Thomas Schaaf has begun work as SV Werder Bremen’s head coach. With the all-important final Bundesliga game of the season against Borussia Mönchengladbach on the horizon, the Green-Whites started preparations on Monday morning at the quarantine training camp in Barsinghausen. For Schaaf, it’s all about giving the team back its "belief and confidence," as the 60-year-old put it in the post-training session catch up with the press.
Take away the pressure, set up a new framework, strengthen self-confidence with a mixture of team talks and intense training sessions – this is how Thomas Schaaf wants to approach operation ‘avoid relegation’. "People have a tendency to only look at the negatives in these situations. But we won’t be looking at all the things that haven’t worked out. It’s all about working your way back by creating that sense of achievement," said Thomas Schaaf, who put the team straight to work in the opening session of the week with some shooting practice.
The coach’s intentions are clear: Work hard and be proactive, on the pitch as well as off it. "The job now consists of a mixture of talks and training sessions. We have worked on a number of different things already. It is also important to me that the players listen so that I can explain to them what I expect," said Schaaf, for whom the short-term commitment as Werder coach has emotional and rational components.
On the one hand, the 2004 double winner described his ‘jumping in’ as an opportunity very close to the heart. "I did have to consider whether I would blame myself for not trying everything to help the club I feel such a strong connection to," said Schaaf. On the other hand, Schaaf needed to be sure he had a clear plan of how to work with the team in the short window before the final game. "The deciding factor is having the feeling that you can offer and achieve something," he summed up. It was clear from the get-go on Monday morning that Schaaf believes in himself and the team.
