Vor four years ago, when Werder was threatened with relegation, half the city was on its feet. At Osterdeich, on the ramp that leads down to the stadium, people stood close together, a sea of green and white, the teams’ buses had to laboriously find their way. It was the time of the “Green White Wonderwall”, a different, a very, very distant time, which of course has to do with Corona – but not only.
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How joyless the so-called special game operation feels, what is really missing when ghost soccer has to be played to the exclusion of the public, is nowhere more evident in the league than in Bremen, where the stadium is more centrally located than any other, either in a picturesque way along the Weser or through the “district”, the heart of the pub and scene in the Hanseatic city.
Where else life is full, where the fans of the opposing teams are getting in the mood, this time before the game it was almost eerie, given the sporting situation – like a Saturday afternoon during the summer break. A few jerseys and scarves, maybe a few dozen fans, who cheered the team on when they arrived.
Inside, however, a spectacle with thunder and roar developed as hardly anyone had thought possible. When the 90 minutes had been played, initially accompanied by a threatening rumble and lightning, it was clear that Werder would not go down to the second division, for the second time after 1980, but into the relegation, either at home against Heidenheim or on Thursday – in a piquant exaggeration – den Hamburger SV. The second leg will take place the following Monday.
The goals of Yuyo Osako (22nd and 58th minute), Milot Rashica (27th), Niclas Füllkrug (29th), Davy Klaassen (55th) and Joshua Sargent (68th), in a goal from Dominick Drexler (62nd .), ensured a Bremen home win, which was remarkable because Kohfeldt’s team had previously won only once in 16 attempts – with a total of miserable nine goals. But this 6: 1 alone against defenseless Cologne, who made no friends in Düsseldorf, would not have been enough if Fortuna had won at Union.
But because she lost the nerve test and the game in Berlin, she is in the second division and for Werder in extra time. If in the end it should still be enough, then this last game day may become part of the story of the Werder miracles, even if it was of a different design than the four that every (bigger) child in Bremen can recite: Dynamo Berlin, Moscow, Anderlecht, Lyon.
The Bremen hopes of Füllkrug and Rashica, which started with Osako in attack, were against Cologne. It was clear that Werder needed a win in any case, in a Düsseldorf tie it had to be one with at least four goals difference. “It only applies: knife between the teeth and out there,” said Kohfeldt, who had found his courage to fight again after the shock of the 1-3 in Mainz.
But once again Werder struggled. The application was right, but there was a lack of structure and precision. The Bremen team had to be happy that they didn’t fall behind when Modeste came too free to shoot – Pavlenka saved his team in dire need. Then came the great Bremen ten minutes. First Osako hit the corner with a flick, then the customer came from the Berlin leadership, now Werder was on the relegation rank – and Kohfeldt’s team followed. It was only through Rashica, who came through alone and with a bit of luck, that Füllkrug struck the flank of Friedl.
3-0 after half an hour – that was a dream start. After the break, Füllkrug went no further, Josh Sargent came for him. But for Werder it went on like it was painted. It was 2-0 from Berlin, and Klaassen, who was there after a post from Rashica, and Osako pushed the result up. The Drexler goal was once again a shock for Werder, but of short duration.
6: 1 – you could rub your eyes. The stadium announcer had welcomed the Werder team into their “living room”, but the guests were almost exclusively responsible for the party this season. The horror record also includes the winter series in which, after the 1: 2 win against Schalke on November 23 in the Bundesliga, a home goal only followed after the restart in May. In between were the sometimes embarrassing appearances against Paderborn (0: 1), Mainz (0: 5), Hoffenheim (0: 3), Union (0: 2) and Dortmund (0: 2).
This was not only a document of hopelessness, but also proof of a design flaw that Werder’s game idea suffered from. For dominant offensive football, as Kohfeldt wanted to see it in Bremen’s best tradition, the team was qualitatively too poor in certain areas, also due to injuries, lacking dynamics on the way forward and robustness behind – a combination that almost every opponent can match Exploited pleasure.
With all the hype that had arisen around Kohfeldt after its first full season, in which it was almost enough to jump to Europe: mistakes have to be admitted to a talented, but also inexperienced trainer. However, the eye-to-and-through mentality with which Kohfeldt stuck to his course under cover from his superiors proved to be almost fatal. If, after the relegation, a balance sheet is drawn, you can also assume that he has better set up and hired the team, especially after the restart.
Kohfeldt experienced the rescue on the last match day in 2016 as Viktor Skripnik’s assistant coach. He recently recalled the special feelings of happiness when the fans flooded the interior of the stadium. This time Kohfeldt left the stadium quickly. He either wanted to be happy alone, or document: there is still something to do.
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