On July 3rd, the team's training day arrived.

First-team players have been arriving at the club in quick succession as the team underwent a major overhaul in the off-season.

So back in the first team, the old players saw a whole bunch of new faces.

In this regard, most of them are very calm, their attitude is not lukewarm, they don't like new players, they can't say they dislike it, it's more like an attitude that they don't want to deal with.

However, the team's veteran captain, 31-year-old Clemens Fritz, welcomed the young players.

"Welcome to Werder Bremen, it's a great club, I'm sure you'll love it!"

With the exception of a few young players who had risen through the youth team who were excited, the other offseason transfers reacted coldly, with perfunctory applause.

Seeing this situation, Lin Quan bumped De Bruyne who was in a daze on the side with his arm, and said to him:

"Let's go say hello to the captain."

De Bruyne is not familiar with the team and only knows Lin Quan.

He is introverted by nature, and he stays in the corner and listens to music quietly on this occasion.

But after hearing Lin Quan's words, he immediately put down his Walkman, followed Lin Quan very obediently, and walked towards Fritz.

"Hello captain, I'm Lin Quan, this is De Bruyne, the two of us are newcomers who have just joined the team, please take care of the captain!"

"Hehe, hello, I heard the coach mention you, he praised the talent of the two of you, perform well in the new season, the team needs fresh blood like you!"

Fritz also likes such a polite and sensible young man, especially compared to another player on loan from Bayern Munich, Lin Quan and De Bruyne have an instant impression in his mind.

They are all loan players who are proud of their goals, and the players of Barcelona and Chelsea are so polite and respectful of the team's big brother.

Just your Bayern Qinggao?

So after saying hello to Lin Quan and De Bruyne, he also dragged them to greet the other veteran players of the team, introduced them to the veterans of these teams, and helped them integrate into the team as soon as possible.

In addition, he also cared about the life of Lin Quan and De Bruyne in Germany, neither of whom were native to Germany, and it was likely that they would not be comfortable when they first arrived in an unfamiliar place.

So he said that if there is anything in trouble, you can go to him for help, he has lived in Bremen for six or seven years and has some contacts in the local area.

After some contact, Lin Quan has a certain understanding of the character and conduct of the captain of the team.

Sure enough, as Wilhelm said, Fritz was a good old man who was very good at talking.

It's just that he seems to be a little too good-tempered, lacking the feeling of an iron-blooded leader.

I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

The players chatted and talked about all kinds of interesting things and things to see during the holiday.

Moments later, the head coach and the members of the coaching staff came to the training ground and announced the training plan for the day.

Because the offseason has just ended, most of the players are just recovering from their vacation form.

So the first day of training is not very intense, mainly some recovery training.

Looking at the players on the training ground, Thomas Schaaf was lost in thought about the team's formation and style of play for the new season.

Bremen are an attacking team, and their attacking firepower is among the best in the Bundesliga.

In the 2005-2006 season, Werder Bremen won the Bundesliga in both goals and goal difference.

They scored a total of 79 goals that season, averaging 2.3 goals per game, with a goal difference of 42.

This is 12 and 7 more goals than second-placed Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich's strength is obvious to all, and being able to snatch these two firsts in the hands of the Bundesliga giants shows the attacking firepower of Werder Bremen.

However, Bremen have always had a big problem, and that is that this team is not good at defending.

They scored a lot of goals, but they also conceded a lot.

At the peak of the five seasons of 04-09, Bremen could cover up the problem of conceding too many goals with more goals.

However, since the 09-10 season, the overall strength of Werder Bremen has begun to decline, the team's offensive firepower has begun to decline, but the number of goals conceded has not decreased.

As a result, Werder Bremen's record began to plummet, gradually falling into the relegation zone, and this season even became the favorite for relegation.

A very real question is in front of head coach Thomas Schaff:

In the new season, Werder Bremen, do you still want to play the previous attacking football?

Offensive football wins fans, defensive counter-attacks win games.

Counter-attacking seems like the safer option, but the problem is that Thomas Schaff isn't a good defensive coach.

He spent most of his time studying offensive tactics and formations, and was not very good at defending, especially effective counter-attacks.

Expecting him to reach the level of Mourinho's counter-attacking master, that's impossible.

Therefore, he did not dare to rashly make drastic changes to Werder Bremen's previous tactics.

If such a change is made, it may not only not have the desired effect, but will also overwhelm the players, and ultimately have the opposite effect.

Therefore, the safest way is to adjust the previous tactics and make some changes to the details of the team's offense and defense without moving the big picture.

According to the current characteristics of the team, especially the characteristics of a large number of young players, good physical strength and momentum.

Thomas Schaff took the 433 formation that Werder Bremen had been using until now, and made a slight adjustment to the 4141 formation.

The 433 formation is a typical offensive formation, and the evolved 4141 has both the offensive advantages of the 433 and also makes up for the defense.

This formation is characterised by the drop-back of the winger position and the placement of the wing-back position.

When defending, they are involved in the defense of the midfield, forming a strong interception line of five men in the midfield to stifle the enemy's attack.

When attacking, the wingers who are back in position are inserted from behind and attack from both flanks.

At this time, the wing-forwards who retreated back to the role of wingers and formed a tandem with the forwards, and the formation returned to the 433 formation, with three strikers in the front, and the attacking options were more abundant.

This formation was not without its downsides, as the absence of two wingers led to a sharp drop in the number of people up front, and the team was unable to press and intercept at high intensity in the opposition half.

The arrangement of a single midfield will make the sides of the ribs of the team's midfield slightly empty, and it is easy for opponents to find gaps.

In addition, because the formation has become 4141, there are a total of four lines, and the distance between each line is a key problem, if the distance is not properly controlled, it is easy to have defensive gaps.

In this formation, there are three key positions: the midfielders and the two wing-backs.

The midfielder is a libero in midfield, he is the big gate in the team's backline, and once he is breached, the team's backline will be directly threatened by the enemy.

While the two full-backs take on certain defensive tasks, they are also the magic weapon for the team to open up the situation and complete the attack.

Compared to the tool-man center who only acts as the fulcrum of the front court, the attacking task of the wing-backs on both sides is heavier.

If they can't open up the situation, the team will be in a situation where they will be beaten passively.

Fortunately, this is not the only option in Schaaf's toolbox, if the 4141 tactic does not work, he can let the team continue to play 433 or 442.