A disappointing season ended in another defeat for Werder Bremen who finished well below the pre-season expectations of a European challenge. Having finished in the mid-table last season, Bremen fancied a return to Europe this time around but were plagued with inconsistency and at one time looked in danger of being dragged into a relegation battle near the end of the season. Bremen had a decent start to the season and looked to have emerged as serious challengers for a European qualification spot prior to the winter break. However troubles started for Bremen from December with the club managing just two wins from 19 games and were within 4 points of the relegation zone with final five games remaining. However Augsburg's dip in form coupled with hard fought draws against Fortuna Dusseldorf, Hoffenheim and Eintracht Frankfurt helped Bremen secure their Bundesliga status with a couple of games remaining. The poor performance this season did not go unnoticed though and Thomas Schaaf left the club two games before the end of the season after being in charge for more than 14 years. Bremen are yet to appoint a permanent coach in charge of the club for the next season and while there are doubts over the futures of Nils Petersen, Marko Arnautovic and Sokratis, one player Bremen will miss the most will be Kevin De Bruyne who had a successful loan stint with Bremen, scoring 10 goals and creating 9 more and quickly became a key feature for Schaaf. However De Bruyne will not be extending his stay with the club and is expected to make his move to either Bayer Leverkusen or Borussia Dortmund and the new coach will have to ensure that he gets in a proper replacement for the Belgian next season.
