Werder still have nine days to go before they face 1. FC Nürnberg on matchday 3 of the new Bundesliga season, but the team won’t be relaxing. Tomorrow, the Green-Whites face SV Meppen in Cloppenburg for their second friendly of this international break (15:00 CEST). Head coach Florian Kohfeldt will go for a mixture of youth and experience, with first-team regulars like Claudio Pizarro included alongside Werder U19 players.
Kohfeldt’s thoughts: Whilst most Werder fans dread the international break, it presents an opportunity for Kohfeldt and his team. “It’s an important break for us because we can see where we’re at,” said the Werder boss. However, some players won’t be involved in the friendly, such as Niklas Moisander, who has played every minute of every game so far this season. The match tomorrow also gives players the opportunity to keep fit and sharp: “Claudio Pizarro will stay in his normal rhythm by playing again on Saturday. The break isn’t an inconvenience for us, but rather a chance to work on ourselves,” said Kohfeldt.
Team news: The squad available for the SV Meppen friendly is a relatively small one. Despite Johannes Eggestein’s early return from international duty due to injury, eight Werder players are still on their travels. This explains the coach’s decision to play some of the U23s in Bremen’s match against FC Emmen the other day. As the U23s are playing at the same time as the first team this Saturday, Kohfeldt is putting his faith in even younger players. “On Saturday, we’ll be playing with a number of U19 players,” he said. “It’s always important that we give the younger lads the opportunity to play with people like Davy Klaassen, Yuya Osako and Max Kruse.”
