At the start of November, Frank Baumann revealed that he will not extend his contract as sporting director. WERDER.TV and the 48-year-old are looking back on the past year one final time. Baumann speaks about how the year has gone for both our men’s and women’s teams and discusses the trials and tribulations of summer squad planning.
WERDER.DE: Hi, Frank. This is actually the final time that we will look back on a year together. How was 2023 for you?
Frank Baumann: It was really intense again. It didn’t start very well with the 7-1 loss at Köln. We’d previously had a good first half of the campaign and maybe lost a bit of our rhythm after the extremely long break. In the second part of the season, we didn’t have the confidence that we’d had before. Despite this, we stayed up relatively comfortably as a promoted side, and that was very important for us. On top of this, we had the Bundesliga’s top goalscorer. It was a decent year in which we managed to achieve our aims, but not fully build on our performances.
WERDER.DE: The women’s team’s starting position in winter was a lot worse. However, they managed to secure survival in the end.
Frank Baumann: We were in a really difficult situation with very few points, but we had a great second half of the season where we played good football. What wasn’t as good however was our U23s’ relegation from the Regionalliga. We hadn’t seen that coming during the winter break. I think though that we learned the right lessons in the summer. At the end of the year, we are in an okay situation to be able to achieve our goals with all three of our teams.
WERDER.DE: Even as one season’s still going, the preparation for the following campaign is already underway. How challenging was the squad planning in the summer?
Frank Baumann: We tried to increase the level of competition in our Bundesliga squad. Not having this squad depth was something that hindered us a bit last season. The game against Leipzig showed that even though three centre-backs were unavailable, we could still call on other experienced players who did really well. But we do also want to give young players a chance to impress in training and friendlies, and maybe then also feature in the Bundesliga. An example of this is Leon Opitz, who played well in pre-season and went on to get on the pitch in some of the first few games.
Due to the changes to the squad, we needed a bit longer before we really started functioning well and fluidly as a team.Frank Baumann
WERDER.DE: We were involved in the transfer market very late on, even after the departure of Niclas Füllkrug. How difficult was it to balance the sporting side of things with the financial side?
Frank Baumann: This balancing act between economic stability and being able to compete well on a sporting level is nothing new and every other Bundesliga club also has to strike that balance. That being said, it's obviously a bit more difficult when you're unable to be proactive and you're reliant on selling players first. We were able to sign Dawid and Naby very early on in the transfer window and the same goes for the players coming back from loan spells. Then we had to be very patient until the transfer carousel got going. We were able to sign Rafael on deadline day to replace Niclas. Due to the changes to the squad, we needed a bit longer before we really started functioning well and fluidly as a team.
WERDER.DE: Even if you expected to pick up a few more points so far this season, what were the highlights for you in 2023?
Frank Baumann: Having the Bundesiga top scorer in your team as a newly promoted side is far from the norm. Both Niclas and Marvin netted at least ten goals in the league last season and Marvin has proved that he is also capable of playing very well up top on his own so far this term. His call-up to the Germany team was obviously a personal highlight for him, but it also highlights the hard work of the coaching staff. We have had lots of good moments in 2023, especially at home. Now we've just got to make sure that we manage to get some more positive results for the travelling away fans in the second half of the season.~
WERDER.DE: You announced early on that you would no longer be at the club in the summer and that you would let your contract expire. Have you had any moments of sadness since then?
Frank Baumann: Yes, obviously I'm sad to be leaving the club. I've had lots of great moments in my 25 years at Werder, been able to work alongside many great colleagues and put my heart and soul into my work. Despite that, it was a very well-considered decision. I will still be on board for the first six months of 2024. Given that I know that I'm finishing in the summer, I am able to really give everything I've got and I don't have to worry about anything. I can then sleep in properly from summer onwards.
