Start from the beginning here!

It’s my first day on the job and before anything else, I have to find myself an Assistant Manager. Much as I’m more than capable of doing the job solo in terms of tactics – I need somebody who can give the opposition instructions to the players at the beginning of every game and somebody who will arrange pre-season friendlies. Basically, somebody who’ll do the bits I can’t be bothered with.

Due to the financial constraints at the club, ideally I need to find somebody who’s currently unattached, which leaves me with less options and somewhat less quality to choose from. I’d also like somebody who’s native to Germany, as currently my knowledge of the language extends as far as the C in O-Level German I got in high school. After a quick search around, I’ve found just the man…

Wolfgang Rolff has spent most of his non-playing career as an Assistant manager, including a previous stretch with Werder Bremen between 2004 and 2013 as assistant to Thomas Schaaf. A man who knows the club well, speaks German and, most importantly, is a good man manager.

Now, we turn to the squad. There’s a fair bit of deadwood, with the likes of Tobias Duffner, Marc Pfitzner and Rafael Kazior, each aged 33, 32 and 34, each being borderline unusable. Mercifully, two of the three are out of contract this season, however Duffner’s contract runs out in 2019 and nobody else wants to go anywhere near him, which is completely understandable.

On the other end of the quality spectrum, the Eggestein brothers, Maximilian and Johannes, are the club’s two brightest prospects. Maximilian is the only central midfielder in the squad who provides any real creativity of any sort, so if he comes down with an injury then it’ll be interesting to see how the team copes. The obvious best players in the team are Thomas Delaney, Max Kruse and Ludwig Augustinsson but there’s still a lot of work to be done with the squad.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do any of that work any time soon – as there’s no transfer budget to speak of and only a very small amount of wage available to me. With nobody noteworthy available to bring in on loan, it looks like I’m going to have to sell to buy, however nobody in the squad who I’m willing to sell has any real value which will be enough to reinvest in the squad. I’m working with what I’ve got available to me.

The aim, as agreed with the chairman, is to reach mid-table and I think I have the squad to do it. The injury list isn’t kind so far, with Zlatko Junuzovic and Niklas Moisander both out for months, Moisander in particular leaving me with very little cover in central defence. I have reserves in the youth squad, though for all the potential there’s nobody who’s really first team ready.

So, onto tactics. My master plan which will secure mid-table for Werder Bremen.

I’ve gone for a fairly traditional 4-3-3, opting for a counter-attacking mentality to combat the fact that a lot of teams in the division are better than me. Playing with an attacking mentality, whilst surprising for some teams, will inevitably result in me being picked apart on the counter myself.

I want the team to keep hold of the ball and play out of defence, which may be hypocritical seeing as I want to play a fluid, counter-attacking style but this is something I’ll have to play by ear as the season goes on.

This is the ideal starting XI I’d like to play when everybody is fit, with Kruse rotating with Eggestein. Left-wing is where I find myself most bare, as Kainz is the only real recognised natural left-winger. This will be my primary tactic when all are available, with Junuzovic also rotating into the midfield.

My first press conference as Bremen manager goes as expected, with many questioning my lack of experience as well as the fact that I’m not actually German. The journalists asking these questions are the names I’ll remember when I succeed, particularly Paul Connolly of ESPNFC.com, who used his two questions to attempt to trip me up about the board not matching my ambition with the transfer budget I’d been offered, before outright questioning why I felt I should have the job due to my inexperience. He’s one I’ve got my eye on.

Pre-season training begins and Wolfgang advises me that 19-year-old Johannes Eggestein could potentially benefit from individual tutoring with Max Kruse, the veteran striker of the team. Looking at Kruse’s mental attributes, the tutoring makes a lot of sense. I approach Kruse and ask him how he feels about it and it doesn’t go quite to plan.

Only a matter of weeks into the job, Kruse has already defied my managerial decisions. I decide not to press him further but his name is currently highlighted in yellow Stabilo Boss on the squad chart on my wall. Whilst annoying, the personalities of Kruse and Eggestein clearly clash and so maybe forcing him to tutor would have done more harm than good.

Annoyingly, a few days later, our medical staff suddenly have to welcome one more person to the long-term injury list. Max Kruse has torn his abdominal muscle while lifting weights in training and finds himself sidelined for at least two months. In an attempt to console the player, who must be going through a difficult time with two months of his career put on hold. It goes down about as well as the tutoring attempts.

First he outright rejects my idea that him tutoring a young member of the squad may be beneficial, now he’s being a dick when I attempt to put an arm around him after he suffers an injury. This man is the highest paid player at the club and he’s not giving me any reason to think he warrants it. With Johannes Eggestein fitting more into my tactical plans and having longevity on his side, Kruse may find himself unable to work his way back into my side once his abdomen recovers. Last season he topped the goal scoring charts for Bremen, now he faces a year to convince me he deserves to stay.

His name is now highlighted in blue on my squad list. God help him if he makes me highlight it in pink.

Read Part 2 here!