A different approach with the same energy!

Preview of the Bundesliga match against DSC Arminia Bielefeld
Josh Sargent, who scored in a friendly against Bielefeld in October 2018, will be looking to get his first Bundesliga goal of the season on Saturday (photo: nordphoto).
preliminary report
Friday, 02.10.2020 / 14:01

“A tough nut to crack” is how Florian Kohfeldt described the DSC Arminia Bielefeld team in Thursday’s pre-match press conference. SVW take on last year’s Bundesliga 2 winners in the second home game of the 2020/21 season on Saturday (15:30 CEST). With a heavy heart, Werder announced on Thursday that the match at the wohninvest WESERSTADION will have to take place without fans. Although he would naturally prefer to be playing in front of a green and white crowd, Florian Kohfeldt doesn’t want to hear any excuses regarding the difficult conditions for Saturday’s game. The Werder coach is expecting full commitment from his team for the encounter tomorrow afternoon, even without the fans there to cheer them on. “We can’t lose any of our focus. We’ll have to step up our game and put more pressure on the opponent in comparison to the Schalke game.” Only then will Kohfeldt’s team succeed in cracking this particular nut.

Squad news: Florian Kohfeldt can look back with satisfaction on an intense week of training that included little time for recovery. While Ömer Toprak should be returning to full team training during the upcoming international break next week, Milot Rashica will continue to use this time for individual  training to get back up to match fitness. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible for Milot to complete a full training session with the team quite yet,” reported Kohfeldt on Rashica. However, for the rest of the team, the Werder coach gave the green light: “The rest of the players are fully fit and available for selection.”

Maintaining focus and going to the limit

Florian Kohfeldt outlined the aims for the game against Arminia on Thursday (photo: nordphoto).

Kohfeldt on the match: Against Bielefeld, Werder’s coach wants to keep up the positive momentum that was on display in Gelsenkirchen. “We showed the way that we want to play against Schalke - with plenty of courage.” Although the Werder tactics may not have been perfect throughout the game, the Green-Whites’ attacking performance should serve as an example for future fixtures. “That’s the benchmark that we need to keep up against Bielefeld,” said Kohfeldt, emphasising the quality of Arminia's football as well as their team spirit, which remained remarkably consistent over the course of last season thanks mainly to the work of coach Uwe Neuhaus. Alongside having an “unbelievably good goalkeeper” in Stefan Ortega, Kohfeldt is expecting few opportunities for high pressing for his team. “Out of possession, they keep a compact shape and often try to push higher up the pitch,” said Werder’s coach of the East Westphalian’ tactics. Kohfeldt also emphasised how Werder have a different set of challenges facing them on Saturday in comparison to the Schalke game. “We have to approach it differently but nevertheless bring the same energy on the pitch.” The main idea for the weekend is therefore to “maintain our focus” and go “to the absolute limit”.

The previous encounter: It has been a long time since Werder have taken on Bielefeld in a Bundesliga game, with the last encounter being back in 2009 when Werder succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against the East Westphalians. Hugo Almeida's goal, after a Torsten Frings assist, was not enough to take points on the day. Clemens Fritz, current head of scouting and professional football at SV Werder, featured in the Werder starting XI. Over eleven years later, the slate has been wiped clean and the Green-Whites will be expecting to face a completely different Arminia on Saturday.

Looking to put an end to a strong start

The majority of the squad were able to complete the week's training (photo: nordphoto).

Looking for victory number 20: In total, Werder have played 32 competitive matches against Bielefeld, winning 19, drawing 4, and losing 9 times. The historic 8-1 victory at Osterdeich on 29th September 2007 was the both the most recent and the biggest win against Arminia, and therefore will be the game that most Werder fans will remember most fondly.

DSC undefeated so far: As noted by Clemens Fritz on Tuesday, the Bundesliga newcomers are certainly not to be underestimated. Head coach Uwe Neuhaus has seen his team adapt well to the top league thus far, with Arminia taking four points from their first two games. In the season opener, Neuhaus’ team drew 1-1 away at Eintracht Frankfurt before beating 1. FC Köln 1-0 in their first home game of the campaign.

Your web browser ist outdated.
The web browser you are using is no longer supported.
Please download one of these free and up to date browsers.
Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge
Chrome Firefox Edge
Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
MS Edge
Why should I use an up to date web browser?
Security
Newer web browsers provide better protection against malware, data theft and other threats to your privacy and security. Up to date browsers continuously close security holes that allow attackers to enter your computer.
New Technologies
The technologies used on modern websites are better supported by newer web browsers. This both increases functionality and improves the website layout. By benefiting from new functions and extensions you will be able to surf the web faster and easier.