Steffen on Werder Bremen: Cup, Derby & Boniface Impact

Status date: December 26, 2025.

Authors:
Dino Bernabeo and Karsten Lübben

Head coach Horst Steffen has experienced a lot with Bremen in the first six months. With buten un binnen he looks back before the end of the year.

The move to Werder in the summer

After parting ways with coach Ole Werner, Werder sought contact with several possible successors. Sports director Clemens Fritz recently raved about a four-hour meeting with Steffen in Münster at the general meeting.

“I was also excited because, especially at the beginning of the discussions, the family atmosphere in the club was emphasized,” says Steffen. Only then did it become a matter of Werder’s sporting interests. The club ultimately decided on him. As a coach, at the age of 56, he made the leap into the Bundesliga after many years in the regional league, the 3rd league and the 2nd league.

The first big disappointment in the DFB Cup

DFB Cup in Bielefeld, was there something? Even under Werner, Bremen were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the competition against Bielefeld in February. They lost 1:2 on the Alm.

This season, Werder was supposed to have the chance for revenge in the first round of the competition – but that went completely wrong: Bremen suffered another defeat against Arminia.

Leonardo Bittencourt was shown a yellow-red card in the 54th minute. In the third minute of injury time, Isaiah Young scored the 1-0 winner for the second division team. “I don’t like being reminded of that,” says Steffen. The defeat “did not help the mood improve.”

Zetterer moves to Frankfurt

The cup exit in Bielefeld was also Michael Zetterer’s last competitive game for Werder. In preparation, Steffen called for an open duel between Zetterer and Mio Backhaus.

Zetterer prevailed, but moved to Eintracht Frankfurt before the start of the Bundesliga. He can now play in the Champions League on the Main. “Zetti’s departure wasn’t nice for us and our fan base,” reflects Steffen. “Nevertheless, we now have a great goalkeeper in Mio.”

The first point win against Leverkusen

The start of the Bundesliga went wrong with a 4-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt. Things initially looked bad in the second Bundesliga game of the season too: after the yellow-red card for Niklas Stark, Werder played outnumbered and were already down 3-1 after 64 minutes.

In the end, however, the fans in the Weser Stadium were still cheering: after a mistake by Leverkusen goalkeeper Mark Flekken, Isaac Schmidt reduced the score to 2:3 in the 76th minute. And in stoppage time, Karim Coulibaly, who was only 18 years old, managed to equalize to make it 3-3 (90th+4). Pictures that Steffen still enjoys looking at.

So loud and so beautiful. Pure joy! That’s great. Leo (Bittencourt, editor’s note) running through the picture, wonderful. This is an excerpt that I can watch several times.

Werder coach Horst Steffen

Werder borrows hopeful Boniface

At first it was just a rumor on Deadline Day that hardly anyone wanted to believe, but in the end Victor Boniface actually came to Osterdeich. Werder has borrowed the center forward from Bayer 04 Leverkusen for this season. This raised great expectations among fans. After all, the Nigerian won the German championship and the DFB Cup with Leverkusen in 2024, scoring 22 goals in 42 Bundesliga appearances.

But things aren’t going well for Boniface at Werder: he hasn’t scored once. At Steffen he is not one of the regular players. His fitness level is always discussed.

Can Steffen still get Boniface? “We’ll see,” replies the coach. “It’s clear that he has already shown world-class performances.”

Steffen explains that he would have liked to see Boniface cheering more often on the pitch. We’re continuing to work on it, but “I can’t promise anything.” But why can’t the 25-year-old exploit his potential on the Weser? Are the physical deficits still too great? Is it possible that your head isn’t playing along?

I don’t have to explain everything or answer every question about him. We work with him and try as best as we can to get him into a condition where he is happy and performs.

Werder coach Horst Steffen

The defeat in the northern derby

After more than seven years, Werder and HSV met again at the beginning of December. However, the result spoiled the Bremen team’s mood. They initially took the lead through Jens Stage shortly before halftime in the 45th minute, but in the end they lost 2-3.

“It still hurts me,” reveals Steffen, “because I know exactly how important this game is for our fans.” In addition, the game produced a better result. Especially after the tour.

He had promised himself more commitment in the duels in the derby. “I would have liked it to be even more combative on our part,” said Steffen. In the second leg in April he wants to forget the defeat at the Volksparkstadion.

Werder is tumbling into crisis

Not only did things not go well against HSV, but also in the weeks before and after. Werder only got two points from the last five games of 2025. Because of this misery, Steffen also came into focus. Is he really the right man for Bremen?

“Nobody needs to criticize me. I’m very critical of myself,” says Steffen. In addition to the derby defeat, he was particularly annoyed by the draw against 1. FC Köln. In the game, his team conceded the equalizer to make it 1-1 in stoppage time. The trainer has not gone unnoticed by the displeasure in those around him in recent weeks. Even the 0-0 draw at the end of the year in Augsburg was not the liberation we were hoping for. Steffen hopes things will get better next year.

It’s very clear that I notice this. It’s very clear that I also see it as an incentive and say: ‘Hey, it’s getting better. We’ll take all the boys there.’

Werder coach Horst Steffen

Those: buten un inside.

This topic in the program:
butenunbinnen.de, “Pokal exit, Nordderby, Boniface: Steffen looks at his Werder start,” December 26, 2025, 7:30 a.m