You could do a whole video on the collapse of the entire German upper middle class. Bremen, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Schalke together won 21 national championships (Bremen and Stuttgart as recently as 2004 and 2007) and all were relegated within the same short time frame of just five years and for very similar reasons.

The main reason for the downfall: a clueless manager Frank Baumann and a chairman Marco Bode who doesn't have the guts to get rid of him, because they were former teammates.

Brazilian here. Werder is my favorite team in Germany. Klose, Frings, Naldo, Klasnic, Diego, Baumann... Good times. I hope Bremen will rise again! 🇧🇷❤️🇩🇪

I remember when they had two giants in the middle of defence with Per Merteseker and Naldo. Tim Borowski and Torsten Frings in midfield and the superb Diego.

Klose, Micoud, Ailton, Klasnic...those were the times when i was a little kid watching football for the first time

Absolutely love these documentary style videos. The amount of information presented in these are simply mind-boggling. It's truly fascinating to learn about. For someone who loves history & loves football like me, these videos are gold mines. Thanks for the amazing work, Alfie!

The first time I got into the Bundesliga, Werder Bremen won the double in 2004. 😮 In that decade teams like Schalke, Stuttgart, Wolfsburg, Dortmund and Leverkusen would actually make Bayern Munich sweat for the title and even stop Bayern winning. So sad how German football has become beyond monopolised in the last decade. 😢

The real problem is the complacency of Frank Baumann. Let me explain: Baumann treated the Coach Florian Kohfeld as the next Schaaf or Rehagel after that 2018/19 season, even though all he did was... failing to qualify for the international competition. Baumann never understood, that the great offensive season was mostly due to Max Kruse's ambition to get an offer from a Champions League participant. And yes, Kruse is secretly that good, if he is motivated. Yet, Baumann thought, it was all Kohfeld. Even the awful Relegation Play Off Season couldn't change his mind. Instead of firing Kohfeld, he was still "he is such a great coach, who had this awesome season"... even though it was only awesome, if you really lack the ambition to compete for higher goals. This whole "we lower our ambition" led to an inevitable relegation. If it hadn't happen last season, it would have happened next season. And this year, Baumann will celebrate failing to get promoted as a "stabilizing season" and a step in the right decision. Until 10 years from now, they celebrate finishing 10th in the 2nd league...

HITC Sevens: here's my video o worked hard on. Comments section: " do which Ugandan 3rd division under 23 2nd XI player lives furthest from the training ground"

I can't believe you actually made it. Can't wait to hear your take on it. Thank you Alfie. 🤩

I think you could do a "rise and fall of APOEL FC" if you can get enough info, the club with the most trophies in Cyprus, most successful cypriot club in Europe, with enormous amounts of money coming in from revenue but ultimately wrongly used by the sketchy president who is taking money out of the club whenever he can, and sliding down the table at the moment

Best wishes to Werder. A great club with even greater fans. Hope to see you back in the Bundesliga soon! Respect from Aalborg BK, Denmark💪🏻🔴⚪️

As a life-long Bremen Fan this is just heartbreaking to see... still a great video! I really hope Baumann will be sacked soon, so we can return to our identity as a offensive playing Top Team in the Bundesliga.

Yes. I have been waiting a long time for this. As a Werder Bremen fan myself, your research and information is very accurate. I cannot disagree with anything you have provided. Thank you so much Alfie for your hard work, time and effort to making this video. I appreciate it 👏

I think you should do a "The rise and fall of Sheffield Wednesday". Obviously they used to be (and still are) a big club with a lot of problems. There's probably a few clubs you could do this with in League One also.

Hopefully over the summer you could do another video on schalke and werder describing the changes that allowed them to bounce back and what their hopes and chances are in the future

As a Werder fan it was painful to watch this, still great video!

You know more about my club than me 😳 great video!

As a Werder supporter I have to say this was heartbreaking quality content, thank you Alfie !

22:00 as an Augsburg fan (we could also have gone down if we lost our last two games) I was a nervy wreck during that match, luckily we survived in the end🔴🟢⚪ brilliant video Alfie, your knowledge of German football is quite astounding!

I dont know why, since i knew both players played for Bremen, but wow... KDB AND Ozil? Bremen churned out two of the best midfielders seen in the last decade.... well done

I think one turning point really was the signing of Carlos Alberto. He cost 7,5 million, which doesn't sound a lot, even for back then, but his failure at Bremen really put a huge dent in the club financially and on the sporting side especially. Wesley was a similar story a couple years later.

