A season that promised much for Werder Bremen ultimately proved to be a disappointment as they only just escaped the clutches of relegation and finished in the lower end of the league table. Viktor Skrypnyk's appointment as the successor for Robin Dutt proved to be a successful one for Bremen last season as they finished just three points short of a European qualification spot. The club kicked the season off optimistic of another fight for a place in the top six, especially after some heavy investment in the attack as Anthony Ujah and Aron Johannsson were signed as replacements for the departing Franco Di Santo and David Selke while Claudio Pizarro was brought in to act as backup for the duo. While Bremen did make a good start to the season, collecting seven points from their first four games, their campaign quickly unraveled as they struggled for consistency. A five-match losing streak followed their good start and, while victories away to Augsburg and Mainz did provide some respite, Bremen slumped back to losing ways and they headed into the winter break sitting in the bottom three. Bremen were struggling to score goals despite the heavy investment, with the club managing to score more than a goal just five times from their opening 20 games, and question marks were being raised over Skrypnyk's future at the club. The Bremen coach started the second half of the season opting to make Pizarro his first choice striker ahead of Johannsson and Ujah and the move proved to be crucial for Bremen's survival as the experienced striker grabbed 10 goals from nine games between January and March to keep his side within touching distance of safety. A crucial victory over Wolfsburg was followed up with another big win against fellow relegation strugglers Stuttgart but it was not enough to secure safety as Bremen headed into the final day of the season needing a win against Eintracht Frankfurt in order to avoid the drop. They did manage to get themselves over the finish line thanks to a late goal by Papy Djilobodji to secure the required result and end the season in a fairly decent position. Skrypnyk has managed to keep his job despite overseeing a disappointing campaign and has a big task on hand during the summer. Bremen are in desperate need for reinforcements in the defense, with the club boasting of the second worst defense in the league as they conceded 65 goals, three more than bottom placed Hannover 96. Pizarro has extended his stay for another season and Skrypnyk will be hoping that both Ujah and Johansson will improve on what has been personally a poor season for the two strikers as he looks for a better next campaign overall.
