Hoffenheim’s premiere on the Weser

On Saturday, 27.09.2008 (kick-off 3:30pm), Werder Bremen will play host to one of the top teams in the league when 1899 Hoffenheim visit the Weser Stadium. Top team? Hoffenheim? Somewhat surprising, but that’s just how it is. The newly promoted side have quickly raced up the Bundesliga table and are currently in second place. The world of football has been watching on in amazement, but not Werder coach Thomas Schaaf: “Hoffenheim have a lot to offer. I’m not at all surprised that their doing so well.”

The side from Baden-Württemberg will be bringing the Bundesliga’s current top scorer with them when they visit the Weser Stadium for the first time: Vedad Ibisevic has so far notched up six goals and also has two assists to his credit: “He has made an amazing breakthrough. His scoring record speaks for itself,” explained Schaaf, who is well aware of just what the Hoffenheim attack has to offer: “They have fantastic alternatives in Obasi and Ba, who can become involved at any point in the game, put in the running and win challenges. They have a good team together that is willing to put in the work and approach their games actively.”

The visitor’s self-confident, attacking style of football could well play right into Bremen’s hand on Saturday. Werder have recently had problems dealing with more defensive sides: “Hoffenheim won’t hide away from us. They will look to take charge. The stage is set for a very interesting game. A high quality game would suit us but first and foremost we want to be successful,” commented Schaaf. Hoffenheim will be looking to get back to winning ways having been disappointingly eliminated from the DFB Cup on Tuesday night as they went down 3-1 to second division SC Freiburg.

source: werder.de

Werder progress to the last 16

Werder Bremen guaranteed their place among the last 16 teams in this season’s DFB Cup thanks to a narrow 2-1 (1-1) win against FC Erzgebirge Aue. The goals for the Green-Whites were scored by Claudio Pizarro (26’) and Markus Rosenberg (54’) after Fabian Müller had opened the scoring for the visitors (7’).

Thomas Schaaf’s side got off to a shaky start and very quickly found themselves trailing. Skerdilaid Curri played a pass to Fabian Müller and the 21 year old drove unstoppably past Tim Wiese into the top left corner, from all of 20 meters out, to put his side in front with the very first attempt on goal from the hosts. Just a minute later Aue created their second opening and very nearly doubled their lead. A long ball from the back was nodded into the path of Aue’s Mohammed El Berkani, who broke free on goal, but luckily for the Green-Whites, Naldo made up for his initial error with a well time challenge to rescue his side from going two behind.

Having recovered from their poor start, Werder began to take control of the match and went in search of an equaliser, with Pizarro proving especially threatening. Having come close twice with efforts in the 17th and 19th minutes, the Peruvian striker finally levelled the scores as he headed home a free-kick from Diego, with his back to goal, to make it 1-1 as the sides went into the half time break.

With just five minutes of the second half played, the ever menacing Pizarro came agonisingly close to putting his side in front with a shot that went just wide of the right post. Aue were not about to sit back and allow Werder to completely run the show though. Tim Wiese had to be alert to parry away a headed effort by Tomasz Kos which was goal-bound. Werder always looked the more likely to produce, and after a clever one-two with Pizarro, Markus Rosenberg broke away and slotted past Stephan Flauder in the Aue goal to make it 2-1 (54’).

The third division side threw caution to the wind as the tie came to a close and Wiese was again called into action to save a free-kick attempt from Curri. In the end the score was to stay at 2-1. Werder carry on now to the next round of the DFB Cup and the fans can continue to dream of another big day in Berlin.

The game at a glance:

FC Erzgebirge Aue: Flauder – Klingbeil, Kos, Paulus, F. Müller – Cimen, El Berkani (63‘ Hochscheidt), Hensel, Curri, Feick – Schmidt (60‘ Glasner).

