After holding reigning champions Leverkusen to a draw and then reaching the round of 16 in the DFB-Pokal with a win at SC Paderborn, SV Werder’s busy week concludes with a trip to Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday, 3rd December (17:30 CET). Head coach Ole Werner discussed the game at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
Back in November 2021, Ole Werner took over as SVW head coach with the club sat in 10th place in the second division. 100 games later, his team are ninth in the Bundesliga, though he feels they cannot afford to relax. “Although that’s obviously a nice fact, it won’t help us much on Sunday,” said Werner before the trip to Borussia-Park. “We don’t want to take our foot off the gas, we want to keep going. That means performing in our upcoming games and taking the next steps in our development.”
Several players could return for the away game in Mönchengladbach. While Justin Njinmah is unlikely to be fit enough to play the full game, Niklas Stark and Jens Stage could both be available to come off the bench. “It’s good have Starki as an option again,” explained Werner. “The same applies to Jens. He’ll train with the team for the first time again tomorrow. We’re hopeful that he could make the squad and help us late on in the game.”
Substitutes have shown recently that they can play a big role in securing a positive result for Werder, not just something that was evidenced in the 1-0 win over SC Paderborn 07. A third fixture within a week may also mean some rotation due to the increased workload. “During a week with multiple fixtures, our main focus is to keep the group’s discipline and concentration levels up, in order to be at our best in all the games,” stated Werner.
Gladbach played at the same time as Werder on Wednesday, eventually losing to 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt. Werner feels that the Foals have more variability to their play this season: “Unlike last year, they are dangerous in multiple ways,” analysed Werner. “They like to play good football, but their summer transfers have allowed them to threaten more from long balls and set pieces.”
????️ Werner with an update ahead of #bmgsvw:
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@werderbremen_en) November 1, 2024
"Marco Grüll & Skelly Alvero both can't play. Other than that, everyone else is available. The two will likely return after the international break, but we have hope that they might already be able to feature against Kiel." #werderpic.twitter.com/ImXMfhalrB
