Werder Bremen head coach Daniel Thioune has expressed mixed feelings following his team’s third consecutive Bundesliga comeback from a two-goal deficit. Saturday afternoon’s 2-2 home draw against SC Paderborn 07 extended Bremen’s unbeaten run to five matches, but the 52-year-old was frustrated by his side’s defensive mistakes.
Thioune nevertheless praised his team’s broader development and reserved particularly warm words for returning striker Niclas Füllkrug.
Bremen found themselves trailing 2-0 at halftime despite dominating much of the first half. Stefano Marino opened the scoring for Paderborn in the 18th minute before Steffen Tigges doubled the visitors’ advantage following another avoidable defensive mistake.
Füllkrug subsequently came to the rescue, scoring twice in the space of seven second-half minutes to salvage a point. Bremen continued to push for the winner, but Paderborn keeper Nahuel Noll produced several outstanding saves to preserve the draw.
Daniel Thioune sees two identical scorelines differently
“I was particularly disappointed with my team during the second goal,” Thioune noted in his introductory statement at the post-match press conference. “Nobody on my team wanted the ball. Steffen Tigges wanted the ball and he scored the goal.”
The result also produced an unusual contrast with the previous weekend.
Thioune’s side had celebrated an extraordinary late comeback against Borussia Dortmund, recovering from a 2-0 deficit through goals from Ludovit Reis and Füllkrug in the final minutes. Saturday’s identical scoreline generated a considerably different emotional response.
“Last week in Dortmund we were celebrating [a 2-2 comeback draw],” Thioune went on to say. “This week, we’re not pleased [with the same scoreline]. It’s an unfortunate result for us. If everything had gone in, there’s no question who would have won the match today.”
“It’s even more annoying that we don’t need to fall behind 0-2 to contest a game,” Thioune continued. “We don’t need to shoot three goals to win a game. At least we can fight back in games, but it was once again a roller coaster today.”
Bremen’s latest recovery marked their third successive Bundesliga comeback from two goals down. Prior to the Dortmund draw, Thioune’s men recovered from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Augsburg 3-2 thanks to a spectacular stoppage-time winner from Mitchell Weiser.
The growing resilience is encouraging. The repeated defensive lapses that necessitate these comebacks, however, remain an obvious concern. Thioune nevertheless emphasized that his overall assessment of Bremen’s recent development remains positive.
“I think people were well entertained today,” Thioune concluded. “Even if I’m not so pleased with the result, I can live with the way my team has presented itself over the last few weeks.”
Thioune insists Niclas Füllkrug deserves praise
The Werder trainer was considerably more enthusiastic when asked about Füllkrug’s remarkable goalscoring resurgence. Füllkrug has now scored six Bundesliga goals in six appearances, finding the net in five consecutive matches and establishing himself among the division’s most productive attackers following his summer return from West Ham United.
The personal achievement offered little consolation to the striker, who expressed frustration over Bremen’s failure to secure three points and dismissed questions about his goalscoring records and potential German national-team recall in his post-match interviews. Thioune nevertheless acknowledged that Füllkrug’s demanding personality could make life difficult for his coach at times.
“Niclas has been doing an outstanding job for weeks,” Thioune answered in response to his first question about Füllkrug. “Not just on the pitch, but also the way he pushes the lads on the training pitch and in the locker room. He always wants more in every training session. It’s incredibly impressive.”
“He deserves a lot of praise, even if he doesn’t want to hear of it,” Thioune continued. “For me as a coach, it can be quite the formidable task to work with him, but on days like today, one simply has to say that it’s great what he’s doing.”
The coach now sees his returning striker growing increasingly confident, even if Füllkrug himself remains relentlessly critical of opportunities he fails to convert.
“As you saw, he’ll talk about one or two chances he would have liked to have finished,” Thioune concluded. “The desire is there. The belief, maybe not. The conviction increases from week to week. He’s doing a great job.”
The combination of Thioune’s attacking football and Füllkrug’s goals has transformed Bremen’s outlook following a difficult previous campaign. Five consecutive unbeaten Bundesliga matches represent tangible progress for a team that spent much of last season fighting relegation.
The next challenge is ensuring that the team can collect victories without repeatedly having to engineer dramatic escapes.