Werder Bremen: Wiese, Pasanen (61‘ Fritz), Prödl, Naldo, Boenisch – Baumann, Vranjes (46‘ Hunt), Özil (80‘ Niemeyer), Diego – Rosenberg, Pizarro.

Goals: 1:0 F. Müller (7‘), 1:1 Pizarro (26‘), 1:2 Rosenberg (54‘)

Referee: Aytekin (Oberasbach)

source: werder.de

Frings and ‘Merte’ don’t make Aue trip – Özil on board

Once again the Werder players are on their travels for another away game. On Monday the destination wasn’t the champions in Munich but rather the more obscure Erzgebirge region. In the district town of Aue, the Green-Whites will take on third division opposition in the second round of the DFB Cup on Tuesday evening.

Unfortunately for trainer Thomas Schaaf, once again he will have to make do without the services of a number of very important individuals. Aside from Daniel Jensen (Achilles tendon) and Torsten Frings (muscular problems), who are still suffering with problems from the previous week, now Per Mertesacker and Martin Harnik have had to remain in Bremen through illness.

On a more positive note, German international Clemens Fritz and Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida have both returned to join their team mates. Mesut Özil will also make the trip to Erzgebirge, glowing with confidence after another extremely impressive performance at the weekend. And there was plenty of praise about for the young midfielder on Monday: “We are very satisfied with the manner in which he has approached the task here with us. On Saturday he rewarded himself for a great game with a fantastic goal. He is going about things much more offensively both on and off the pitch,” acknowledged Thomas Schaaf.

The coach expects more and more from the attacking 19 year old: “We’ve known for some time just how much talent he possesses, but now he is displaying that better all the time. He has the ability to become a very important player here with us. He is certainly headed in the right direction, but he also knows that there is more to come. He will have to continue proving himself and develop further as a player.”

The squad for the DFB Cup clash with Erzgebirge Aue is:

Tim Wiese, Christian Vander; Sebastian Boenisch, Petri Pasanen, Naldo, Dusko Tosic, Frank Baumann, Jurica Vranjes, Clemens Fritz, Markus Rosenberg, Diego, Mesut Özil, Aaaron Hunt, Sebastian Prödl, Boubacar Sanogo, Hugo Almeida, Claudio Pizarro, Peter Niemeyer

source: werder.de

“Leaf back through the history books…”

As if such a win – unbelievably high scoring! Against the champions! And closest rivals! Away from home! – wasn’t pleasing enough on its own, all of those who witnessed the Green-Whites sensational 5-2 win at the Allianz-Arena went on an immediate search for sensational comparisons. Being able to categorise the win would maybe make it all the more tangible – it seems so hard to really believe!

“Leaf back through the history books to the game against Real,” began general manager Klaus Allofs. He was of course referring to the calibre of the opponents, their status in European club football, their name alone, the majesty of the performance and not to forget the personnel situation in Bremen at the time: “Back then we had a lot of injury problems too.” For last November’s amazing 3-2 win in the Champions League, there were even more first choice players absent – but what was true back then was also true of Saturday’s game in Munich: “We had a good team together anyway, that didn’t throw us off. It just means that you’ve got to work harder to compensate for those who are missing.”

The performance of the winners is only one element worth flicking through the history books to acknowledge. The situation surrounding a very inferior FC Bayern has also left many speechlessly searching for facts and figures to prove that such “Disasters” (as Franz Beckenbauer put it) have occurred in Munich down the years. The quality of the Bremen performance is made all the more clear by just how far back one must search for evidence of such ‘Bayern-Bloopers’. It was the highest defeat in the clubs history since March 1979 – almost 30 years ago. Back then Bayern crumbled 0-4 against Arminia Bielefeld. After the game Tim Wiese queried rhetorically: “When was the last time that anyone scored five goals here against Bayern?” The answer is 1976, when FC Schalke beat Bayer 0-7.

source: werder.de

Bayern vs Werder Highlights

2 videos with highlights from the game:

– 10 minutes highlights with english commentary(low quality)

– 6 minutes highlights with german commentary(better quality)

Attitude, callousness and perfect timing

Trainer text books, learning material, example films – there is seemingly no end to the amount of material produced in order to support, describe and explain football. But; How do you win a game in Munich with a three goal advantage, score five and show the perfect reaction to a disappointing 0-0 against Famagusta on the previous Tuesday? Does anyone have the recipe?

