The clear public criticism of Werder Bremen's transfer policy has not escaped Marco Bode either.
But the chairman of the supervisory board cannot really understand the excitement after Davy Klaassen's departure and the waiver of the obligation to replace him.
Bremen - "If someone is wondering that we can't get
Marko Grujic
out of the Premier League
in our situation
, then I don't understand the world anymore," says Bode in an
interview with the DeichStube *
and refers to the extremely tense financial situation
Werder Bremen
.
At the same time, the ex-professional defends himself against the black mark: “Because we have lost a - admittedly very good - player like Klaassen, that doesn't automatically mean that we only play against relegation.
We don't save ourselves in the second division.
We still have a competitive team. "
Werder Bremen boss Marco Bode relies on experienced workers like Maximilian Eggestein
Also in midfield?
Actually, after the many well-known departures in this area (Philipp Bargfrede, Kevin Vogt, Nuri Sahin) a six should be brought in, instead midfield boss Klaassen switched to Ajax Amsterdam.
“Yes, there is a certain risk in midfield,” admits Bode: “But we also have to trust this team.
We want to go the way with young players, then such a situation is now part of it. ”Bode relies on experienced staff such as Maximilian Eggestein (23) and Kevin Möhwald (27), but also on talents like Jean Manuel Mbom (20), Romano Schmid (20), Nick Woltemade (18) and Ilia Gruev (20).
Yuya Osako (30) and Leonardo Bittencourt (26) could also play in midfield.
And then of course there is also Patrick Erras (25) - the new addition to the second division 1. FC Nürnberg, who did not even make it into
Werder Bremen's
20-man squad in the first two Bundesliga games
.
“That just shows how deep we are in the squad,” Bode argues, and emphasizes: “You shouldn't make a hasty judgment.
For me, Patrick remains a serious option.
He did very well in preparation. "
Werder Bremen: Transfer from Milot Rashica to Bayer Leverkusen failed
The chairman of the supervisory board is also a realist and of course would not have resisted strengthening the midfield - especially not against a Grujic.
"If you can, you sign such a player," says Bode of the 24-year-old from Liverpool FC, who was loaned to Hertha BSC for the past two seasons.
But an obligation - even a loan - would only have been possible if Milot Rashica had been sold on time and for the desired price.
But that didn't work.
"I don't have a guilty conscience now because we didn't do it," says
Marco Bode
, "because it would have been simply unreasonable." It annoys him that not everyone is aware of the club's difficult financial situation.
“In the past few months we have made it very transparent that we are in crisis mode due to the corona crisis.
This alone means that we are missing 30 million euros by the end of the year.
That is a quarter of our annual turnover.
And who knows when we can count on relevant audience income again? "
Werder Bremen had to pay twelve million euros for Leonardo Bittencourt and Ömer Toprak
But Bode does not want to blame everything on the consequences of the corona pandemic, the 51-year-old is also self-critical.
“We have
an additional problem
at
Werder Bremen
: From today's perspective, it was wrong that we refrained from selling a top performer a year ago.
We wanted to increase our chances of qualifying for Europe, but we fell on the nose. ”Part of this“ strategic decision ”by the supervisory board and management at the time was that the newcomers Ömer Toprak and Leonardo Bittencourt were only loaned out, but then a year later - that summer - had to be paid for a purchase obligation.
Together this resulted in a transfer fee of twelve million euros.
The money has now been brought back through the Klaassen sale (eleven million euros plus possible bonuses of three million).
A Rashica transfer would have alleviated the corona shortfall.
This effect now has to be made up for in winter or in summer at the latest.
In order to remain liquid,
Werder Bremen
announced months ago that they would take out loans - the approval of a KfW loan is still pending, the Federal Ministry of Finance is currently working on this.
The club is working on alternative solutions in parallel.
The point is that the financial difficulties do not become too dangerous for the club and that its future is called into question.
If the concept of avoiding transfer expenses - even in winter -, developing young players, creating new values and staying in the league, the season would be a great success, the consolidation would be achieved in the most difficult times.
A mammoth task - also for the trainer
Florian Kohfeldt
.
“I spoke to Florian.
Of course he would have liked to have replaced Klaassen.
That's what every coach wants, "says Bode:" But Florian goes along with this.
He also said that we shouldn't get any player who might just block our own players without strengthening us significantly.
Florian wants to develop our players. "
Werder Bremen has another trump card up its sleeve: Milot Rashica
Coach, management and supervisory board - that is an unusually close relationship in Bremen by Bundesliga standards.
“We were brave last year to keep believing in Florian.
We could have gone the easy way and got a new coach, ”Bode remembers the tough battle for relegation:“ Now Florian is doing it for us too and doesn't quarrel. ”The chairman of the supervisory board would like the environment to have this attitude and is seeking support.
“I ask the fans and, to a certain extent, the media to give this team the chance it deserves.
Things won't always go smoothly, but I am confident and remain confident.
It is forbidden to speak of Europe, but you don't always have to think about staying up. "
Here've
Werder Bremen
have a trick up its sleeve:
Milot Rashica
which remain after his burst transfer needs.
“Of course he was disappointed, but he'll take it.
His chance for the next step in his career is not over.
He can work this out for himself again with his teammates.
He's best to draw attention to himself with goals.
It cannot be ruled out that the situation will have something good for Milot and Werder. ”(Kni) *
DeichStube.de
is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network and accompanies SV Werder Bremen's test match against FC St. Pauli im Live ticker.
