The footballing year of 2024 is over. At the winter break, SV Werder are in seventh place in the Bundesliga with 25 points, their best-ever position under Ole Werner, who has been at the helm at the Green-Whites for more than three years. In an end-of-year interview with WERDER.DE, the 36-year-old looks at his side’s development, the emotional highlights of the last 12 months as well as his aspiration for his team in 2025.
WERDER.DE: Moin Ole, you’re going into your fourth winter break as Werder head coach. We would almost be tempted to say that the team is performing at its highest standard since you took over
Ole Werner: If we look at the four years, there’s been a constant development like there is at every football club: sometimes things go well, other times things don’t go so well. Personal reasons have often been the cause of this. Overall though, the lads are doing a great job, they have continued to improve and therefore our results are improving.
WERDER.DE: The team have certainly been making a good impression since the end of April? In what areas have you made the most progress during this time?
Ole Werner: We’ve made developments across the pitch. We’ve become more versatile and have an increasing number of ways to react to oppositions or states of play. We’ve also made the biggest step in terms of our defensive stability, whereby we can rely upon our defensive processes. Despite conceding a lot of goals, we’ve managed to limit this to just a few games.
WERDER.DE: We’ve also had our fair share of successful moments in this successful year. What was your emotional highlight of 2024?
Ole Werner: It started with the first game and the late equaliser in Bochum, but then of course there was the away win against Bayern München. Then there are moments like against Hoffenheim, when we came back to win after being 3-0 down or the wins in the DFB-Pokal. Those are the moments that come to mind straightaway.
WERDER.DE: We guessed you’d say that home match against Stuttgart last season or the game against Holstein Kiel in November.
Ole Werner: Yes, of course. Naturally, the Stuttgart win was an important one for us because it took us a huge step towards safety. It meant that we were somewhat relaxed going into the final matches, which helped us to a top-half finish. The last-minute win against Kiel felt particularly good - especially with Burkey scoring his famous goal. That was an emotional game, both for the team and for me.
Aura. ????
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@en.werder.de) 21 December 2024 at 17:13
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WERDER.DE: We didn’t pick up the best results in pre-season, and we had a really difficult start to our Bundesliga campaign. Does it speak for the team’s belief in the tactics that you were able to overcome these hurdles?
Ole Werner: We spoke a lot in pre-season about the crazy amount that is interpreted in results. However, this stopped being a priority for us, because we were able to achieve a good physical standard and managed to implement the playing idea onto the team. The lads did really well from the start in terms of performance, and this was followed by some better results coming in.
Maintain the right mix of self-confidence and healthy self-criticism.
WERDER.DE: You mentioned constant development - there’s always room to improve. In what areas would you say this is currently the case?
Ole Werner: Although we’ve stabilised somewhat defensively, we’ve still suffered some pretty heavy defeats. When we’re having an off day, we need to create a Plan D or E and have more solutions up our sleeve. Otherwise, we could become more efficient, because we’re currently one of the teams who get into the spaces in front of the defensive line and can compete with the top five in the league. Most of all, I’d like the team to work on a way to maintain the right mix of self-confidence and healthy self-criticism.
![[Translate to Englisch:] Ole Werner im Trainingslager.](https://werdercdn.azureedge.net/fileadmin/_processed_/3/a/csm_SVW07940_f72fb02aec.jpg)
WERDER.DE: There have been very few fluctuations in terms of the squad summer after summer, which means that a lot of tactics are quickly understood. How much of a headstart does this give you over the competition?
Ole Werner: It’s an advantage, but other teams have also signed players who make them better. You can tell how every team wants to play by the second international break, and then a sort of hierarchy has formed. That’s perhaps the time where things start to level out. In the last few years, the opposite has happened to us. Regardless, you have to keep improving, and we’ve managed to do that so far - I hope we continue to do so in the new year.
WERDER.DE: Jens Stage established himself as a regular in 2023, this year it was Senne Lynen. Which player who is currently not in the starting XI do you think will go down a similar path in 2025?
Ole Werner: On the whole, I am thoroughly satisfied with the current state of the team and of individual players. We’ve got a very small squad, which means there’s always a chance to break into the team, not just by impressing in training but also on matchdays. A high percentage of our squad have already started this season. I can’t tell you who that will be today, but I’ve got faith in the whole squad to play from the start for us.
If we have a good number of players for a good-quality training session, then we also play well.
WERDER.DE: In the last two full seasons, one half of the season has always been significantly better than the other. What makes you optimistic that you will be able to keep up this consistently for the entire campaign this year?
Ole Werner: There’s a fairly simple explanation for what happened in the last couple of years: we’ve performed better in the half of the season where more of our squad has been available to us. The decisive question for us is how we’re going to start getting through weeks in which we have to play twice - and we want to have another one of those weeks. If we have a good number of players for a good-quality training session, then we also play well. On the whole, I’m optimistic we’ll be able to do that, because the medical staff have been working well and we’re making improvements to our workload management.
WERDER.DE: If you had one wish for you and your team for the new year, what would it be?
Ole Werner: I wish that we maintain the same work ethic that we have done in the last few months, that we concentrate on our development and our journey and don’t allow ourselves to be distracted from other things. That’s the foundation for results - a good mix of a relaxed attitude and appropriate levels of self-criticism.
WERDER.DE: We’re really looking forward to the new year. Thank you for speaking to us, Ole.
