Head coach Ole Werner discusses the team's position ahead of the run-in

Werner explained that frustration sounds as if SVW have their heads in the sand, and this isn’t the case for anyone in the team. “It is just disappointing that the team collectively did a lot of things well but didn’t show the same quality as the opponents in certain situations,” explained Werner. “That’s the difference and we have to reawaken this quality inside ourselves. The players that were on the pitch could have defended better.” Freiburg player Lucas Höler, for example, was not under enough pressure in the decisive aerial duels both his own goal (71’) and his assist for Roland Sallai (67’).

In just four minutes, the game got away from the Green-Whites. Avoidable, with Werder's goalscorer in the 46 minute Maximilian Philipp probably having the best opportunity to further extend the lead. His acrobatic volley was clawed away from the top corner by Mark Flekken (61’). “We were well in the game, there was not a turnaround in the air,” continued Werner. “A team like Freiburg can always come back like this though. We have to stop the contact in the penalty area in every case and not just in 19 out of the 20. We have to work on these last few percent.”

There is the possibility of picking up points in every game. Werder still need a few of these to reach their aim of staying in the league. According to Werner, this is not anything new and so “concerns” is the wrong term to describe the current situation. “We have to be careful,” said the 34-year-old. “But it is a fact that at the moment we are not managing to win tight games and we are not getting anything for our good performances. We are now back trying to bring points along with us as well. That is our task for the season run-in which starts with us wanting to do better in Berlin.”