New coach for Werder Bremen: Horst Steffen wants the ascent!

New coach for Werder Bremen: Horst Steffen wants the ascent!

With fresh wind in the Hanseatic city: SV Werder Bremen introduced a new head coach on Monday. Horst Steffen succeeds Ole Werner, who leaves the club after a three and a half year collaboration. Steffen, who previously trained SV Elversberg, now wants to lead the green and white squad into the new season.

The press conference, which made the great interest of the media illustrated in this change, took 45 minutes. Steffen, 56 years old and himself a former player with over 200 Bundesliga missions for clubs such as KFC Uerdingen and Borussia Mönchengladbach, showed this challenge with anticipation. "Werder's contact was recognized by my previous work," said Steffen. He can look back on a moving career and promoted talents like Nick Woltemade and Paul Wanner in Elversberg.

A look into the future

Steffen has already started analyzing the current team, but first wants to get a precise overview before expressing specific objectives for the coming season. "I want to get to know the players better," said the new coach, who plans to view numerous games. He also emphasizes that he wants to build a "good relationship with the players" so that everyone feels comfortable.

An important part of his coaching style will be the promotion of young players. At the same time, however, he wants to avoid rejuvenating the squad. Steffen even plans to reserve some places in the squad for talents from the U19 to optimally integrate their own offspring.

game idea and system

In terms of the style of play, Steffen would like to ensure offensive football, which is characterized by play joy, intensive commitment and a strong team game. He left open whether this would be done in a triple or four chain, but mentioned that he recently acted in Elversberg in a chain of four.

Clemens Fritz, the managing director of SV Werder Bremen, praised Steffen's previous career and his successes, in particular the rise of Elversberg to the 3rd division and the subsequent successes in the 2nd Bundesliga. Under Steffen, the club concluded the season 2024/25 only one point behind the direct climbing places and failed in the subsequent play-offs against Heidenheim with 3-4.

Start in Bremen

Steffen will have a complete preparation with Werder and is already looking forward to starting the first competitive game in the DFB Cup from mid-August, followed by the start of the Bundesliga a week later. The first years after returning to the Bundesliga were not easy for Werder, with placements from 13, 9 and 8. But Steffen sees this as a great opportunity to get the team on course and bring a fresh air to the stadium.

For more details you can also read [Deichstube] and [Bundesliga].

On the exact goals and the future orientation of the association, the fans will have to be patient until the beginning of the season. But one thing is certain: Horst Steffen has a good knack for talents and a clear concept that the Bremeners could take back to the top. Let's be excited!