“We’ve got a team in which everyone can rely on each other 100%,” said Manuel Mbom in an interview after full-time of Werder’s massive three points at home to Darmstadt on Sunday. “It doesn’t matter who’s on the team sheet at the end of the day.”
“We’ve got a team in which everyone can rely on each other 100%,” said Manuel Mbom in an interview after full-time of Werder’s massive three points at home to Darmstadt on Sunday. “It doesn’t matter who’s on the team sheet at the end of the day.”
As a result of several key absences in Ole Werner’s preferred side, there were many new names on the team sheet on Saturday evening. Mbom himself was one of these, starting the game and playing the full 90 minutes and running the furthest distance of any player on the pitch (12.3 KM). Mbom arrived at SV Werder Bremen aged 13, making him the youngest player ever to be taken into the WERDER football academy. He made the step up to the first team in the 2018/19 season, and returned from a loan spell at KFC Uerdingen in 2020
In total, head coach Ole Werner played eight players who had either been part of Werder’s academy or youth teams in the match against Darmstadt. Alongside Mbom, Nick Woltemade, Ilia Gruev, Oscar Schönfelder, Niklas Schmidt, Niclas Füllkrug, Eren Dinkci und auch Christian Groß all made appearances in Saturday’s match. Groß, whilst a more senior player than the others, played in Werder’s reserve team in the German fourth division not so long ago, making the step up to the first team last season and establishing himself as a key player.
Eren Dinkci and Nick Woltemade, in comparison to Groß, are true Bremen boys and have been through the academy from U9 level and youth teams to the first team. Both had great opportunities to score on Saturday night against Darmstadt – Dinkci’s seven attempts on goal was the most by a single player on the pitch. The 20-year-old also set up Niclas Füllkrug’s winner with a fine cross to the back post.
Speaking of our number 11: Füllkrug was perhaps the ‘Last man standing’ out of Ole Werner’s key players last weekend. He also came through the Werder youth system, joining in 2006 before making his Bundesliga debut against Bayer Leverkusen in 2011. Two years later, he moved on loan to Greuther Fürth before joining 1. FC Nürnberg on a permanent deal. He established himself as a true goalscorer whilst at his hometown club of Hannover 96. Since the 2019/20 season, ‘Lücke’ has been back at the club where it all started for him, and he has been scoring goal after goal for Werder. His winner against Darmstadt at the weekend was his 14th this season, a tally which the 29 year old has matched twice before in his career but never bettered (he also scored 14 once for Nürnberg and once for Hannover). The tough-tackling, goal-getting striker also finished with the highest pass accuracy of any player in the game.
Niklas Schmidt joined Werder’s U15 squad in 2012, signing his first professional contract four years later under Alexander Nouri. He had an absolute dream start to his Bundesliga career in a game against Wolfsburg: his corner was met by Theodor Gebre Selassie to win the game 2-1 just before the final whistle blew. It’s a moment that will live long in the memory of the Kassel-born midfielder. Following loans to Wehen Wiesbaden and VfL Osnabrück, Schmidt returned to Bremen for the start of the current season and, according to official statistics, took the most shots of any player against Darmstadt.
Ilia Gruev and Oscar Schönfelder were brought on by Ole Werner in the closing stages against Darmstadt and helped bring the win over the line. Gruev joined the Werder academy in the 2015/16 season and signed his first professional contract in 2019/20. He is still alternating between the first and reserve teams to gain minutes and match practice. Oscar Schönfelder joined Werder U19s from 1. FSV Mainz 05 in 2020/21, signing his first professional contract. He currently plays predominantly in the reserve team. The pair of them made their debuts for the SV Werder first team in the 2020 DFB-Pokal.
It was no coincidence that so many young players were able to step into the squad and perform so well together despite the high number of absences, said Manuel Mbom. It says a lot more about the strengths of the team and the whole squad in getting over setbacks and adapting quickly to difficult conditions, he added. Players from the academy and youth teams played a large part in the win at the weekend.
