The rejuvenated SV Werder Bremen team suffered its second second league defeat in a row in Dresden on Sunday. The issue of experience also plays a role following injuries to some established players. However, there will be no comeback of a long-standing Bremen professional.
Last season, Philipp Bargfrede made a comeback for Werder in the Bundesliga after not being offered a contract by the club he played for his entire professional career after the 2019/20 season. On matchday 31, the now 32-year-old was substituted in the away game at Union Berlin – because the personnel shortage was correspondingly great at the time.
The veteran should be involved in the test match against Heracles Almelo
The midfielder had actually joined Bremen’s 2nd team at the end of October after being out of contract for a short time, but was then called up to the professionals again by coach Florian Kohfeldt, especially since the Regionalliga was cancelled last season due to corona, as is well known.
In the current season, Bargfrede captained Werder’s U23s in all five games. However, he will not be returning to the professional squad, although coach Markus Anfang, who has been in charge since the summer, was quite open to the idea during the last international break. “I wanted to include him against Heracles Almelo,” said the 47-year-old on Tuesday. The second-division club had met the Dutch first-division club in a test match (2-0) on 1 September.
“He decided for himself that he didn’t want that. That’s what I accepted. “
MARKUS ANFANG
As background to his considerations, Anfang explained that Bargfrede should gain his experience with Bremen’s new playing philosophy in case “sometimes experienced players are absent and we have problems on one player axis”. At the latest after the knee injury suffered by Christian Groß, who like Bargfrede plays in defensive midfield, this problem exists. With Leonardo Bittencourt and, above all, captain Ömer Toprak, the team is also missing two other experienced professionals who would have looked good in a team that lost 3-0 in Dresden.
However, 32-year-old Bargfrede rejected the offer at the beginning of the international break. “He decided for himself that he didn’t want it,” said the Werder head coach. The ex-professional’s decision had to do with his past. Anfang: “That’s what I accepted”.