Werder head coach Ole Werner has ten days to complete the final preparations for the upcoming away match against RB Leipzig on Sunday, 12/01/2025 at 15:30 CET. The 36-year-old spoke to the media for the first time this calendar year, and among other things discussed…
… the return to training: “We’re here to find our rhythm and prepare for the busy week on the horizon. It wasn’t a long break and everyone had their own plans for their days off. A few of the lads are ill, like Leo Bittencourt and Michael Zetterer. Justin Njinmah isn’t back out training with the team yet, but he is working individually. We’ll increase his workload day by day. We’ll wait and see if he’ll be available for the next few matches. With Marvin Ducksch, we’re thinking that he’ll be able to join in with the preparations for Leipzig next week. Keke Topp and Felix Agu will definitely still be missing.”
… the friendly against FC Twente: “We’re playing 120 minutes, and we’ll organise it so everyone gets on the pitch. We want everyone to play 60 minutes and get back into the rhythm. We’ll also have five or six players from the academy. For me, it’s all about getting back into the flow.”
… the busy week of matches ahead: “It wouldn’t make sense to start trying something completely different during this short break. What we do want to do is work on tactics and refine our principles on the pitch. We want to improve some of the aspects within our principles. We can get straight back into our rhythm with this busy week, and every player will have the chance to impress. They are three very different challenges for us, and important games to pick up points in. Everyone will have to play their part. Our aim is obviously to pick up where we left off at the end of last year.”
… the first half of the season: “It’s all very tight in terms of the table. We’re happy that we’ve picked up so many points in the first half of the season, but things can turn around very quickly. We want to get to 40 points as soon as possible and that’s our main target. In the past, we’ve been good at taking it game by game and not getting carried away, and instead taking steps forward, like developing our tactics and our squad.”
… the team’s development: “We’ve been constantly improving as the season has gone on. In terms of how we play football, we’ve become more flexible with our formation and improved our teamwork. We’re making the right decisions intuitively, but we still need to get better in some areas, like defending counterattacks and converting our chances. There are still things to work on and we’ll keep doing that.”
… the snowy conditions on the second day of training: “You have to adjust the training session a bit depending on the weather. It won’t affect our work, but it’s important to be flexible.” [laughs]
