Bundesliga Preview: Werder Bremen – Energie Cottbus

Werder Bremen take on Energie Cottbus at the Weser Stadion this weekend looking for their first win of the season.  With the Champions League starting next week a positive result would boost Werder, but Cottbus too are looking for their first three points of the season and want to stave off early talk of a fight against relegation.

Three Points Overdue

Werder Bremen’s clearly stated aim prior to the season start was to challenge for the Bundesliga title but much to their dismay, they are still waiting for their first win of the season three games in.  Two draws in their opening fixtures to Bielefeld and Schalke were not too worrying, but the loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach last time out was a little more disconcerting.

It wasn’t just the fact that they lost to the newly promoted side, it was more the manner and scale of the defeat.  The 3-2 scoreline rather hides the fact that Werder were well beaten and were clearly second best to last season’s second division champions.  A 3-0 scoreline would not have been unjustified and the two late goals the Green and Whites scored glossed over their weaknesses.

Their early season form (or lack of it) could be put down to the absence of key players like Mertesacker, Diego and Frings, but Thomas Schaaf’s squad possesses enough quality to have beaten Bielefeld and avoided defeat to Mönchengladbach.  Indeed both Diego and Frings were in the starting XI against Gladbach.

Werder kick off their Champions League campaign next week with a home tie against Anorthosis in Group B so a positive result and performance against Cottbus this weekend would give them just the boost they need before they take on the Cypriots in European competition.

The international break obviously hasn’t helped trainer Thomas Schaaf to rectify the deficiencies of the first three games with only a skeleton squad to work with, but he is sure they can turn things around this Saturday.

“The expectation is there that we beat opponents like Cottbus.  Many people are talking of how many we’ll put past them.  But they line-up very defensively with a 4-2-3-1 and even the lone striker drops deep” Schaaf explained.

“There won’t be a lot of room out there, and against such a formation it’s very difficult.  Many teams have discovered that already.  To score early is the key.  But if that doesn’t happen, then we’ll need patience and need to stay true to our tactics” the Werder trainer added.

Hard Times Ahead

The Energie Cottbus board have already gone public this season to hand Bojan Prasnikar a vote of confidence and that in itself is an indictment of the way their season has begun.  While there is little doubt that the management have absolute faith in the Slovenian, the outlook is already gloomy at the East German club.

The opening day loss to newly promoted Hoffenheim was not the ideal start and obviously hit their confidence.  A bore-draw with Hannover followed and was reminiscent of Jose Mourinho’s famous rant when Chelsea boss, that the opposition had come and parked their bus in front of their goal.  It was definitely a case of the point gained being much more important than the performance.

A narrow 1-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund came in their third match to leave them struggling at the bottom of the table this early in the new season.  Even more worrying perhaps is their lack of recent success in front of goal.

Their last league goal came back on the 10th May in their 2-0 win over Hamburg and 367 minutes without a goal is a worrying statistic for the Lausitzer fans, but not apparently trainer Prasnikar.

“We have worked a lot on our attacking play” he explained.  “Converting crosses, combination play, and the final ball to the strikers are all things we have been practicing in training.”

On the positive side, there is no shortage of fighting spirit at the club and that will surely come to fore sooner rather than later.  They showed plenty of grit last season when they clawed their way out of the relegation zone, and were only one of two teams to beat eventual champions Bayern Munich.

FORM GUIDE

Werder Bremen

30/08/08  Borussia M’gladbach  (a)  LOST 3-2  (Bundesliga)

23/08/08  Schalke  (h)  DREW 1-1  (Bundesliga)

16/08/08  Arminia Bielefeld (a)  DREW 2-2  (Bundesliga)

12/08/08  Esbjerg (a)  WON 0-3  (Friendly)

09/08/08  Eintracht Nordhorn (a)  WON 3-9  (German Cup)

Energie Cottbus

30/08/08  Borussia Dortmund (h)  LOST 0-1  (Bundesliga)

22/08/08  Hannover (a)  DREW  0-0  (Bundesliga)

16/08/08  1899 Hoffenheim (h)  LOST 0-3  (Bundesliga)

09/08/08  Tennis Borussia Berlin (a)  WON 0-3  (German Cup)

05/08/08  Willem II Tilburg (a)  WON 1-2  (Friendly)

Head To Head Record in Bremen:

03/05/08  Werder Bremen 2 Energie Cottbus 0

04/11/06  Werder Bremen 1 Energie Cottbus 1

22/02/03  Werder Bremen 0 Energie Cottbus 1

04/08/01  Werder Bremen 3 Energie Cottbus 2

12/08/00  Werder Bremen 3 Energie Cottbus 1

TEAM NEWS

Werder Bremen

Per Mertesacker has made a full return to training following his knee surgery in August and may take his place on the bench against Cottbus.  Midfielder Torsten Frings is set to feature following his broken nose, although he may be forced to wear a protective mask.