Not blowing smoke but these mini docs really deserve to be behind a pay wall.l absolutely love them.

Really enjoy these mini documentaries. Thanks.

Nice vid and very good research. Makes me sad and thinking everytime I remember the good old days in Champions League and Europa League. From chasing Bayern and winning cups to playing window cleaners in the 2nd tier all inside 15 years... But we will be back. Sometime.

I remember their Bundesliga title in 2004, they played some mesmerising stuff, klasnic, Diego, micoud, ailton, Bauman

“Couldn’t hit a cow’s ass with a banjo” never heard anything more true 😹😹😹

I got a video idea for you: 7 most misleading debuts. examples: - thiago silva for chelsea vs west brom: absolutely atrocious performance, conceding 3 goals. went on to have a world class season - kevin quevedo for alianza lima vs juan aurich: scored 4 goals on his debut but then never scoring again for the rest of the season

Man, Werder would be an amazing FM22 save.a fallen giant of some sort. You can try and get promoted immediately then slowly but surely challenge BVB and FCB

I love the way you pronounce Bremen. It sounds a bit like Plattdeutsch, the accent spoken in this region

Great to see my favorite club getting that thorough HITC treatment! I think you did a phenomenal job! A few remarks though: I was surprised to note that you didn't mention the acquisition of Carlos Alberto, who for many Werder supporters is the ultimate embodiment of the failed transfer policies during the late Schaaf/Allofs era. Alberto came from Portugal promised to be the next superstar and the replacement for Miroslav Klose who went to Bayern. Alberto won the Champions League with Porto and even scored the opening goal in the UCL final against Monaco. However, he played only 2 Bundesliga games and was never able to make any contribution whatsoever. At the time, it was believed Thomas Schaaf was a master in handling "difficult" players with unorthodox characters. In reality, though, this has not proven to be true (see Arnautovic, Elia, Alberto...). On top of failed transfer market business, Werder Bremen struggled with a disastrous stadium expansion. In the wake of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Bremen was promised to be one of the tournament venues. With that, substantial federal money for stadium improvements would have been allocated. You can still see this in Leipzig, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Hannover, or Cologne where modern stadiums have been built for clubs far from the top of German football. Bremen was snubbed at the last minute, the stadium modernization went underway anyway. This endeavor is a story in itself, local residents filing lawsuits against the planned expansion, keeping the capacity well below the original proposal, steel prices that rocketed, ever increasing expenses for flooding protection (the stadium is built on a small island on the Weser river), the relocation of the local tennis club and swimming pool, and many issues more lead to an explosion in costs. Werder is still paying for a stadium modernization that is barely up to modern standards now and cost more than completely new constructions elsewhere. If that wasn't enough, the most recent success of Werder Bremen came RIGHT before the absurd money influx into modern football we have seen over the last maybe 10 years. Werder played 7 consecutive years of international football up to the 2009/10 season, earning good money in the Champions League, sure, but not to the obscene extent we're seeing now. This parallels the inflation of transfer fees that Werder was just missing out on. Özil went for 16 million pounds to Real Madrid. Unbelievably cheap in today's standards. So, Werder's decline coincided with other teams earning significantly more, making the competition that much harder and putting much more pressure on the sporting decisions at the time. Combined with the failed stadium expansion you can see that the risks necessary to be taken to compete ultimately were too high. Now, with the Youth Center still existing only on paper, with all sporting decisions in the hands of former players who seem to lack that last bit of professionalism and no creative scouting approach to be found...the future is anything but bright for Werder Bremen.

I love these videos. They are super informative & give me ideas for teams to do “Back to Glory” rebuilds on Fifa.

Deserved that Relegation like none else. Worked for that for years.

Keep the bundesliga content coming!! There’s not a lot of English language videos talking about it and it’s probably the third most supported league globally.

Good summary on how mismanagement, a bad transfer policy where big bucks are spent on injury prone/ lackluster players and where one season wonders/ talented young players in peak form aren't sold for a huge profit but instead let go for free or on the cheap side and how a lack of communication from the club to the fans and to the team can have catastrophic consequences on a well established first division side with a lot of tradition.

As Peruvian, it’s mind blowing how good Pizarro was in the bundesliga. It’s also mind blowing how shit he was for the national team.

one of the best series on youtube and im sure theres no shortage of candidates for this

Lifelong werder Fan here.... this will be tough to watch

These may be the best researched and most interesting vids about football on line.Well done and thank you.

