“We’re coming to the most important part of pre-season now,” says Werder’s head coach Florian Kohfeldt before the Green-Whites’ double-header. SVW begin on Saturday (5/9/2020) with the visit of second-division side Hannover 96 to ‘Platz 11’ at 13:00 CEST. Werder will then face fourth-division side BSV Rehden at 15:45 CEST, a week before playing fourth-division side FC Carl Zeiss Jena in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. The matches will be shown live and free on YouTube and WERDER.TV.
The squad: Lots of players will be required for the two friendlies in one day, and head coach Florian Kohfeldt has plenty to call on. “All of the players who aren’t with their national sides – with the exception of Davy Klaassen - are available,” says Kohfeldt. The 27-year-old Dutchman will be training intensively at the weekend after his knee injury so that he is ready to return to normal training next week. Milot Rashica will also not take part in the friendlies after playing for Kosovo (see article). Ömer Toprak, Milos Veljkovic and Kevin Möhwald are all available.
The opponents: SV Werder Bremen will face a second-division side for the third time in pre-season when they take on Hannover 96; they've defeated Eintracht Braunschweig (2-0) and St. Pauli (1-0). Kenan Kocak’s men have won three of their five friendlies to date, and will be a gauge of Werder’s progress a week before the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Niclas Füllkrug, born in Hannover, will take on his old side according to head coach Kohfeldt.
Kohfeldt sees the game against Rehden as a different type of challenge. “They sit deep, we need to break them down, be aggressive and well structured and prevent the counter attack.” Andreas Golombek’s side are also at a critical stage of pre-season, as their first game is on Friday (11/9/2020) against Hannover 96 II. Many former-Werder players find a home at Rehden, including Addy-Waku Menga and Marco Kaffenberger, who played for Werder’s U23s.
The head coach on both games: Florian Kohfeldt says that he’s satisfied with the current state of pre-season. But that’s no reason to sit back and relax. “I’m pleased with the atmosphere on the pitch, but now things are getting serious. We need to take it to the next level if we want to win competitive games!” Obviously the 37-year-old wants to see this in the games against Hannover 96 and BSV Rehden. The competition for places in the squad should help with that. The coach has over 20 fit players in training at the moment, which is, as he says himself, a comfortable position to be in. “It’s a very good situation for me that I’m not stuck for options in almost any position. All the players need to prove themselves.”
