Mitchell Weiser sit on a small settee in the team hotel in Murcia. He is smiling with his hands together. On the glass table in front of him is the assembled journalist’s recording equipment. It is a different atmosphere in which he answered questions from the row of journalists present: Not hurriedly after training, but in peace and quiet. Weiser seems relaxed. The 28-year-old speaks about his time at Werder and how he would rate his own performances…
"I just have to feel comfortable and it has to look good to me." While Mitchell Weiser is talking about his dress sense, he could just as easily have been talking about his way of playing football. Niclas Füllkrug recently suggested his team is like Ronaldinho. His backheeled assist for 'Fülle' is certainly one that will live long in the memory for many Werder fans. "That goal that I most like though, was the one against Bayern," confessed the full-back. Weiser provided a brilliant assist for Anthony Jung to score in that game to make it 1-1 at the time. "Even if the goal was unimportant in the end, that’s football for me. I have watched it back a lot because I think it’s beautiful."
Weiser knows exactly how many assists he has got this current season. Seven. This is not important for him to stand out. It is important to him because he wants to always to be involved in the game. The U21 European Champion plays little attention to the very positive reports being made on him at this stage. He rarely pays attention to what is being said in the sports media. "If someone sends me a match report, I will give it a look over,” said Weiser, who is much more focussed on the team being successful. “As a team we have played above expectations, which is down to all of us."
The fact the right-back undoubtedly was a special talent was also not lost on Bayern Munich. As an 18-year-old he moved as a young starlet from 1. FC Köln to the German record champions. He won Bundesliga titles and DFB Pokal trophies there, but only made sporadic appearances. His breakthrough in the Bundesliga later came at Hertha BSC, then Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Until he was no longer needed. As SV Werder, ‘Mitch’ had a new beginning in the 2. Liga – and with much success.
“I feel really at home in Bremen, it is really fun to play here at this stadium,” said Weiser. “I have become conscious that there is a difference between winning games in Bremen or in Leverkusen. The whole city is behind the team, which I really like.” As a result, he says he could imagine staying at the club longer than the end of the 2023/24 season.
Weiser gets on very well with his teammates. It speaks volumes about the team that on their free afternoon after training they spent it in large groups. And it speaks even more for team in how they have dealt with a player who has revealed his mental health problems to them. "It was a situation that you couldn’t deal with alone. But when he said it to us, you could see that he was going through a rough patch," says Weiser of the moment that Niklas Schmidt confided with the team about how he was feeling. “I gave him a hug and said that I was there for him if anything happened.”
This unity and trust within the team is something exceptional. Not many players have experienced relegation together, many more have celebrated promotion together. The Green-Whites have also overcome many situations together this season. Memories that will remain. They are now working hard during the training camp to continue on this positive path. "We have to push ourselves to the limit week after week," emphasised Weiser. "The opponents will find different ways to deal with us. It will get more and more difficult and we have to adjust to that."