Thank you very much for this great video. As a fan of the club this hurts a lot but that is the reality of the business. If you do a bad job for years you’ll feel the consequences sooner or later and that has now happened.

Thank you Alfie for making this video! As a Werder fan, I really enjoyed! I think Werder will play a least one or two seasons in the second Bundesliga, however the financial situation will make it super hard to return, so a lot of work has to be done

On the one hand, I'm super excited that you made a video about my favourite club, but then again, I would've hoped it had been for a more positive reason... still a great video!

Got a Werder top as a gift one year. Roughly 2004. Had a soft spot for them ever since. Still pick up one of their shirts every few seasons.

I really enjoy these club history lessons. Makes one appreciate how far some of these clubs have fallen, and just how integral they once were to their respective leagues.

If you wanna do a similar video on their main rival, Hamburger SV, i could answer a lot of your questions as they are my home team. Loving the video, cheers

One of these for Benfica would be amazing! great work Alfie!

I just can not get over the fact that you are pronouncing Bremen with a near perfect lower german accent. Congrats, even I can not pull that off :D

OMG a HITC 7s video about Werder that makes me so happy!!! Thanks lads

The whole club is just run by incompetent former players. Incredible that this is still a thing in 2021.

Great thank you. I called for this video. Thank you great job!

Thanks for focusing on a really special team. Sad they are down in 2. Bundesliga

Werder Bremen remind me a lot of Southampton. The great players they have grown and developed and had a good identity close to European places. Werder have Ozil, De Bruyne, Gnabry, Mertesacker. Southampton have had Shaw, Clyne, Lallana, Oxlade Chamberlain, Chambers I know Southampton haven’t been relegated but they’ve had those incredibly low moments the 9-0 games.

I love seeing the old and original (?) posed pics of the clubs. There's always like only 11 or 12 members shown. Players must have been super fit back in the day! Also, bring back the hats for goalies - they look sharp.

I remember the days of torsten frings, per mertersacker, Tim wiese etc they were a good team. Gonna have to do a footy manager save now

Great video, probably not popular but would love to see you cover St. Johnstone's cup double

Never thought I'd see my team featured in a HITC video

Great video, do one about Chievo Verona, who were recently regelated from serie B to serie D do to debts.

Brilliant,very informative 👍

I would like to hear your take on the Boavista case here in Portugal. Boavista is one of the only 2 clubs to break through the big 3 dominance and actually win a league title.

Jahn Regensburg are my German team, having done of those 'mystery football shirt' things last year and being given a Jahnelf shirt. I'll be interested to see how they get on against Werder this season, could also throw in some upsets!

Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Schalke, Nurnberg, Dusseldorf. That's insane league right there. Sorry I forgot an East German giant, Hansa Rostock is back too.

I like the video, gives me a deeper knowledge about this so cool club

My favourite team in Germany Big hug from sporting portufal

Excellent video. I wish 2. Bundesliga got more international love, tbh, I think 2nd Division football is the best, has a great balance of talent and sport. As a St. Pauli supporter, this season is most exciting.

Will be very interested in hearing about a football rivalry you find very interesting. Historically and at present

Love this video!! Bundesliga 2. Is gonna be cracking this season, the Championship doesn’t even compare

this series is a gift

I really like these docus focused on single clubs, whilst it might not be everyone's cup of tea, I quite enjoy long form :) One quip though; its WerdEr not WerdAr, that kinda grated on me :P

OMG, thank you for this. Childhood Werder fan here. The breakdown of their terrible transfer business ever since the turn of the decade (letting literally all their good players go and not effectively replacing them) is exactly my thoughts on how their downfall happened, and also the reason I stopped following their games for the most part (although I am still happy for them when they do well, as rare as that is nowadays)

21:55 I love how you pronounced my dear club, Arminia Bielefeld, as Arminia Bierfeld (In german Beer field). Try pronouncing it as "Bi - le -feld". Apart from that, I loved your video, as always!

