“Penal training” on Sunday morning, a dressing-down from the coach, admonishing words from the sporting director.
“We can’t take this situation lightly. We must face it and work on it”, coach Thomas Schaaf explains.”The coach has some options to react thanks to the more relaxed injury situation”, sporting director Klaus Allofs says and adds: “Whoever endangers our goal of qualifying for the Champions League will feel the consequences”.
What’s wrong at the River Weser?
bundesliga.de has taken a close look at the statistics to find the reasons for the misery.
- Werder have picked up just eight points from nine matches in 2008 – only three teams have a worse record.
- The first nine matches in the first half of the season had brought 17 points – and third place – for Werder.
- Thomas Schaaf’s team had been level on points with Bayern going into the winter break. Now they’re ten points behind and have dropped from second to fifth place in the standings.
Werder’s problems:
DefendingBremen have conceded 38 goals so far, more than relegation candidates Hansa Rostock (37). Leading teams Bayern (15) and Hamburg (19) have conceded less goals between them! Only three teams have conceded more goals in 2008 than Werder (14). The Green-Whites have also conceded six goals from long passes, more than any other team.
The goalkeeperTim Wiese hasn’t had a high-profile blunder in the Bundesliga so far, but he’s not what you would call a tower behind the defence. He has saved just 62.2 per cent of all shots on goal in 2008, the worst record of all regular Bundesliga keepers.
AttackingBremen had boasted the best Bundesliga attack (42 goals) in the first half of the season, scoring almost 2.5 goals per match. In 2008 it’s just 1.2 goals per game! First of all that’s down to taking the chances. Werder had turned 16.3 per cent of their chances into goals in the first half of the season, a record bettered by one team only. Now it’s just 7.8 per cent – only relegation candidates Nürnberg, Bielefeld and Rostock have a worse record. And Werder haven’t scored from open play in their last three matches!
The strikersWerder’s strikers had bagged 1.35 goals per game in the first half of the season, in 2008 it’s just 0.67 per game. Only Rosenberg (4) has scored more than one goal in 2008. Almeida and Klasnic have one each, Sanogo and Hunt are still waiting to break their duck.
The midfieldNo Werder midfielder – Daniel Jensen (2 assists) aside – has created more than a single goal in 2008.
DisciplineWerder have the most sending-offs of all clubs (5). And three of those red cards were shown to key players (Mertesacker, Naldo and Diego).
Source: bundesliga.de
