It must be said that there is little joy in the fact that Werder have lost their last four games in the league. At the start of the season, however, many fans would have probably settled for 21 points after 17 games. After the 2-1 defeat to FC Union on Wednesday, Ole Werner discussed his side’s first half of the season. “We know what we are playing for. It has been clear to us from day one that there will be difficult periods.”
The players are often their own biggest critics. Leonardo Bittencourt, for example, emphasised that the team didn’t quite reach their level against Union. The 29-year-old, however, still believes his side had a decent start to the campaign: “At the moment I have the feeling that everything’s a bit doom and gloom. Many people are forgetting where we have come from. We have picked up 21 points as a promoted side. Others are doing a lot worse,” explained Bittencourt.
The team are still realistic about how the season has gone so far. Amos Pieper, for example, was a lot more upbeat after matchday 9 when Werder had acquired two-thirds of their current points tally. The 25-year-old, however, still knows that his side are on track: “We told ourselves before the Union game that we can turn a good first half of the season into a very good first half of the season. Even though it feels a bit different after the defeat, we’re satisfied with where we are overall.”
Whatever the verdict, 17 games have been played and attention now turns to the rest of the season. The trauma of the relegation in 2021, when Werder had a rotten run of form at the end of the season, is still in the mind of some supporters. Ole Werner, however, isn’t worried just yet: “To be honest I’m not bothered what happened two years ago because things are completely different. We are a promoted side on 21 points. We haven’t won in four games but we’d have no hope if I was worried about that. I am also in no doubt that the players are in the same boat.”
