Werder Bremen: Coach finally calls for an end to the flood of goals conceded!

Werder Bremen: Coach finally calls for an end to the flood of goals conceded!

SV Werder Bremen faces a challenge after five matches in the current Bundesliga season: the team has conceded a total of 14 goals, which corresponds to an average of 2.8 goals conceded per game. This record is the highest in the league, and that makes coach Horst Steffen sit up and take notice. “We have to work on our defensive work to improve the goals conceded statistics,” he explains in a recent interview. The previous opponents have been strong, including teams like Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, but the coach does not see this as an excuse for the poor defensive performance. “We didn’t do things well enough,” Steffen continued.

Last season Werder showed different performances and often kept a clean sheet. At that time the team almost reached international places. Now, however, after a positive 4-0 win against Mönchengladbach, four more games followed in which at least three goals were conceded. In addition, three penalties have already been awarded, which underlines Bremen's defensive vulnerability. “I don’t see a clear pattern in the penalty decisions,” says Steffen, who locates the problems in both working against the ball and defending crosses. A concrete example is a goal conceded in which the players did not put enough pressure on the cross giver.

The look ahead

Peter Niemeyer, Werder's head of professional football, encourages the team to maintain the attacking style of play and play courageous football despite the defensive difficulties. “We would rather take a 5:4 than a 1:0,” he quotes coaching legend Thomas Schaaf to clarify the club’s philosophy. “The quality of the opponents must be taken into account when assessing the goals conceded,” he added.

After the previous five games in which four points were scored, there are now some key games ahead. In the upcoming matches against St. Pauli, Heidenheim and Union Berlin, the club not only wants to collect points, but also reduce the number of goals conceded. The challenge is clear: Steffen and Niemeyer see it not just as a problem for the defenders, but as a team task. The balance between offense and defense must be maintained in order to be more successful in the next games.

While Bremen are working on their defense, they now have the opportunity to show in the next games that they have learned from their mistakes and can find their way back to their old strength. The upcoming opponents offer an opportunity to stabilize the defense while maintaining the offensive nature of the game. Werder Bremen has a lot to do to put the criticism of the last few weeks behind them and get back on the road to success.