Another Bundesliga installment from our guest Werder Bremen writer Doug Langner.
When a team loses a legend, a captain and a rising young star, can they be better? Short
answer…YES! This offseason was really about who they didn’t lose, versus whom they gained.
The Northern team in Bremen have struggled in recent years, the first part of last year was no
different, the tone was set by losing (again) to a 3 rd league team in Lotte, struggling out of the
gates, injuries to key players, then an amazing turnaround happened and they still had a shot
for the Europa League going into the last day of the season.
Yes, Pizarro is gone, yes their captain is gone in Clemens Fritz and yes Serge Gnabry is gone, yet
there doesn’t seem to be any panic with most of this, Gnabry being a bit of an exception. Yet
the overall feel of the Green and Whites is that they are moving forward.
The club under Sporting Director Frank Baumann, who is a former Werder player, seems to
have a plan, which couldn’t be said under Thomas Eichin. He wants a smaller club, with more
quality. Last year there were 33 players on the first team roster, this year he hopes that to be
around 26.
The major additions are mostly in the final third, which was needed, most goals given up, but 4th
most goals in the league. The biggest addition is Swedish National team player Ludwig
Augustinsson, a LB coming from FC Copenhagen who will add quality with ambition to get Werder to
play in Europe. Giving up the most goals in the league makes you wonder about goal keeping at
some point. Bremen decided to move away from Wiedwald and brought in Slavia Prague and
Czech National team back up Jiri Pavlenka. Time will tell if this is an upgrade, most Werder fans
will not be missing Wiedwald. The only major addition of note is Central Midfielder Jerome
Gondorf from Darmstadt, who adds some depth in the midfield.
As was mentioned before, even though some big names are gone the biggest story of this club
is who did NOT leave this offseason. There were rumors of new team captain Zlatko Junuzovic
leaving for Turkey, as well as leading goal scorer and wonder gambler Max Kruse. For me the
best reason to hope for the success of this club is the stability in the roster, plus I feel we
actually have depth, to where if someone does go down to injury, we are not in full panic mode.
To compare here are the lineup’s from opening day last year vs. a projected roster of this year:
2016/17: (4-3- 2-1)
GK-Wiedwald, LB-Caldirola, CB-Diagne, CB-Sane, RB-Gebre- Selassie, MF-Bartels, MF-Fritz, MF-
Bauer, MF-Yatabare, MF-Grillitsch, FW-Johannsson (some of whom you might be
saying…who???)
Projected 2017/18: (3-5- 2)
GK-Pavlenka, LB Augustinsson, CB-Veljkovic, CB-Sane, CB-Bauer (because of injury to
Moisander), RB-Gebre- Selassie, MD-Delaney, MD-Gondorf (because of injury to Junuzovic), MD-
M. Eggestein, FW-Kruse, FW-Bartels
For many who follow Werder closely, you could argue that would be their most solid line up for
quite a few years, with a lot of upside and potential, both in the line up and coming off of the
bench.
The biggest question’s will be will Manager Alexander Nouri be able to guide this club to the
next step? He has his preferred system in place, he says he has a renewed focus on the back end,
while maintaining a consistent attack, will they be able to execute? Will this team be able to stay
relatively healthy? Is Pavlenka an upgrade in goal keeping?
Why this club will succeed: There seems to be a plan in place and having the likes of
Danish/American Thomas Delaney in there for a full season should only be able to further
solidify the attack from box to box, Werder legend Clemens Fritz was clearly on his last leg and
this is a major upgrade. As was stated this club, barring a last second transfer out, has
now played together and has now tasted success. They seem to be determined to keep that
rolling.
Why this club will not succeed: Until Werder prove they can keep goals out of the back of the
net, this is a continued question mark for this team. There seems to still be a search for more of
a “Traditional Striker” that can be up top and as a change of pace in case a goal is needed late
in the match. If not, then there is no “true” striker on this club. Injuries, already we have team
captain Junuzovic uncertain for the opener and CB Moisander, a calming influence on the back
line out until October. (Rumor has them still looking for CB depth and a Striker before the
window closes.)
Young player to watch for: There are quite a few actually, but watch for another step forward
from Austrian Florian Kainz, as well as Maxi Eggestein, plus in a forward setting don’t be
surprised to see his brother JoJo Eggestein with some quality minutes. A final name in the back
is Werder youth Jesper Verlaat, many see him as being almost ready for
Prediction: This is very hard to tell, not so much because I don’t have a sense of this club, but
the league in general is hard to tell outside of the top four clubs. In my opinion this club could
finish anywhere from 6th to 16th .
My Pick: 8th (right about where they were last year)
