Werder Bremen find positives in André Silva’s performance despite disappointing loss | OneFootball

Nothing went right for Werder Bremen at home against Hoffenheim on Sunday evening. The fans at the Weserstadion had every reason to expect a victory against one of the Bundesliga’s most out-of-form teams, Hoffenheim. Instead, it was Christian Ilzer’s struggling Sinsheimers who plunged the Hanseaten into crisis.

A 3-1 home defeat leaves Bremen with only one win in seven games since the turn of the calendar year. A club considered a European contender when 2025 began – tied on points for an Europa League berth – is now mired in mid-table after picking up only five points in the last seven games.

Hoffenheim exacted revenge for Bremen’s historic comeback from a 0-3 deficit in Kraichgau last September. Werner’s team scored four unanswered to win 4-3. This time, Ilzer’s crew themselves scored three unanswered after an own-goal from Stanley Nsoki gave the hosts a 7th minute.

Fans at the Osterdeich – normally patient and supportive of their beloved team – whistled and jeered Werner’s crew after what was a poor and uninspired performance from everyone on the pitch. Werner, player licensing head Peter Niemeyer, and defender Niklas Stark seemed at a loss afterwards.

“I’ve never seen anything like a performance like that from us before,” Niemeyer told German broadcaster DAZN.

“It’s not right to contradict the fans,” Stark added.

“We’re just not seeing top performances from our individual players right now,” Werner said.

Asked about his tactical construct in his post-match interview, Werner wasn’t in much of a mood to talk about the “too simplistic” matter of making personnel moves. Later at the post-match press conference, the head-coach did go into further depth about why he started striker Marvin Ducksch alone up front, then replaced him with André Silva after the restart. Issa Kaboré and Milos Veljkovic were also removed in a triple change.

Werner didn’t directly say why – as he had hinted earlier in the week – Silva and Ducksch weren’t starting together. In conveying respect for both players, however, it did appear as if such a constellation may be in the cards in future fixtures.

“We made three changes because we simply wanted a different energy on the pitch,” Werner said. “He [Ducksch] has completely put himself at the service of the team in recent weeks, really worked hard and done his job. He deserves a tip of the cap for that.

“I think he [Silva] was well integrated, had a lot of situations where he could really claim the ball,” Werner said of his half-time sub. “We didn’t play well today, but he was well integrated.”

GGFN | Peter Weis