Ingredient number one: The mental seasoning, otherwise known as the right “Attitude”: “We were highly concentrated on our own game,” praised Thomas Schaaf. “That gave us strength, which transferred to more stability on the ball but also improved our defensive properties.” For Claudio Pizarro the decisive factor was clear: “The will to win was there from the outset. That should always be the way.” And Frank Baumann’s comment fits well into the same category: “The important thing in Munich is to stand up for yourself.”

There are of course plenty of other ingredients needed to make up such a performance. Mesut Özil spoke of the right amount of “Aggression”, whilst Thomas Schaaf and Tim Wiese both spoke of turning the plans from off the pitch into actions on it. General manager Klaus Allofs repeated an element that he always considers vital and can be decisive in such games: “We know that we have the ability.” Bayern coach Jürgen Klinsmann summed up quite simply: “Bremen were more determined, livelier and cleverer.”

The second telling ingredient in the mix: Effectiveness in front of goal. And it was a factor that would prove decisive for Werder in Munich. 10:22 shots on goal was the official statistic for the Green-Whites against Bayern – two of those efforts were blocked, two went wide and one hit the post. The statistic displays a 50% quota, and Bayern keeper Michael Rensing didn’t make a single save. “There are days that you can stand about picking your nose and the ball still ends up in the net,” remarked Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer in unusually entertaining, when a little simplified, fashion. For Frank Baumann, these things slot together: “Sometimes things just go your way and then you score your goals. It is particularly good that our strikers scored because they have taken a lot of stick lately.” Maybe it was a case of the scale being rebalanced after the wasted chances in the Champions League on Tuesday. Tim Wiese noted: “Against Famagusta we had the chances but didn’t score the goals. Today almost every shot ended up in the net.”

source: werder.de

Maintaining focus amidst the celebrations: “Don’t flip-out”

There is no question that such a historic, stunning and unexpected win over your arch rivals will leave you feeling drunk on emotion, but even on such an occasion, the Bremen contingent haven’t lost focus. There is no reason to lose your head over a 5-2 win – quite the opposite. There were enough level headed individuals on hand to remind everyone that the great success in Munich only really means one thing:”Three very important points,” as Thomas Schaaf noted directly after the game, before going on to make the clear statement: “There’s no need to flip-out.”

And the trainer’s comments didn’t fall on deaf ears. Captain Frank Baumann also appealed to his colleagues to remain focused. A 5-2 win isn’t really worth much if it is to prove a one-off event: “Now it’s up to us to confirm this performance and not sit back on what we’ve achieved,” warned the experienced midfielder, and he went on:

“We took it upon ourselves to put on a determined performance. Now we have to prove that we can repeat that. This game was the benchmark for the games that are coming up in the next couple of weeks.” Aue in the cup and Hoffenheim on Bundesliga match day 6 may be of a different calibre to FC Bayern, but they deserve no less respect.

Goalkeeper Tim Wiese also made it clear that the team must now stick to the task: “We can’t afford to rest on that performance!” There is at least one good reason to continue where they left off: “Everyone got a confidence boost from that game.” Werder could well do with a boost in confidence following the disappointment of the 0-0 draw with Anrthosis Famagusta, which could have left many beginning to doubt themselves, and the team. Thomas Schaaf explained the importance of the reaction that his side showed in Munich: “If you don’t pull off the little things in football, then you can’t expect to achieve great things.” It was a game in which Werder once again found their no strings attached, straight-forward and highly effective style of football.

source: werder.de

Bremen bounce back with 5-2 drubbing of Bayern

On the fifth match day of the season, Werder Bremen pulled off a stunning and extremely surprising 5-2 (2-0) win away to FC Bayern Munich. 69,000 spectators at a capacity filled Allianz-Arena saw goals scored for the Green-Whites by Markus Rosenberg (30’/67’), Naldo (45’), Mesut Özil (54’) and Claudio Pizarro (59’), as well as a brace for Bayern by former Werder man Tim Borowski (71’/85’).

