"Momentum is going our way" – Daniel Thioune and Werder heading in the right direction | OneFootball

After a slow start, Daniel Thioune's Werder Bremen have rebounded in a big way. Thioune lost his first three games after being hired in February, but three wins in four games have taken Werder up to 14th in the Bundesliga.

Now four points clear of the relegation zone, Thioune's side are finding their form at the best possible moment.

“If you had asked me three weeks ago how it felt being second to bottom in the table, I would’ve said it’s not that nice right now," said Thioune in an interview with the DFL. “But it’s much more important in that moment that you show some resilience, remain tenacious and convinced of what you’re doing. And now, three weeks later, momentum is going our way.”

Thioune started his time in Bremen with a daunting stretch of games. First, they played Europa League side SC Freiburg, followed by a seemingly unstoppable Bayern Munich. Then, a key six-pointer against St. Pauli away at the Millerntor-Stadion. Thioune and Werder lost all three.

Werder finally picked up a win on the last day of a rough February with a 2-0 win over last-place FC Heidenheim. That win, Thioune's first with the club, snapped a 13-game winless streak that dated back to November 2025.

One week later, after going down early to Union Berlin, Werder scored four unanswered to come away with a massive 4-1 win. A 2-0 loss the following week against an in-form Mainz side, though, kept Werder firmly in a relegation battle.

“You can’t expect us to win every week, even though we had two wins. But that little setback against Mainz wasn’t good for us,” said Thioune. “It wasn’t necessarily a backward step but like losing a round in boxing.”

Werder capped off March with a big 1-0 win over fellow relegation battlers VfL Wolfsburg. After winning only four of their opening 20 games, Thioune has now won three of seven, taking the club from 19 to 28 points.

"You need more time than a game against Freiburg or away at Bayern," said Thioune. "I maybe would’ve liked us to have done well against St. Pauli, but I think we all would’ve taken three wins from the last four games, shaken your hand for it – not just for the wins but for the run of results.”

Werder Bremen have also benefited from results elsewhere. None of the four clubs below Bremen — Köln, St. Pauli, Wolfsburg, and Heidenheim — have picked up wins in any of their last three games. Bremen, though, have picked up six in that same span and are now only three points behind ninth-place Union Berlin.

Thioune's side are not out of the woods just yet. With the season coming to an end, the relegation battle is picking up. Werder, though, are inching closer to safety and aren't going to give up until they have secured top-flight status next season.

“We’ve still got seven to go. We need more points, but we’ve got plenty of chances to get 21 points from seven remaining games,” said Thioune. “That drives me.”