Allofs doubts implementation of ‚6+5 regulation‘

Werder Bremen’s general manager Klaus Allofs is doubtful that world football federation, FIFA, will successfully force through their planned ‘6+5 regulation’. With the new ruling, which would not come into effect for a further three years, clubs would have to ensure that six of the starting eleven for every game were nationals of the country in which they were playing. Allofs said: “I’m all for strengthening the German players but that must be part of a clubs own philosophy. At Werder we have been employing such a policy of using a large number of German players for quite a few years now, without the need for such regulations being enforced. I have been following the ruling, which FIFA are hoping to introduce, with an element of doubt that it will be possible to enforce because it goes against current European laws. That’s not the right way to go.”

The European Championship participant from 1980 and 1984 also sees problems in the practical implementation of the ‘6+5 regulation’: “Aside from anything else, you would have to doubt the practicality of it. You only have to look at the sort of injury problems we had last year. What would happen if you were suddenly to lose too many German players? Would you just have to accept having a weakened team or would there be an exception in that case? I quite simply believe that there is a need for other methods in order to advance the use of German players other than forcing limitations,” remarked Allofs. The ruling, which was agreed upon at a FIFA conference in Sydney, currently infringes on existing European laws.

source: werder.de

Champions League rankings: Werder take a step forward

On Wednesday, UEFA stepped in to deny FC Porto a 2008/2009 Champions League starting place which they had already secured on a sporting level. The result of the decision is that Werder Bremen move up a place in the rankings. The expulsion of the Champions League winner from 2003, then under the guidance of star trainer Jose Mourinho, is due to evidence of match fixing and referee manipulation from the year 2004. Porto have made an appeal against the UEFA conclusion.

According to the ranking list, which is regulated by the UEFA co-efficience laws (co-effience is at 74,078), Werder Bremen take a place in Pot 2 of four and cannot be placed against other teams from the same pot such as Eindhoven, As Roma or Villareal. Even without the exclusion of Porto, the Green-Whites would have been placed in Pot 2.

The draw for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League 2008/2009 will be held on 28.08.2008. Werder Bremen are in the draw having finished in second place in the Bundesliga and with that, having managed to avoid the fate that a number of other top European clubs still have to sweat through – the merciless qualifiers.

The qualifying round for next season’s competition will include the likes of FC Barcelona, Arsenal London, FC Liverpool, Juventus Turin, Olympique Marseille, Atletico Madrid, AC Florenz and Glasgow Rangers. AC Milan, who very disappointingly finished in fifth place in the Serie A, have missed out on qualifying completely.

source: werder.de

Harnik: “Super! At the Euro with a legend like Vastic!”

There are just three more days to go before the European Championships in Austrian and Switzerland get underway and the anticipation amongst Werder’s participants is increasing consistently. For one particular Green-White, Martin Harnik, this tournament will be a very special one as he will get to experience it in his very own home country.

Hello Martin, so, has European Championship fever broken out in an around your team quarters?
Martin Harnik: “Yes. Slowly but surely you can feel it all over the country that the tournament will kick-off soon. There isn’t quite the same euphoria as there was in Germany ahead of the World Cup though. That also says something about the significance of football in Austria. Germany tend to head into such tournaments with the goal of winning the title, not so long ago in Austria they were talking about how we should pass on our tournament participation because we are so bad. I am sure though that once the opening whistle is blown, everyone in Austria will feel the Euro-hype and get behind us.”

And how does it look amongst the players?
Martin Harnik: “For most of us it’s the absolute highlight of our career, an unbelievable experience. To play in the European Championships in your own country is something very special.”

You mentioned the fact yourself that last year, your own ‘Fans’ called for the team to pull out of the competition. Does that still play on you a bit?
Martin Harnik: “That’s all over for us now. Of course it really affected us, and probably more so because of the sort of results we were getting but, particularly in the recent games against Germany and Holland, we showed just what we are capable of. If I remember correctly, just before the World Cup, Germany lost 4:1 in Italy, the press reaction was very negative and then they played a fantastic tournament.”

At almost every big tournament until now there has always been a surprise package. Who will it be this time around?
Martin Harnik: “Well I expect that to be us!!”

And which headline would you like to read?
Martin Harnik: „Unser Piefke schießt uns ins Viertelfinale!“ “Our boy puts Austria in the quarter finals”

What’s ‘Piefke’?
Martin Harnik: „That’s something that they call me here because of my German dialect. I tend to let a bit of Austrian slang creep in but my north German accent prevails. Generally ‘Piefke’ is an Austrian term for a German citizen but when they say it to me it’s meant more as a loving nickname.”

Have you got a personal favourite match location?
Martin Harnik: „Vienna of course. Not just because we are playing all three of our group games there but also because it’s the biggest stadium in Austria and we also played our last few friendly games there. Aside from that it’s a wonderful city. One could say that Vienna is the Berlin of Austria.”

Will the European Championships have a lasting effect on football in Austria?
Martin Harnik: „I should hope so. Putting on some good performances will not only present us in a good light on the European stage but it will also completely convince the Austrian fans of what we are capable of.”

source: werder.de

Werder Bremen Look To Hijack Celtic’s Samaras Deal

Samaras is currently under contract to Manchester City but has spent a successful loan spell at Celtic after falling out of favour at the City of Manchester Stadium.

