opening blunders in the past, it currently seems like the bigger sensation if Werder actually prevails.

In the Bundesliga, it won't get any easier in the first five games either. Frankfurt (A), Leverkusen (H), Mönchengladbach (A), Freiburg (H), and Bayern (A) are the opponents. A team that is not yet stable can quickly fall into crisis mode, from which it won't find its way out quickly if it gets stuck at the bottom.

The Werder fans are not known for being particularly critical, but rather very supportive, but if the start goes wrong, the comparisons with Werner, who almost led the club to Europe in the last two years, will surely be made quickly.

Instead of a football fairy tale, the people of Bremen should rather prepare for a tough season, in which it's mainly about avoiding a slide into the deep relegation battle. Or will Werder find the urgently needed new heroes who can also provide a surprising happy ending after initial setbacks?

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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