Brazilian defender Naldo is also confident about making it for Saturday’s game, while Peter Niemayer could also be among the substitutes following his knee injury.  Aaron Hunt however will not feature.  The U-21 player has returned from the midweek international match with a calf problem.

Probable Starting XI (4-1-3-2): Wiese, Fritz, Prödl, Naldo, Boenisch, Baumann, Frings, Jensen, Diego, Pizarro, Rosenberg

Energie Cottbus

Lausitzer trainer Bojan Prasnikar has also suffered with the absence of his national team players from training.  Four key players only returned to Germany on Thursday and have not been able to train fully.

Savo Pavicevic is set to return to the starting XI, as is Daniel Ziebig who has completed his ban following his red card earlier this season.  There is however a question mark over Stiven Rivic who has a virus.

Probable Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Tremmel, Pavicevic, Kukielka, Cvitanovic, Ziebig, Angelov, Rost, Sörensen, Iliev, Skela, Rangelov

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Werder Bremen- Diego

It is fair to say that when Diego ticks, Werder are an extremely tough side to stop.  The mercurial Brazilian is the heart and creative soul of the team and brings out the best in others when he hits top form himself.  He also has a debt to pay back after his left the team in the lurch to go off and represent Brazil at the Olympics.  He missed the first two games, but returned for the Mönchengladbach defeat hitting a superb free kick late on to give Werder a glimmer of hope.  A vintage performance from the midfielder on Saturday would go a long way to helping Klaus Allofs and Thomas Schaaf forgive his going AWOL in Beijing.

Energie Cottbus- Ervin Skela

Much of the credit for the Cottbus great escape last season must go to Albanian midfielder Ervin Skela, who hit some crucial goals at crucial times to help Energie lift clear of the drop zone.  He scored four times in the last nine games to help Bojan Prasnikar’s side reach safety.  With Cottbus likely to play one up front, it will be up to Skela to get forward to support Rangelov.

source: goal.com

Schaaf demands action against goalless Cottbus

On Saturday, 13.09.2008, FC Energie Cottbus will visit the Weser Stadium and the Green-Whites are well aware that the side from the Lusatia region are no push-over – and there is no reason to believe it will be any different this time around either: “They are a defensively minded side. They use a 4-2-3-1 formation with the lone striker falling back very deeply to help defend. There won’t be a lot of space for us to play in,” noted the trainer. Werder did well to beat Energie 2-0 twice last season but the games were anything but easy affairs. In the two previous seasons, Werder also managed to win the four clashes with Cottbus, but they were made to work for them.

So how should they do it this time? “Get an early goal and try to follow that with a quick second,” is the wish of Thomas Schaaf, who is hoping to see his side regain their former easy going approach. But as not all of the trainer’s wishes can be expected to be fulfilled, Schaaf has a ‘Plan B’: “If that doesn’t materialise, then we will need to be patient, stick to our guns and keep our shape. We will need to be determined and continue to press.” It is the trainers expressed appeal to his team not to become insecure and to stick together as a team.

Quite contrary to how things developed in Bielefeld and Mönchengladbach, when the Green-Whites became disoriented and lost their way in the opposing half. Following the low-point in Gladbach, there was a “clear and defined discussion” even before the players left for international duty. The coach also explained: “It cannot function the way we played against Gladbach. We need to rectify that.” The coach concluded by saying: “We now need to fulfil our objective.”

source: werder.de

A section of the Weser Stadium roof is removed

At the home tie with FC Energie Cottbus this coming Saturday, 13.09.2008, the Werder fans will get a first real glimpse at the beginning of reconstruction on the Weser Stadium. Since the start of this week, three massive cranes have been in operation, removing the roof over the south stand and demolishing the supporting pillars. By Saturday, the work on the stand will have developed so far that the seats in the lower section of the south stand will no longer be covered, but there will be no obstruction for the fans during the period of construction.

The work on the south and north stands will continue in the coming weeks. On the section of the stand which will remain, an extended construction will be erected which will give cover to more of the places in the stadium. Weser Stadium GmbH is responsible for the construction work with the planning and completion being done by ‘Procoon Ingenieurgesellschaft Bremen’.

source: werder.de