BUNDESLIGA
Finishing as runners up to Bayern Munich this season will be seen by many as a successful season for Werder. The first few weeks of the season were anything but smooth for Thomas Schaaf’s side and it looked highly unlikely that they would finish the season as the second best team in the Bundesliga.
Torsten Frings was injured and Diego was tired and out of form following his involvement in the Copa America with Brazil. Werder opened with a disappointing 2-2 draw with Bochum before Bayern Munich arrived at the Weser Stadion on the second game of the season. Bremen were ripped apart by their Southern rivals and duly lost 4-0. Another poor performance two weeks later saw them beaten 3-0 away at Dortmund and they found themselves 13th after five games.
The Green and Whites did however recover with the return to form of Diego coinciding with their turnaround. They beat Stuttgart 4-1 at the end of September before thrashing Arminia Bielefeld 8-1. They won seven of their nine games up to the Winter break to finish joint top at the half way stage with only goal difference separating them from leaders Bayern.
However, five defeats in their first nine games after the restart of the Bundesliga season in February seriously dented their title ambitions and saw Hamburg, Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen ahead of them. Particularly worrying was the fact that they lost successive home games to Wolfsburg and Duisburg despite creating enough chances to win them.
But as in the first half of the season, Thomas Schaaf’s side recovered their best form and finished with seven wins in their final eight league matches to secure the runners up spot despite late pressure from Schalke.
Overall, the season was one of inconsistency from Werder. At times they looked a match for Bayern as their attacking brand of football just overpowered teams (Bielefeld 8-1, Schalke 5-1, Hannover 6-1), but there were dips in the season where they lost to the likes of Duisburg and Bochum at home and were trounced 6-3 away at Stuttgart.
But that is what you get with Werder’s brand of attacking football. There are always likely to be goals at either end. If their defence had been as mean as Bayern’s, then their challenge for the Bundesliga would have been a stronger one.
EUROPE
Werder have become regular Champions League participants, but have still not managed to make the breakthrough to the knock out rounds and had to once again settle for a place in the Uefa Cup after failing to make it out of the group stages.
The Green and Whites overcame Croatian challengers Dinamo Zagreb in the qualifying round at a time when they were clearly out of form and not at their best. Zagreb gave them a real fright at the Weser Stadion before losing 2-1. The second leg at the Maksimir saw two first half away goals put Werder in the driving seat and they went on to win 5-3 on aggregate.
The group stage saw Werder drawn with Real Madrid, Lazio, and Olympiacos. They lost at the Bernabeu with Diego impressing, but then slumped to a 3-1 home defeat to the Greeks. A home win over Lazio followed, but the away match in Rome was lost.
The German side then gave themselves hope of qualification with a 3-2 home win over Real Madrid, but a 3-0 away defeat to Olympiacos saw them finish third in the group and drop into the Uefa Cup.
The previous season Werder made it all the way to the semi finals but this time around the last 16 was their limit. Sporting Braga were brushed aside 4-0 on aggregate before Glasgow Rangers stopped Werder rudely in their tracks. Two howlers from keeper Tim Wiese handed the Scots a 2-0 first leg lead and Werder only managed to win the return leg 1-0 and were eliminated.
SUMMER SIGNINGS
Brazilian Carlos Alberto arrived with a fanfare of great expectation, but was back in Brazil by Christmas having made just two appearances. The club’s record €8 million signing was blighted by injury and also failed to settle with his new team mates. A training ground punch-up with Boubacar Sanogo was just one example of his troubles. He went to Sao Paulo on loan, but indiscipline saw them get rid of him. Botafogo have now taken him on loan.
Serbian full back Dusko Tosic was signed from Sochaux but found it difficult to settle at the club with the language barrier hindering his integration into the team. He made 12 appearances in the league, but may be offloaded before the new season.
Werder took a gamble on Hamburg reject Boubacar Sanogo as they looked to replace Miroslav Klose in attack. The Ivorian was never going to be able to compensate fully for the loss of Klose, but he did look like a different player completely from the one who had seen his confidence battered by the Hamburg fans.
He scored nine goals in 21 appearances to become a valuable member of the attack as Thomas Schaaf rotated between him, Hugo Almeida, Markus Rosenberg and Ivan Klasnic.
German U-21 international Sebastian Boenisch was brought in from Schalke and is definitely one for the future. The youngster made nine appearances and scored one goal.
After being cast out at Schalke Mesut Özil arrived at the Weser Stadion in the January transfer. Many saw him as a long-term replacement for Diego, who is constantly the centre of transfer speculation, but it seems the two will be at the club together next season if the Brazilians comments are to be believed. He played 12 times scoring once.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The loss of Miroslav Klose was always going to be blow to Werder and trainer Thomas Schaaf challenged the other strikers to step up to the mark and take over the role of main goal-getter. Swede Markus Rosenberg finished the season as the club’s top scorer with 14. and was roundly praised by the trainer. Klose scored 13 for Werder last season and just 10 for Bayern this campaign so Werder will be pleased with the €12 million they received.
Diego was yet again one of the top performers this season although it took him a while to hit top gear following the exertions of the Copa America. He still finished as the Bundesliga’s highest scoring midfielder with 13 goals and remains the creative force in the Werder side. If Werder can hold onto him this summer, it will be a massive boost to the club.
However centre back Per Mertesacker gets my vote as Werder’s ‘Player of the Season’. He missed just two games all season due a suspension picked up for an unfortunate red card picked up against Stuttgart. He was ‘Mr. Consistent’ at the back for Werder. They may have conceded rather more goals than normal, but that is not a reflection on Mertesacker, but rather Werder’s open attacking style that leaves them wide open at times. This season he has reinforced his place as Germany’s best centre back.
SUMMARY
Looking at the final league table Werder Bremen sit a full ten points behind champions Bayern Munich, but the question on many Werder fans’ lips will be ‘is the gap really that large?’. Probably not is the answer. Werder’s inconsistency made the title race rather more one sided than he could have been. Bayern offered their rivals a few opportunities to close the gap but no-one took them.
Bayern only won two more games than Werder, but Bremen lost eight to Bayern’s two. The North Germans finished the season as the league’s top scorers with 75 in 34 games so if you want goals watch Werder. The disappointed again in Europe, but have the consolation of Champions League football again next season.
source: goal.com