Despite being without Torsten Frings, Daniel Jensen, Clemens Fritz and Hugo Almeida, due to illness and injury, Werder controlled the game from the start and caught a rather tired looking Bayern side out cold with some clever combination football. Following a shot against the post from Diego after 18 minutes, the Green-Whites took a deserved 1-0 lead thanks to Markus Rosenberg. Latching on to a perfect through ball from Mesut Özil, the Swedish striker burst past Martin Demichelis and slotted coolly past the advancing Michael Rensing in the Bayern goal to put his side in front.

Having gone behind, the German champions raised their game and attempted to press back the visitors, but efforts from Lukas Podolski (33’) and a header from Luca Toni (39’) failed to really threaten and Werder punished the hosts for their wastefulness. With seconds to go before the half time whistle, Özil floated in a cross which Rensing could only bat down to the feet of Naldo and the Brazilian central defender didn’t need to be asked twice before hammering into an empty net to make it 2-0 for Werder at the break.

Those expecting to see Bayern Munich going into the second half with all fires blazing were to be bitterly disappointed. The home side sought a way back into the game but the Green-Whites took the opportunity shake off the frustration of recent weeks. Following a perfectly weighted pass from Diego, the stunningly impressive Mesut Özil pushed forward, and with Massimo Oddo allowing the 19 year old to go unchallenged, the young winger belted the ball unstoppably into the top left hand corner from 15 meters out to make it 3-0 (54’).

Thomas Schaaf’s side could have sat back at this stage but instead continued to go in search of goals – and proved exceptionally successful. Diego played a long ball forward to Rosenberg who squared to Claudio Pizarro in the centre. The Peruvian striker swivelled on the ball and shot past Rensing on the near post to make it 4-0 (59’). With a number of frustrated Bayern fans already making their way out of the stadium, Rosenberg struck again. Rensing got a fist to a Diego free-kick, but the clearance fell comfortably for the Swede, who netted to make it 5-0 and give the travelling fans real reason to enjoy the long journey home.

Bayern substitute, and former Werder man, Tim Borowski struck in the 71st minute to reduce the deficit to 5-1 and he was on target again with five minutes to go, making the final score 5:2 but it was all too late for the hosts. On the day it was the Green-Whites who would get to enjoy the party on the home turf of their most acute rivals in recent years.

The game at a glance:

FC Bayern Munich: Rensing – Lucio, Demichelis, van Buyten (46‘ Borowski) – Lell (46‘ Oddo), van Bommel, Schweinsteiger, Zé Roberto (67‘ Sosa), Lahm – Toni, Podolski

Werder Bremen: Wiese – Prödl, Naldo, Mertesacker, Boenisch – Baumann (46’ Hunt) – Vranjes, Özil (77’ Niemeyer) – Diego – Rosenberg (70‘ Sanogo), Pizarro; on the bench: Vander, Pasanen, Tosic, Harnik

Goals: 0-1 Rosenberg (30’), 0-2 Naldo (45’), 0-3 Özil (54’), 0-4 Pizarro (59’), 0-5 Rosenberg (68’), 1-5 Borowski (71’), 2-5 Borowski (85’)

Referee: Kinhöfer (Herne)

Attendance: 69,000 (sold-out Allianz-Arena)

Yellow cards: Demichelis – Baumann, Vranjes

source: werder.de

Tough challenge at the Allianz-Arena

If you were to believe just what critics in Bremen have recently been writing, then Werder have distinct problems in dealing with defensive and particularly passive opponents. Trainer Thomas Schaaf’s men would very much like to prove those critics wrong on the pitch – but they will have to be patient. This Saturday, 20.09.2008 (kick-off 3:30pm), the Green-Whites will be faced with the challenge of Bayern Munich at the Allianz-Arena, where not many will expect to see a passive host!

