When Werder Bremen turned to Daniel Thioune on 4 February, the brief was simple: stop the slide and keep the club in the Bundesliga. He replaced Horst Steffen after a 10-match winless run had left Bremen just one point above the relegation zone, with only four league wins from their first 20 games. For a coach taking his first job in the Bundesliga after spells with Osnabrück, Hamburg and Fortuna Düsseldorf, it was hardly a gentle entry point.
The start was as difficult as expected. Thioune lost his first three league matches, and the numbers did not immediately suggest a turnaround. Yet the picture has shifted over the last month with three wins from their last four games. Those wins, against Heidenheim, Union Berlin and fellow strugglers Wolfsburg, have moved Werder clear of the automatic relegation places and given them breathing room in a crowded bottom half. After the victory in Wolfsburg, Bremen were four points clear of the relegation play-off spot and seven ahead of 17th-placed Wolfsburg.
That does not mean Bremen are safe, only that they finally look like a side capable of surviving. Thioune has spoken repeatedly about resilience, and that word fits the team better now than it did in early February. Werder are not suddenly playing free-flowing football, but they have become harder to break, more realistic in how they approach matches and more reliant on moments rather than dominance. The 1-0 win at Wolfsburg was a good example: Bremen were under pressure for long stretches, but Mio Backhaus delivered in goal and Justin Njinmah took the decisive chance. In a relegation fight, that often matters more than aesthetics.
The key question is whether momentum can carry them over the line. Kicker’s recent survival assessment of Werder makes clear that the job under Thioune is about one thing only: preserving their Bundesliga status. That remains the standard by which this spell will be judged. Bremen still look vulnerable, and one poor run could drag them back into danger, but the gap to Wolfsburg and the improved edge in recent weeks suggest the coach has at least given them a platform. In a survival race, that can be enough.
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