Werder Bremen’s Samuel Mbangula on Bundesliga ‘learning curve’: “One day, everyone will see me at my best.”

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There admittedly wasn’t too much pretty about Werder Bremen’s scrappy and slender 1-0 win over FC St. Pauli on Saturday. Horst Steffen’s struggling Hanseaten proved something of an eyesore for most of their latest 90 minutes of football. The hometown fans were nevertheless pleased to watch their team win their first home Bundesliga fixture of the season. Werder also provided at least one moment of pure gold. 

Some fine combination play out of the back culminated in a useful cross from SVW attacker Justin Njinmah being sent into the box. Summer record signing Samuel Mbangula didn’t hesitate to latch onto a blind clearance away from St. Pauli defender Eric Smith. A polished finish from 16 meters out gave the Belgian U21 international his second career Bundesliga goal and fifth overall scorer point through six matchdays. 

Werder have taken some heat for shelling out a reported €10m to acquire the 21-year-old. There have also certainly been times in the young season when Mbangula has looked far from properly acclimated to the Bundesliga level. Coach Steffen and the Bremen front office nevertheless remain satisfied with Mbangula’s relatively rapid progress. The player himself also knows that there’s plenty of room for improvement. 

“It was incredible to score in front of our fans,” Mbangula remarked in his post-match interview with Sky Germany on Saturday. “It was a great feeling and I hope it was the first of many goals. We can improve in many areas. We’re a new group that needs to find ourselves. I don’t know how long it will take.

“I know I haven’t reached my best level yet,” Mbangula continued. “But that will come soon. I’ll keep working hard everyday and, one day, everyone will see me at my best level.”

“He has improved every week,” Steffen said at the post-match press conference. “I’m very happy that he’s been able to demonstrate how important he is to us.“

Bremen sporting director Peter Niemeyer echoed Steffen’s sentiments in the mixed zone, noting that “Mbangula is beginning to show his great potential on the pitch.” Werder’s director of professional football Clemens Fritz discussed Mbangula in greater depth as a guest on Sport1’s “Doppelpass” footballing roundtable.

“He’s proven how valuable he can be and we are delighted to have him with us,” Fritz said. “A minor injury slowed his development. But he’s light on his feet, works well defensively, and uses his body very well in direct duels. His technique, coupled with his body positioning, renders him a very cheeky player.“

GGFN | Peter Weis