The ‘Bayern-Express’ really brewed up a head of steam in the last couple of weeks, with a 4-1 win over Hertha BSC Berlin followed by a 3-0 win away to FC Köln: “Bayern are the cream of the crop in the league at the moment,” acknowledged Thomas Schaaf, with a great deal of respect for the up-coming opponents, but the Werder coach went on to note confidently: “That’s the kind of team we should be measuring up to!” Werder general manager Klaus Allofs remarked: “It’ll surely be a heated affair. It’s a real top match. We are not all that far off Bayern.”

At an initial glance, Werder’s away record against FC Bayern leaves little reason for real optimism. Since 1965 Werder have made 42 Bundesliga appearances in Munich but have only managed a meagre six wins. Another more intensive look at the record book shows that three of those wins took place in the last eight years. Unforgettable was the stunning 3-1 win on 08.05.2004, when goals from Ivan Klasnic, Johan Micoud and Ailton at the Olympia Stadium saw Werder Bremen clinch their fourth German league title. From the last ten meetings, Werder won three, drew three and on four occasions Bayern claimed the points. The balance of power has been swaying more favourably for the Green-Whites as time elapses and the 7,000 Werder supporters who are expected to make the trip to Bavaria will be hoping to see their side’s quota continue to improve.

source: werder.de

Pizarro and Borowski clash with former team mates

One is looking forward to meeting up with “Micho, Scheini, Lahm and returning to the Allianz-Arena,” whilst the other is happy about seeing “the old lads” from the Weser. One is keeping his distance until kick-off but the other is looking to make contact: “We’re all familiar with modern communications mediums – e-mail, text messages – those sort of things,” explained Tim Borowski. For both ‘Boro’ and Pizarro it’s quite a special game, as they come face-to-face with their past.

It’s a game in which both new signings, who have each scored a goal for their new clubs in the Bundesliga this season, are determined to play a part: “It’s a top game, as it is every year. There is no need to describe the rivalry between the two clubs,” said Borowski, who has still a great deal of respect for his former club and closely follows the happenings on the Weser: “They’ve come off a bit badly in the last couple of games because they managed to create a lot of chances but looked somewhat unfortunate with their finishing,” commented the former Green-White on his ex-clubs current situation. The midfielder went on: “They’ll really be up for the game, in particular because they’ve made a poor start in the Bundesliga. We’ll be facing something of a wounded beast.”

Werder striker Claudio Pizarro is in absolute agreement with the Bayern man: “We’re not in a good position in the table and need the points. I am not worried that we won’t achieve our targets though. The team possesses a great deal of quality. The game against Bayern Munich is the chance to decisively improve our situation.” Pizarro is determined to make his mark with the Green-Whites against the German champions: “If I was to describe the differences between the two clubs then I would have to acknowledge that Bayern are the bigger international club, who are always at the top. Werder Bremen are striving for that, and are headed in the right direction.”

source: werder.de

Doubts over Jensen and Almeida

The manner in which the Werder players should be approaching the up-coming Bundesliga clash with FC Bayern Munich is quite clear. Learn from their mistakes, put Famagusta behind them and head off confidently towards Munich, where they will clash with Bayern on Saturday, 20.09.2008 (kick-off 3:30pm).

