Focal as they come on the pitch, Klaassen wants his teammates to share this urge to redeem themselves. That has to be our motivation in every training session, he explains. "We want to show that we are better than a team that narrowly avoids relegation. That has to be our drive."
For Davy, the two years spent at the Weser could hardly have been more different from one another. After his first season, when he signed his contract, the club was one point away from qualifying for Europe. In the season just gone, the away goals rule came into play and saved him and his teammates from relegation in the playoff against Heidenheim.
Klaassen sees these experiences as both a warning and an opportunity. What’s stopping the trend taking Werder’s form back in the right direction for 2020/21, he asks rhetorically. "The Bundesliga is a very balanced league – lots of clubs have similar ambitions. It’s very hard to say from the start where the journey will take us." Klaassen is sure of just one thing, however: He will do everything within his power to make sure the team doesn’t have to pull off another late escape.