Victor Boniface was unexpectedly not on the training field at Werder Bremen on Thursday. The striker had already received a painful kick on the foot from teammate Julian Malatini during training on Tuesday. Although he was initially able to continue and complete the session, the club decided to avoid further strain the following day as a precaution.
Head coach Horst Steffen commented on this at the press conference before the match against FC St. Pauli. “We have often said that we want to build him up carefully – and we have to. That’s the case today,” Steffen explained. However, he expects that Boniface will be able to return to training tomorrow and be part of the squad.
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Steffen made it clear that the Nigerian forward did not join the club at full fitness: “He has brought along a few issues, which I believe were topics in the past. We have to take that into account.” Compared to other players, such as Jens Stage, who was quickly fully fit again, they need to be more cautious with Boniface.
Despite minor setbacks, Steffen is optimistic about his protégé’s development: “We can clearly see that there are reasons for this. We are bringing him to top condition. I believe we are on the way to him reaching his best performance. It will take a little longer.”
Boniface himself also shows great ambition. “He would love to play – in every game, for 90 minutes,” said Steffen. “But he is also aware that he still has deficits to make up for. He is doing that. But we also have to manage: How much can we do? Where do we need to wait?”
The path to full performance capability is not yet complete – but at Werder, they are approaching it with patience, a clear plan, and full confidence in Boniface’s potential.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.
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