Mesut Özil feels the match against the German champions has come at just the right time: “We’re looking forward to the Bayern game. They have good individual players, but we are well aware of what we are capable of too,” said the 19 year old, who has set his sights on getting another chance in the starting eleven, as against Anorthosis: “I want a place in the first eleven and that’s why I give my all week in, week out.” Diego considers the roles in the North-South derby to be clearly appointed: “In a top match like this the chance of winning is always 50-50. It’s a difficult game for us but it won’t decide the championship.” The Brazilian playmaker did note though that improvements will have to be made if they are to better the meagre turn-over of just one win in the first four games.

To add to Werder’s woes, both Hugo Almeida and Daniel Jensen are carrying knocks and look doubtful for Saturday’s game. Trainer Thomas Schaaf explained: “They are both questionable for Saturday. Daniel took a blow to the ankle and Hugo has a back problem.” Both players missed training on Thursday afternoon. On a more positive note, captain Frank Baumann has recovered from his back problem and was able to return to training, as was Perti Pasanen, who recovered from a cold and has been back amongst his team mates since Monday.

source: werder.de

Werder lack bite and Champions League feeling

Werder Bremen lost 0-0! At least that’s how it felt as the individual players began to describe their feelings after the game. The disappointment was massive. On their own home turf, Werder couldn’t overcome a side that they dominated over the full 90 minutes: “We are familiar with this calculation game but in the end the result just wasn’t right,” remarked a frustrated Thomas Schaaf, and he continued: “We were of course hoping for something very different here and that’s why I’m disappointed. I am annoyed that we spoke about exactly what we had to expect yet we still weren’t determined enough to get the goal we needed.”

For the Werder coach, the situation was one similar to how things went before the happy-end against Energie Cottbus in their last Bundesliga game: “I got the feeling that we were sitting back with the notion in our heads that the goal would somehow come, just the way it did at the weekend. We tried to play too much football! We just thought we were so good, but still we couldn’t force the goal.”

It was an opinion that Klaus Allofs shared: “That wasn’t the amount of pressure that one would expect to generate in a Champions League game at home. We didn’t find our way through to goal and we didn’t win the necessary challenges. The team weren’t really as determined to win it as I had hoped they would be. I hope that they show more feeling for the Champions League in the next game than they did tonight.”

source: werder.de

Mertesacker: “Who knows how valuable that point could be”

Not even at their fifth attempt in succession could Werder Bremen manage a win in their opening game in a Champions League group stage. The disillusionment was clear, the Green-Whites would so dearly loved to have claimed all three points: “I hope the team are disappointed! I expect that everybody knows what they have thrown away here. We would have gone to Milan on the back of a win. That would have given us more security, but also offered us more opportunities to vary our game when we went there,” commented Klaus Allofs.

In spite of wasting an initial chance, the battle for the two top places at the top of Group B is still wide open. It was the message that those involved in the game portrayed as they dealt with their frustration. Head coach Thomas Schaaf said: “The situation in our group hasn’t changed. Even if we’d won we would have still needed to continue gathering points.”

The plan is now to quickly pick up those dropped points: “We missed out on the chance to put ourselves in a very good position. Really you have to win your home games if you want to progress in the competition. Now we must travel to Milan, and we don’t have much to lose there, but we are capable of taking something from that game,” said Clemens Fritz. Per Mertesacker agreed: “I don’t believe that means that we have forgotten how to play the game. We will rise to the challenge. Who knows how valuable that point could be.”

source: werder.de

Werder – Anorthosis Famagusta highlights

10 minutes highlights from the last night match:

Schaaf: We Really Have To Improve

Despite having numerous chances, the German side were unable to find a way to goal and were ultimately disappointed not to have opened their Champions League campaign with a win against the supposedly weakest side in the group.

Peruvian Claudio Pizarro had four good chances, and Werder seemed to lack the patience in the second 45 minutes to push home their advantage.

“We have to remember that we had five or six big chances to score, but were just unable to take them. Against a side like that, you have to play with more energy.

“There was really only one motto- go at them at full pelt. The chances were missed, so we need to improve” he said after the final whistle.

source: goal.com