“Our aim was to bring clarity to the situation as soon as possible” | OneFootball

Clemens Fritz explains why Werder chose Horst Steffen to be their new head coach (Photo: W.DE).

Clemens Fritz on the arrival of head coach Horst Steffen

Two days after parting ways with head coach Ole Werner, Werder Bremen announced Horst Steffen as his successor. The 56-year-old joins the Green-Whites from SV Elversberg. Werder’s managing director of professional football, Clemens Fritz, told WERDER.DE that Horst Steffen’s arrival was the perfect outcome, and explained why he wanted to bring clarity to the position of head coach as soon as possible.

WERDER.DE: Moin Clemens. We have secured the signature of Horst Steffen as our new head coach. How much of a relief is it for you to have brought clarity to the situation so quickly?

Clemens Fritz: I’m pleased that it’s all happened so quickly. Our aim was to bring clarity to the situation as soon as possible. We studied the market for head coaches extensively and we’re really happy that we’ve been able to unveil Horst Steffen as the new head coach of Werder Bremen after such a short space of time.

Horst Steffen (left) joins the Green-Whites from SV Elversberg (Photo: W.DE).

WERDER.DE: The decision was reached quickly. Were there very long negotiations with Horst Steffen?

Clemens Fritz: We had very good conversations on both sides. We of course showed Horst what we have to offer. He then fit with our ideas immediately because of his footballing ideology, humanity and way of going about things. From then on, we were on the same page relatively quickly.

WERDER.DE: If you had to describe him, what kind of a head coach is Horst Steffen?

Clemens Fritz: He’s very meticulous in his work. He’s also someone who demands a high level of intensity from his players in how they play football. But on the pitch, he wants his team to enjoy themselves. Clearly, it’s also a results-based game. First and foremost though, he gets the lads on board and takes them with him on his path. It will be a journey of development for him, and we were excited by that. In addition, he is very open and honest, and I think he’s a really good fit for Werder Bremen.

Clemens Fritz, managing director of professional football.

WERDER.DE:You’ve openly said that he wasn’t the only candidate. What do you look for in an application process like this?

Clemens Fritz: It’s a process. We had to be prepared for this situation. We carried out a process where we met and had conversations with several people. Obviously, you try to look at everything as a whole – the data, the playing style, the professional expertise and the personal expertise. We created a set of requirements. We went through those and tried to use all the information and data, as well as our impressions from the meetings, to whittle down the candidates. We then had two left. It’s no secret that Horst’s arrival was the perfect outcome of this process for us.

Horst Steffen was the perfect candidate to be Werder’s head coach (Photo: W.DE).

WERDER.DE: His campaign only came to an end on Monday, and preparations for next season are already underway. Will Horst Steffen have any time at all to take a break?

Clemens Fritz: Definitely. I think that’s massively important. Especially after spending such a long time at Elversberg, it’s essential to reflect, assess and look back on the past a bit. It was a very full-on season for him with the promotion play-offs, and a disappointing outcome. We have to take that into account. We’re in contact and I’ve told Horst that it’s important that he now takes some time to switch off and wind down, and we can get in touch with him if needed. It’s true that we’re in the summer transfer window, so we do need to be in tandem with each other, but we’ll only call him if absolutely necessary. That’s because it’s important to recharge the batteries so we can start pre-season in July full of renewed energy.

WERDER.DE: There will be transfers, but you’ve also said that you put those to one side a bit while you waited to see who the new head coach would be. What are your current plans? Will we really get down to it now?

Clemens Fritz: We made a conscious decision to wait, because we obviously wanted to firstly have clarity on the position of head coach. But we have of course looked at the situation and determined what we need, and we’re now in contact with Horst about this. He obviously has his own opinions on our players. We tell him our thoughts and he tells us his thoughts, and then we’ll see what the best-possible course of action is for us. We have a shortlist, and now we just have to look at what’s feasible and what Horst thinks of the players before we proceed.

WERDER.DE: Thank you for speaking to us!