Werder Bremen Dressing Room Rift Piles Pressure On Schaaf

A war of words between Tim Wiese and Aaron Hunt has become public knowledge after the two submitted statements to the press following questions about the team’s early season woes. The last thing Thomas Schaaf needs now, after everything Werder Bremen have already been through this season, is a big rift in the dressing room. Werder Bremen currently occupy 13th place in the Bundesliga table, with only eight points from their first seven matches.

Tim Wiese’s quote was:

“We are missing Oezil in every way. He did not only score important goals for the team but he also set many up.”

While it isn’t totally obvious, the implicit criticism is aimed at Aaron Hunt, the player who was given the duty of filling the hole in the team left by Mesut Ozil after his summer departure to Real Madrid. The last thing Schaaf will want, especially now when the team is on a poor run of form, is players questioning the abilities of their team-mates. If a team doesn’t believe in itself, it’s never going to win anything on the pitch. Thomas Schaaf will need to sort it out and quick, or he could have real problems on his hands as the season progresses.

Aaron Hunt’s response to Tim Wiese’s statement was obviously defensive:

“Tim has shown little thought in his statement but we know that we have come to expect that from him.”

To which Tim Wiese responded:

“I don’t care what Aaron says. If I have an opinion, I will continue to hold it.”

Obviously, morale is low at Werder Bremen and it’s only get worse after clear differences have emerged between players. This weekend, Werder Bremen host Freiburg. It’ll be interesting to see if they can pull it together in front of their own fans and set personal differences aside.