Clemens Fritz, Werder Bremen’s Head of Personnel, has responded to criticism directed at him and his administrative team by injured team leader Mitchell Weiser. The 31-year-old gave an interview during Saturday’s 1-2 home loss against RB Leipzig. Weiser brought up the same issues that squad captain Marco Friedl had raised at the start of the season regarding Werder’s poor summer transfer window.
During Werder’s second encounter with former head coach Ole Werner (now coaching Leipzig), Weiser, who has not played this season due to an ACL tear, also questioned the club management’s decision not to renew Werner’s contract last season. Weiser’s interview attracted attention from German media.
According to German reports, Weiser’s contract, like that of his soon-to-depart teammate Leonardo Bittencourt, is set to expire at the end of the season. Weiser may soon join several other key Bremen players (such as Bittencourt, Milos Veljkovic, Anthony Jung, and Marvin Ducksch) who have left the club in the past 12 months.
Mitchell Weiser’s Critique of Werder Bremen
Weiser stated that the club “has lost what it was striving for.” He added, “A lot has happened this year and last summer that I found questionable. We are still mourning the loss [of Ole Werner]. We need to work on things and improve. I’m waiting for signals that we are roughly returning to the path we were on under Ole.”
He continued, “I like it here and want to strive for something greater at Werder than just fighting relegation. With all due respect, last year we were on a great path [competing for Europe], and now this year we have put ourselves in a difficult position. Werder should be playing on the international stage, and I would love to be a part of that.”
Weiser concluded that “this club needs to decide where it wants to go.”
Fritz Reacts to Weiser’s Criticism
Fritz stated that he only “caught snippets [of the interview]” and from his perspective, “the statements he made are incomprehensible.” He added, “Nevertheless, I will have to look at everything in its full context. I had an open and honest conversation with Mitchell just a few weeks ago. We made necessary decisions last summer and we continue to stand by them.”
Fritz continued, “I spoke about these and explained them to Mitch back then. We wanted to rejuvenate the squad with new players and establish new values. Mitch knows that. It is for this reason that I find such statements incomprehensible.”
Fritz noted at a media session on Sunday that he “would have preferred it if he came to me first and spoke with me about it.” He clarified, “But I don’t suspect him of any ill will. We will sit down and talk again soon. I know that Mitchell has high standards. Everyone knows that. Once he is fit again, he is welcome to prove himself here.”
Daniel Thioune on Weiser
Werder’s head coach reported at the same Sunday media session that Weiser “has been injured for a long time, and now the question is whether we can get him back to match fitness within the next six weeks.” He added, “If I feel he can help the team, I will be the last person to stand in his way.”
Thioune continued, “It’s best to focus on tuning out the surrounding noise and getting him back on the pitch. I am happy to have an ambitious player with big goals. He just wanted to underscore his ambitions with those points. We need to get him playing so he can show how valuable he is to us.”