The 23 year old does not want to return to the Premiership club, and Celtic are reportedly lining up a £3 million bid for him to make his loan spell permanent.

Samaras’ agent is set to meet City chief executive Alistair Mackintosh to obtain a definitive answer on his future but it seems likely the Greek striker will be allowed to leave.

Celtic are leading the race for his signature as the player capped an enjoyable spell at Parkhead by clinching an SPL title medal on the final night of the season when Celtic beat Dundee United.

However, the six crucial goals Samaras scored and the positive contribution he made for manager Gordon Strachan while in Glasgow has alerted other clubs with Werder Bremen high on the list.

Celtic and are in a position to offer Samaras Champions League football next season.  However, Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf could also dangle that carrot in front of Samaras after they finished runners-up to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

Schaaf is understood to have put the Greek on his target list after it was confirmed he will lose key hitman Ivan Klasnic this summer.

The Croatian international has told Bremen chiefs he will be quitting under freedom of contract and the 28-year-old intends to put himself in the shop window at the Euro 2008 finals.

Klasnic’s impending move will put a gaping hole in his squad and Samaras is in contention to fill the void.

Belgian outfit Standard Liege have also expressed an interest to the player’s advisors and the international attacker will have a host of options available if City, as expected, give the green light for him to depart for the agreed fee.

source: goal.com

The Bundesliga’s goal-machine

Werder took time to get going and struggled with a lot of injury problems.

Still the Green-Whites went into the winter break level on points with leaders Bayern, only to fall behind again in 2008. But a strong run-in at least secured second place and direct qualification for the Champions League.

Top facts from Werder’s season:

• Werder once again offered the best attack, scoring 75 goals.
• No team had more efforts at goal than Werder (629).
• Werder won seven and drew one of their last eight games.
• Werder substitutes came up with an unrivalled 13 goals.
• Bremen took a 1-0 lead in 25 matches, Bayern managed that in just 20 games.
• Werder were the only team without a single goalless draw.
• Werder scored with 14.6% of their shots – third place. It had been first place in 2006/07.
• No team had more players sent off than Werder (seven). Not a single Werder player had been dismissed in 2006/07.
• 20 different players were on target for Werder – an all-time Bundesliga record.
• Bremen scored the most goals inside the last 15 minutes (18) and from outside the box (15).
• Per Mertesacker was the best Bundesliga player in one-on-one duels, winning 72.5% of these.
• Fellow defender Naldo had 76 shots at goal, way more than any other defender.

Player of the season: Diego, playmaker and goalscorer

• Diego was the Bundesliga’s most prolific midfielder, just as in 2006/07 (13 goals each).
• The Brazilian scored with four penalties, but was denied by Hanover’s Enke in round 33.
• He had the most shots at goal of all Werder players (79), 55% of those were on target.
• Diego created ten goals and set up 111 shots, both unsurpassed by any other Bundesliga player.
• The 23-year-old had more touches (2289) than any other Werder player.
• The Werder playmaker tried more dribblings (163) than anyone else.
• No Bundesliga player was fouled more often than Diego (166 times), for the second successive season.

source: bundesliga.de

Diego takes USA by storm

Diego was out spreading the joy of football again at the weekend. In a friendly international between Brazil’s ‘Selecao’ and Canada (3:2) in Seattle, USA, the Green-White’s playmaker and his old friend Robinho (Real Madrid) were back together again and enjoying their football just as they did in their early days at FC Santos. Diego set up the win for Brazil with a perfectly placed shot into the corner after just four minutes to put his side in front.

Robinho, who had proven provider for the first two goals, got on the score-sheet himself in the 63rd minute to snatch Brazil’s third of the night and Seville’s Luis Fabiano later finished off the scoring for the five time world champions. Canada’s captain for the tie was former Werder full-back Paul Stalteri. Before the Brazilian’s carry on with their qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup against Paraguay (15.06.) and Argentina (18.06.), the ‘Seleco’ will take on Venezuela in a friendly game in Foxboro, USA on Friday, 06.06.2008.

source: werder.de

‘Merte’ ends his brief trip home to Pattensen

On Tuesday morning, Per Mertesacker’s brief trip home to Pattensen came to an end. He was back for just two days. And two important days they were too, with the Werder Bremen centre half taking the opportunity to recharge his batteries before Euro 2008 begins: “I met up with all my old friends and family, or at least those who were available. That was very important for me. I will be away from them for almost four weeks if the team are to achieve the target we have set ourselves. We intend to stay in the tournament until the last.”

The blinkers are on now for the lofty defender and only what’s ahead remains in view: “Now only the tournament counts. We are all working very concentrated towards the first game. I think the course of things from now on will be very different to how they were on Mallorca, where we had a lot of variation. Now the focus is on the finer details,” explained the 23 year old, who enjoyed the varied training after a long, hard season.

“We had everything thrown in there, handball, beach-volleyball, basketball – they are all sports I can hold my own in. On the volleyball court I was in an almost unbeatable team with Kevin Kuranyi. He practically grew up on the beaches of Panama as a kid and is really good. Our opponents, who were mainly Schalkes Westermann and Jones, didn’t stand a chance,” joked Mertesacker.

Now he is looking to link up with his other Werder team mates, Torsten Frings, Clemens Fritz and Tim Borowski to take the big title and there is no one in Bremen who would have too much against that outcome!

source: werder.de