In keeping with Werder Bremen‘s high form, Ole Werner celebrated his 100th competitive game as coach of the Hanseatic League on Wednesday against Paderborn. But that wasn’t a big deal for the North German. On the subject of Keke Topp, however, the coach justified himself.
Keke Topp (right) has had a difficult time at Werder Bremen in recent weeks.
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Werder is currently on a roll: Ole Werner’s team has only lost once in the last five games (0-1 against Freiburg) and reached the round of 16 of the DFB Cup with a win against Paderborn (1-0). In the league, SVW is in a good 9th place and is therefore significantly closer to the international places than to the relegation zone after eight games.
When Werner took over as coach at Osterdeich almost three years ago, the club was still in the middle of the second division. He celebrated his 100th competitive game on the Hanseatic sideline against Paderborn on Wednesday. But that didn’t cause the North German to jump in celebration. “I didn’t really notice my anniversary, only thanks to the good research from your circle,” said the coach to the journalists present at the press conference before the Gladbach game: “That doesn’t change that much. It’s good that both sides were satisfied with the cooperation so far.”
Werner about Topp: “Already has more minutes than at the same time last year”
However, the 36-year-old still dared to take a quick look back and found positive words for what had been achieved: “The wishes that both sides formulated in turbulent days on a dark November morning have come true.” And Werner is well aware that this is “not a given”. “There are enough examples that have pointed in a different direction if you see where they were three years ago.” He doesn’t want to “pat himself on the back” now. Instead, the coach looked forward: “We have to do our work in the here and now. There are different problems than three years ago.”
Newcomer Keke Topp has been a problem child in Bremen for a few weeks now. After a promising start on the Weser, the 20-year-old has not been in the starting line-up since matchday 1. In his two previous league appearances that lasted more than a few minutes, the striker received a kicker grade of 5.0. In other words: Topp’s form can be improved and against Paderborn even Oliver Burke, who had already been eliminated in the past, was preferred to him. Nevertheless, Werner doesn’t want to be accused of saying that Topp doesn’t have a chance in Bremen. “All players are options for us, including Keke,” said the coach: “He has already played more minutes in the first division for us this season than he did in the second division at the same time last year. He is constantly developing. ”
Grüll and Alvero are still out
However, another striker can look forward to a starting eleven late on Sunday afternoon. “Justin Njinmah is eligible for anything,” said Werner. However, he is not yet ready for 90 minutes.
Niklas Stark and Jens Stage are back in the squad against Gladbach, but the coach only promised a short appearance for both of them. Marco Grüll and Skelly Alvero will not be there, but they will most likely be ready to play again after the international break. It remains to be seen whether it will even be enough against Kiel, said Werner. The coach was also very satisfied with how the injured players were represented in the last few weeks. Players like Leonardo Bittencourt, who had hardly played a role at the start of the season, suddenly became important regular players and the many changes “didn’t hurt,” Werner said, “because the players were ready.”
The coach didn’t want to reveal how the wing position – Mitchell Weiser, Derrick Köhn and Felix Agu are all in good form – will be dealt with on Sunday: “I’m not going to look into my cards yet.” It is conceivable that Weiser will play further up the line again.
With a view to the away block once again being sold out, Werner was very positive about the Bremen fans: “We played a lot of away games that felt like home games. That’s what sustains us. That’s extraordinary. That’s something that sets us apart from a lot of other Bundesliga teams differs.” But because it will be Werder’s fourth Sunday game this season, the coach had a request for the DFL: “Despite the good support, it would be nice if we were allowed to play on Saturdays every now and then.”
