“Confident that we can turn the mood around”

Just like that, we’re off into the second half of the season. SV Werder Bremen are gearing up to host Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday night, with the ball set to roll at the Weserstadion at 20:30 CET. The Green-Whites are hoping to get back to winning ways against the Eagles. Horst Steffen discussed Werder’s approach to the game in his press conference on Thursday, alongside a range of topics including...

...how to get the mood back on track after the loss at BVB: “The good thing is that we’ve got a quick turnaround and we’re fully focused on the game standing before us. All things considered, we’ve taken a good feeling from the game in Dortmund, even if the result didn’t give us much to smile about. It was a match where the boys felt confident, and you could see that on the pitch. We want to take that with us as we head towards this game against Frankfurt.”

...the opponent, Eintracht Frankfurt: “They’re a strong side. They’re in a good position, they have a lot of good players, and they’re very strong in front of goal. We need to produce a sharp display. Eintracht do have their issues, though, and we need to exploit that. At the end of the day, no matter who we’re up against, we have to focus on what’s required of us in each position. How are we working together? Are we sticking to the plan? That’s what I’m concentrating on, that we manage to find ways of succeeding against Frankfurt, that we have a win to celebrate when the final whistle goes and that we can finally feel that joy, that buzz again.”

...the possibility of a starting role for new signing Jovan Milošević: “It’s possible that he’ll be there. It’s not so urgent that I’ll sit here saying he has to be in.  It’s clear that there’s still an adaptation period to think about, and he has to get to grips with our patterns of play. We’re doing that with him through video analysis, thinking about how he can involve himself. The way I’m currently looking at it is that he’s a good player who’s come in with the potential to revitalise that striker position.”

...the dissatisfaction of six games without a win: “The mood obviously isn’t great after six games without a win. I see the boys every day and there’s a positive feeling amongst the group and a confidence that we can get through this together. Of course, these things are connected with the results. I think it would be ridiculous if there was this great joyous and humorous mood. Then everyone would say that we don’t understand that we need three points. But we’re confident that we can turn it around against Frankfurt.”

...Leonardo Bittencourt being left out of the squad for Dortmund: “We also have guys in that position, namely Cameron and Patrice, who are good players and can make an impact from the bench. After we dropped Romano into a deeper position, it was then the case that we had two guys who could come on in that role, and so Leo lost his place in the squad.”

...the attacking situation: “We have another opportunity against Frankfurt to come up with a good plan, where we can work out how our play should be structured and build confidence in the players who are out there. We have to maintain a positive feeling if we want it to finally click. Hopefully, that will happen from the off on Friday night. Every game gives us the chance to show that we can do better.”

...the role of Samuel Mbangula: “There were games that led to him not starting any more. I want to see more of the ability and the quality that I know he’s got, both in training and in the minutes that he’s on the pitch. That’s what he needs to work towards. We’ve seen in certain games what kind of qualities he has and I want to see that all the time. In our system, he loves to occupy the space in the middle, even when he’s starting out on the left. He had this freedom to come into the centre from that left-hand side before. The fact that he can pose a threat from the ten position or when playing as an attacking-minded eight says a lot about him as a player. Despite the shake-up to our style of play, he still has a number of positions where he feels comfortable.”

...lessons from the first half of the season: “There are the top seven, who are really strong and grind out victories regularly. Then there are two, three teams in the middle of the pack who have to be firing on all cylinders to put a winning run together. Then there’s sort of a split in the division. It’s a very physical league as well. At the end of the day, each team is capable of playing a good game.”

...the goals for the second half of the season: “It’s our aim to have those moments where we feel better. That we have a run of five games where we win three and go unbeaten. After that, I don’t want to start ruling things out. Firstly, we need to make sure that we can get back on the right track as soon as possible, so that we can pull further away from the bottom of the table. It’s clear to me that we need to be producing the best performances possible in each game. We want to work out what the best plan is to achieve that, so that the boys can enjoy a really good feeling. If that happens, a lot is possible. The fact that we had more of the ball against Dortmund is a good sign.”