It’s almost time for the Bundesliga to return. Before SV Werder’s first league game of 2025, on Sunday, 12th January at 15:30 CET away to RB Leipzig, head coach Ole Werner answered questions from journalists at the pre-match press conference. The 36-year-old discussed…
… Marvin Ducksch & Justin Njinmah: “Both of them will be on board. Duckschi only missed one week of training and is looking good. Justin had a longer spell out, but he’s still an option for the squad. He’s definitely got more ground to make up.”
…opponents RB Leipzig: “They’ve got lots of quality in every position. They’re a well-run club with a good coach. They were without a few key players before the winter break and therefore weren’t at their best in a few games. A few of those players are now on their way back, which won’t make life any easier for us. We’re coming up against a top team with lots of quality, but we still want to be at our best.”
…the importance of this game: “To say this game will indicate how our season goes might be a bit much. One match won’t reveal how the rest of a campaign will play out. We cannot compare the situation we are in with the one they are. However, we are capable of matching them over the course of 90 minutes. I heard that we’ve never won in Leipzig, so we’re going to try and do that for the first time.”
…the triple header: “We’ve got three important and different matches ahead of us, that’s the challenge. It would be wrong of us to think that this week is going to be season defining. Regardless of our results, we need to keep working hard and look to always improve.”
…the mood within the team: “We’ve got a good mix with the lads enjoying their work. That’s important as you can’t play good football if you’re not enjoying it. I feel like we’ve done some great work over the past few weeks and months, even if not every result has gone in our favour. We need to stick at it and I haven’t noticed a difference compared to last year.”
????️ Werner on the winter break: "It feels more like an international break. No matter what happens on Sunday, we can't read too much into the break. It was too short to give teams the chance to make fundamental changes." #werder #rblsvw
— SV Werder Bremen EN (@en.werder.de) 10. Januar 2025 um 14:02
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…his first impressions of Issa Kaboré: “He’s not that loud and not somebody that necessarily looks to immediately be a leader. He’s trying to settle in at the moment. He’s a tough tackler, plays with real passion, likes to get forward and is good in 1v1 duels, so I think he can definitely help us with his qualities. He’s an option to feature at the weekend. I expect him to get some minutes soon.”
…further transfer activity: “Our biggest strength is the group. If we bring somebody in, they have to be somebody that will improve us right away. That’s particularly trickly in the winter break. Nevertheless, we always have to be ready because one door could open somewhere, or somebody could leave. It doesn’t look like that will happen at the minute though."
