#SVWTSG preview: "Show that we can win there"

Julian Nagelsmann on...

…the opposition:

"After the DFB Pokal exit, there are scores to be settled with Werder. We expressed our resentment after that game, now we want to follow up our words with actions - we want to show that we can win there. I don’t expect Werder to sit quite as deep as they did in the cup, when the whole team just sat back and waited for us at their penalty area. They have a slightly different approach under Florian Kohfeldt. I don’t think they’ll spend 90 minutes pressing us either, though. Werder will be aggressive and full of passion: they have a fantastic crowd at their ground, one that sticks to the team when it’s not going their way, now they’ve had something to cheer about as well. We need to be prepared for the team’s desire to perform for their supporters."  

…personnel:  

"It’s not looking so good at the moment; we’ve carried a few injuries into the New Year, because the holidays and our recovery period were quite short. We’re especially short in central midfield, where Kerem Demirbay will definitely be unavailable due to thigh-muscle problems, which will make an appearance in the following match unlikely as well. Nadiem Amiri is only at 90 percent with bruising on his foot. Lukas Rupp and Dennis Geiger both have muscular problems; we’ll have to wait and see whether they’ll be able to play."  

...the sporting situation I:

"I would have preparations in Germany again – we didn’t spend any days travelling, were able to complete all our sessions and work with our video wall. My players had an unusual few weeks of training, with a different focus in every session. Whether our preparations were a success will become clear on Saturday: it’s very black and white; whoever wins will be right. I was very pleased with the training sessions, but not with our friendlies. Against both Rotterdam and Sandhausen we were dominant for the opening 20 minutes, but failed to score the goals. The draw against Rotterdam was a little better, but both games reminded me of some of our performances in the first half of the season."

...the sporting situation II:

"Pellegrino Matarazzo became our new assistant coach this week and I’m pleased to have another assistant who will bring forward his own ideas. ‘Rino’ is a tough character, that’s the first thing you notice. I’ve known him a long time now, because we played against him four times with the U19s, while he was manager in Nuremberg. I got to know him really well at the Football Coaching school where I shared a room with him. We got along well from day one and he was always someone I could have intense discussions about football with. The team have received him very well, as I did back then. I have to take my hat off to the team, they’re doing really well, and they were all very understanding and accepting of Alfred Schreuder’s decision to change clubs."

...the sporting situation III:

"I am confident that Adam Szalai and Andrej Kramaric will play a big role in the Rückrunde. Adam had a great preseason and was stopped by an injury, which he’s not been able to fully bounce back from. A lot of things came together for Andrej Kramaric in the Hinrunde – I only spoke to him on Tuesday about his situation: he’s very self-critical and knows how to deal with everything. Andrej is a player who thinks about things a lot and doesn’t take to criticism very easily. He put himself under a lot of pressure after a good season, pressure which only grew with a few weak performances. He’s not at 100 percent and he knows that, I don’t need to tell him that. That’s what’s so good about Andrej - he has a great perception of himself."

Previous encounters

The overall head-to-head speaks strongly for Werder Bremen, who have won eleven of 21 competitive encounters with TSG, including the latest one. At the end of October, Werder saw out a 1-0 home win to knock Hoffenheim out of the DFB Pokal. Nevertheless, the more recent history of this fixture gives hope to Blue and White: TSG are unbeaten in four Bundesliga games against Werder dating back to September 2015, winning two. The last league encounter in Bremen was also Nagelsmann’s: on the penultimate matchday of last season, an eight-goal thriller saw TSG come out 5-3 winners.     

The opposition’s form

Werder currently sit in the relegation play-off spot, picking up a mere 15 points in the first half of the season. Towards the end of the Hunrunde, however, there was a clear ascendency under the new management of Florian Kohfeldt; the team picked up seven points from four games and have reached the quarterfinals of the DFB Pokal.  Werder will want to build on this. The head coach was also impressed with his team’s preparations over the winter break. After the training camp in Costa Blanca, he said: "I feel like we’ve made the most of the short winter break, which no-one in the Bundesliga expected to do." A 4-0 win against Twente underlined this. TSG will face a Werder side, who have made excellent progress of late.   

Key battles

TSG have played over 8000 passes so far this season (fourth most in the league), with an 85 percent accuracy (fifth best). Earlier this week, Florian Grillitsch said the following: "We want the ball, we want to play." TSG will have to find the right balance, especially against Werder, who are one of the most dangerous sides in the league on the counter, scoring five goals from quick breaks already this season. Only Bayer Leverkusen have better counterattacking stats than the Weser boys.  

Match facts and statistics »