Is there a reason for the spate of injuries at SV Werder Bremen since the start of pre-season? The new coach explains what he thinks is behind this “strange situation.” No more injuries, then, after SV Werder Bremen recently suffered one setback after another.
The most serious injury is undoubtedly Mitchell Weiser’s cruciate ligament rupture, which became clear once again during the 3-1 win in Emden: “His absence is obviously a huge blow,” said captain Marco Friedl: “It’s sad and terrible when you see him lying on the ground and know that we’ll be without him for the next few months.”
In addition to the long-term absence of Bremen’s key player, Werder will also have to do without Jens Stage (stress reaction in the midfoot) and Marvin Ducksch (muscle injury in the calf) for the medium term and several more weeks. “I still have hope that both will be fit for the start of the season, but I can’t say for sure at the moment,” said head coach Horst Steffen.
Steffen: “I attribute this more to unfortunate circumstances.”
And at least the two other injured players, Justin Njinmah (ankle problems) and Olivier Deman (foot problems), who were both unable to play on Saturday, are expected to return shortly. “I assume they’ll be back in training camp,“ said Steffen. The Bremen team will leave for Zillertal in Austria on Tuesday.
The coach can’t really explain why there have been so many injuries after just two weeks of preseason training: ”It’s a strange situation – I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” said the 56-year-old.
The fact that Ducksch, for example, suffered a muscle injury “practically during the warm-up” in the first training session after the summer break is “unusual,” to say the least, according to Steffen: “I attribute this more to unfortunate circumstances and not to the fact that we did something wrong in our training program.”
Werder could pull off the Mbangula deal
Meanwhile, Werder is working behind the scenes to replenish its currently depleted squad with new signings: Samuel Mbangula remains a priority, as head of professional football Peter Niemeyer confirmed to Sky on the sidelines of the friendly match: “We don’t have to beat around the bush, he’s an interesting player – for us too. We’ll see what the future brings.“
It is well documented that Werder would indeed be capable of pulling off this financial feat, given a possible transfer fee of around ten million euros. Niemeyer emphasized: ”We are capable of acting, we want to get things done.” Now it’s time to reach an agreement with Juventus Turin.
