Ole Werner Tactics At Werder Bremen 2024/2025: Die Werderaner’s Bundesliga Revival – Tactical Analysis

Looking at the most successful clubs in Bundesliga history, the top two teams are not a surprise to anyone: Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

In third place is a team that younger fans probably wouldnt think was this successful: SV Werder Bremen.

Werder were a dominant force in Germany in the late 80s, early 90s, and early 2000s, becoming Double-Sieger in 2004, winning both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal.

Twenty years later and time has not been kind to the club in northern Germany.

After a bit of a struggle in the early 2010s, Werder found themselves in the relegation battle pretty much continuously over the last decade, with only the 2018/19 season being an exception.

After saving themselves in the relegation play-off in 2020, the club got relegated at the end of the 2020/21 season after a devastating 6-1 loss at home in the Weserstadion to Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The club was in turmoil for these two years, and things didn’t seem to change.

They had a horrible start to their season in the second division, and top players went on strike to leave the club.

After 15 games, the team was far from the promotion places, and they were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal by lower-league VfL Osnabrück.

And when it rains, it pours; head coach Markus Anfang and one of his assistant coaches got involved in the vaccination affair, which ended with him stepping down as the coach just 10 hours before a crucial game against Schalke 04 in November 2021.

What could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back proved to be a blessing in disguise for Werder Bremen.

On the 28th of November 2021, Ole Werner was appointed as the new Werder Bremen manager.

The former Holstein Kiel coach instantly inspired the team, who went on a seven-game win streak, claiming 43 points on a +23 goal difference over 19 games and securing promotion back to the Bundesliga in May 2022.

After the promotion, Werder and Werner managed to secure their place in the Bundesliga following a ferocious start to the 2023 season.

They barely missed out on the European places by goal difference last season.

This season, Werder managed to collect eight points from five games.

They are in the hunt for European places again this season, and with their only loss coming at the hands of Bayern Munich, the team looks set to make a run for it again.

In this tactical analysis, we will analyze Ole Werners tactics employed at the start of the season.

Ole Werner Coaching Style & Formations

Ole Werners style of play is one of stability; he prefers it as a coach, and it shows.

While he used a 3-5-2 formation in the first two years as a Werder manager, he made a change to a 3-4-2-1 formation in the second half of last season and has stuck to it ever since.

With his personnel decisions, Werner adopts a similar approach, limiting rotation to the necessary amount.

In goal, Michael Zetterer took the starting spot during last season and has not let go of it since.

The back three usually consists of captain Marco Friedl in the centre, Anthony Jung on the left, and former German international Niklas Stark on the right.

With Stark struggling with injuries over the last weeks, Julian Malatini has a good chance of becoming a regular at the position.

The two wingbacks are usually Mitchell Weiser on the right side and Felix Agu on the left side, but with the late summer signing of Derrick Köhn coming in, Weiser could be playing further forward, Agu on the right side, and Köhn on the left side.

Werner currently prefers a double-pivot in midfield, with Danish international Jens Stage in a box-to-box role next to Senne Lynen as a holding midfielder.

In attacking midfield, Austrian International Romano Schmid has been the regular starter ever since Ole Werner took over Werder Bremen.

Werner is still seeking the ideal partner alongside Schmid.

Pacey striker Justin Njinmah usually starts as the second attacking midfielder, but after he was injured in the game against Mainz, Marco Grüll and Mitchell Weiser have also gotten starts at the position so far this season.

Up front, former Borussia Dortmund striker Marvin Ducksch is Ole Werners top dog, having contributed 22 goals last term.

Werder Bremen Strengths

First, we will examine what Werder Bremen did exceptionally well to start the season, specifically their build-up play and defence.

This is a trend carrying over from the end of last season.

Ole Werner Build-Up Play

The Bundesliga is a counter-pressing league.

This means that most of the leagues teams focus on work against the ball as the focal point of their tactics and positional play.

A lot of teams in the Bundesliga rely heavily on playing long balls and trying to win second balls, which makes the games incredibly intense and focused on winning direct duels to win the game.

Another interesting aspect is that the midtable teams in the Bundesliga are relatively close in terms of level of play, resulting in most games being very close.

This results in the league featuring many close games, with a heavy focus on defensive duels and winning second balls.

Ole Werner did something really interesting with Werder Bremen by going in an entirely different direction.

His team is one of the few outside the top teams in the league, such as Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, that actually tries to build the game up from the back with short passes.

While Werder was not an exception to the rule for most of the time, after losing their superstar target man Niklas Füllkrug, Werner was forced to change his ways and style of play.

Werder actively tries to keep the passing distances short, creating number advantages in their first line of play and using contrarotating movements to create open space.

Ole Werner’s men want to attract the press to play through it and progress the ball.

Here, we can see an example of this pattern of play in the first game of the season against FC Augsburg.

Werder builds up using a back-four, with right-back Agu dropping back to receive the ball and help his centre-backs in the passing game.

The near-sided midfielder