Why Werder Bremen must give Victor Boniface a chance | OneFootball

Werder Bremen supporters have tried their best to stay patient, but they’re not willing to wait anymore.

On Deadline Day this past summer, it seemed like the club pulled off one of the coups of the offseason. They brought in the talents of Victor Boniface, signing the Bayer Leverkusen striker on loan for the rest of the campaign.

Suddenly Bremen had their newest frontman. Sure, Boniface had dropped off a bit after his superb 2023/24 campaign where he had over 30 goal contributions, but he was still an incredibly skilled player. If they could get him back to his best, and help him deal with his injury issues, then they could reap the rewards.

Nearly two months later, and the team still hasn’t really given him a chance. That needs to change on Friday night.

Baby steps

It took two weeks before Boniface even saw the field. He came to the Weserstadion with physical problems, and he was far from being fully fit. He wasn’t able to go through a proper preseason with Leverkusen, so that process had to be accelerated at his new club.

Manager Horst Steffen gave him his debut with 15 minutes to go away to Borussia Mönchengladbach. This was the perfect opportunity, as Werder were already up 3-0. They went up four goals thanks to their new striker, when he laid a lovely pass to Justin Njinmah for a dinked finish.

The next two games did not go as well. The Green-Whites were down to both Freiburg and Bayern Munich, and the contests weren’t particularly close. The silver lining was that Boniface earned more minutes, getting half-hour cameos in both matches.

However, instead of things progressing, they got worse. In a tight and tense affair versus St. Pauli, where Bremen could have really used another goal, they kept their new forward on the bench for a while. He was only subbed in with 10 minutes to go, and he nearly created a goal during that short span.

In the most recent match against Heidenheim, Boniface waited until the 68th minute to get his opportunity, which came immediately after his team conceded an equalizer. That didn’t phase him, as he handled a give-and-go with Romano Schmid down the sideline, which ultimately led to a cut-back and a goal from Jens Stage. In mere seconds he created a moment of magic.

Signs of potential

It’s been tough to judge Boniface due to his limited minutes, but there’s been plenty of instances where he’s looked impressive.

He thrives on the ball, and there’s a chance he’s the club’s best player in terms of decisiveness, especially in the final third. The Nigerian consistently settles it well, and his smart decision-making allows him to make the right next move. He’ll lay it off to a teammate, dribble forward, or play a more threatening pass.

Boniface knows what positions to be in, depending on the tactical system he’s in. At Leverkusen, he floated around to link up play, and then he’d fly into the penalty box. During his first appearances for Werder he tried to do the same thing, but he looked lost because the set-up was different. He’s learned, hovering more centrally in traditional areas for strikers.

When you look at the way the Green-Whites play, the number #44 should be a seamless fit. He loves a give-and-go and quickly passes the ball around, and that’s what Steffen is trying to get his team to do more of. It’s tough, and your passes have to be hit with the right pace and power, but when it works it’s a joy to watch.

There are some issues, of course. Boniface is not fully-fit, and he doesn’t move quite right. He looks heavy, and it takes him some time to get going when he has to run. Part of that is by design, as he has a naturally big build and likely wants to maintain his strength and power. However, that makes him less of a threat on the counter.

Taking a shot

The biggest thing is that we know what Bremen looks like with their current selection of strikers, and what happens when Boniface comes off the bench.

We don’t know what happens when Boniface starts.

Now is as good of a time as ever, as Bremen host Union Berlin on Friday night. It’s a game they’ll be under pressure to win, and if they want a real chance of claiming all three points, they’ll need to score.

Why not give the new attacking talent a real chance to make an impact? He’s shown enough by now, and even if he can’t go the full 90, you should be able to trust him to play for an hour, or worst-case scenario until half-time.

Even if he doesn’t last as long as you’d like, if Boniface can create or score some goals while he’s on the field, it will be all worth it. You never know if you never try.