Werder Bremen are one of my favourite German clubs ever since I was a child and would watch almost all of their respective matches and even want to buy and wear their respective jerseys but they were not sold here,good friend!!!I am extremely so sad for their relegation to the second division of the German football but hoping for them to be promoted for the first time asking,good friends!!!

would love a documentary style video about portsmouth

I love Bremen , a great city. I was lucky to live and work there for six months in 1980. Went to watch werder when ever they were at home.

im not a football fan but your channels amazing

Incredible Video

They kind of reminds me of Plymouth Argyle, Yeovil Town, Celtic and other football clubs that have green kits and everything green. 💚💚

Superb work. You may well end up doing a video on Hertha this season if Jovetic doesn't make a fast start, and the club continues to be run so poorly off the pitch. Hoping for a better year for the Alte Dame #HaHoHe

Small correction: Bayern missed out on the first two Bundesliga seasons. So Bremen was the sole record holder for the most Bundesliga seasons and should they be able to win promotion immediately they would still be co record holders

The 14 Year Challenge sounds like a nice idea for a Football Manager save 👍

Pavlenka could also be a good transfer away since Zetterer and Kapino are quite good goalies especially at the second tier. So selling one of/the highest valued goalie in the german second tier when not needing him might be helpful.

Have to respect the amount of effort in these videos

I’d love you to do a video on Hamburg- not sure if you have or not but please do if you haven’t

When you see that Derby, Schalke and Bremen have their kits supplied by Umbro. Then your team signs a new deal with them.... Gulp... 😂

As a Bremen fan A lot a of pain

You start to question yourself when both your football clubs get what went wrong videos at HITC Sevens :D

Great video, as always. One aspect that I think deserves inclusion is the marked shift towards teams relying on outside money in the Bundesliga. Surely, the rise of teams like Leipzig, who have been phenomenal, and the seemingly endless stream of money flowing into clubs like Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim, and Hertha (the latter two of which haven't been worth their money), has made it ever more difficult to achieve a top-5 ranking. If you start with the premise that teams like Leipzig, Bayern, and Dortmund will take up places 1-3 in the league, you're really just playing for places 4-18. The competition for 4th-6th is brutal, as it is elsewhere. But now you add artificial clubs with no need for real sporting success to fund future transfers, and coming in 6th is really becoming an amazing feat. There's a reason why sporting directors like Eberl of Moenchengladbach are hailed as amazing. Any of this is not to say that Bremen haven't been mismanaged. One more aspect I should mention as a fan of Bremen: If you grew up watching Bremen take home trophies in the 90s and 00s like I did, there's a certain level of expectation you have from your club. Those expectations are no longer attainable, but nonetheless, they make it such that any fan like myself will look at a Bremen-Mainz, Bremen-Augsburg, or Bremen-Bielefeld match and expect a drumming. When we can't even convincingly beat those teams, fans like myself grow unsatisfied. It also means we have to play a certain style of football, and can't park the bus for 90 minutes, like many Bundesliga teams do. A set pieces and counter-attack style doesn't work with fans who are used to winning. Kohfeldt actually seemed to have wanted to change it up and turn towards parking that bus, and counter, but perhaps that was far too late, and perhaps the team wasn't built for it. Anyways, I'd love to hear what your thoughts are!

Yooo thanks alfi I remembered werder got relegated but i never payed attention bc shalke took so nuch of the attention last season

You should make a series where you look at clubs and tell them what they have to do to become Champions.

Little funfact , here in germany we call Ailton the Kugelblitz : Ball lightning , because of his sheer speed that no one wouldve expected given his physique. Most people in germany that are interested in football love Ailton and he became a reality tv star here as well. Featuring in some shows on one of our TV Stations Pro7 , in events like : Schlag den Star (beat the star) , Ice Football , and iirc even stock car racing and Celebrity bob sliding

I love these videos, could you plllleeeeaaaasssseeee do one on Tottenham

I do like your documentaries about the German football league. Can you do a video on the AFC Wimbledon rise in football ? Thanks

Great stuff this!

I hope you'd make a video of Hamburg SV

Wow I make one comment about Werder on a video and this gets made! Truly the peoples' channel. From Werder's only Aussie fan (probably).

It’s so sad the way we’ve fallen from grace. FloKo and Baumi are a big part of this

This is an interesting video, but I am sitting with an eye-witness of the games against Napoli in 1989. He was in Naples and remembered that Werder won the game 3-2. We checked in the records and he was right! For a few seconds you had him doubting his own memory!!

You know you're club is in trouble when he makes a 'what on earth is goong in at' video 💚💚💚

Well as a fan of Werder Bremen I was honestly wondering, when the first video Like this will be released. I am curious to hear your view on this. 💚

You should do: the rise and fall and rise again of Borussia Mönchengladbach

Alfie, can we please get a "Rise and Fall of Portsmouth FC"? They're a club with a long history, 2 FA Cups, and a pretty tragic last 20 years or so until about 3 or 4 years ago