A marathon of pre-season friendlies await SV Werder this weekend as the Green-Whites test themselves with three matches in four days. After Florian Kohfeldt’s side overcame their first hurdle against Arminia Bielefeld 1-0, the Werder troops travel to the Hitachi-Stadion on Sunday to face FC Groningen (14:30 CEST).
Florian Kohfeldt ahead of the match: This will be a tough and intense weekend for the Green-Whites. This is after all no surprise, given that the team is now entering the key phase of pre-season. “Now is the time when we need to gel,” explained Florian Kohfeldt. That means by implication the length of game time will become significantly longer for each player.
Being busy helps: Friday, Sunday, Monday. Three matches over a long weekend. After a short period of recovery, the Green-Whites will face a tough test against Groningen. “I think it’s good. It is important to play against a lot of opponents in friendlies,” believes Martin Harnik. This is because it is ultimately about gradually putting into practice the sessions the team have been completing. “You simply see what is working and what isn’t much better in a match,” said the SVW number nine. “Now it comes down to fine-tuning things,” Harnik made clear.
New territory or familiar faces: SV Werder and FC Groningen have already crossed paths in a long history between the two Green-White clubs, although never in a competitive match. In fact, there is one man who has been part of the Werder squad since Friday who is best aware of how to beat Groningen. Davy Klaassen played against them a total of six times with Ajax, winning on four of those occasions with just one draw and one loss. Moreover, Werder’s new signing has also netted against FCG. The 16-time Netherlands international now returns with his new club to his home country. “I am really looking forward to the next few games,” the Green-Whites number 30 told WERDER.TV.
International expectation: FC Groningen, who were founded in 1971, have played in the Eredivisie for the last 19 years. Following their 12th place finish last season, the club opted for a new head coach. Danny Buijs, once himself a player at Groningen, has been in charge since May. Upon his introduction to the fans, he announced that he wanted to take the club to international football once again. Groningen last managed to reach the Europa League in the 2015/2016 season but were knocked out in the group stages. The club successfully lifted the first trophy in its history during the season before that, lifting the Dutch Cup after a 2-0 victory over PEC Zwolle in the 2015 final.
FC Groningen’s pre-season so far: Danny Buij’s squad have been hard at work ahead of the new season since 24/08/2018, having already completed seven friendlies in which they have performed well. The team has won five of those games, only tasting defeat on two occasions. They now face two tough tests before the opening day of the Eredivisie season on 12/08/2018, when they will come up against Vitesse Arnheim. SV Werder will be their penultimate friendly before they close pre-season against SM Caen.
