Horst Steffen and Victor Boniface. Photos by Imago
Following a failed move to AC Milan, Victor Boniface secured a season-long loan move from Bayer Leverkusen to Werder Bremen…
Werder Bremen manager Horst Steffen has voiced his frustration at Super Eagles striker Victor Boniface following the club’s 3-0 Bundesliga defeat to Freiburg on Saturday, Soccernet.ng reports.
The hosts endured a nightmare evening at the Weserstadion as Vincenzo Grifo’s first-half penalty, Junior Adamu’s composed strike after the break, and a late own goal from Karim Coulibaly condemned Bremen to a heavy home loss.
Bremen’s only real lifeline came in the second half when they were awarded a penalty, but Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu produced a fine stop to maintain his clean sheet.
Steffen on Victor Boniface
After the final whistle, Steffen lamented his side’s lack of positional discipline, pointing to Boniface as an example of what went wrong.
“For me, he was too ‘all over the place’,” Steffen told Sky as cited by Getfootballnewsgermany. “It’s okay for him to remain stationary in the centre. It wasn’t how I wanted it to be. It wasn’t just him, but a lot of the guys who weren’t staying in their positions. We have to stick to our positions so we can overload them again and again. That’s something I’ll be addressing.”
Boniface, currently on loan at Bremen from Bayer Leverkusen, failed to make a real impact up front and often drifted away from his striking zone, which left the team without a focal point in attack.
The result leaves Bremen languishing in 14th place in the Bundesliga standings with four points, while Freiburg continues to climb the Bundesliga standings under long-serving coach Christian Streich.