Those stellar performances attracted attention from the Bundesliga, and Friedrich signed with SV Werder Bremen, but his time there would be anything but successful as he only appeared once in the league in one and a half years combined, the final seven minutes of the 4–1 home triumph against FC Schalke 04 on 23 August 2003. In that second season in the Hanseatic city he also featured for the reserve squad, in Regionalliga Nord; 2002–03 had already been totally lost to an anterior cruciate ligament injury.