calamitous
By: Jackson |
1 Comment
“Calamitous” is all I can think of when describing Werder Bremen’s 3-0 loss to Panathinaikos at Weserstadion in Champions League play. After this past weekend’s resounding victory over Hertha BSC, the club was bathed in optimism as it appeared that they had turned the corner on recent problems.
That changed immediately as a capacity crowd suffered through a nauseating performance where the attacking creativity of the club seemed to be bled-out from the weekend. While the visitors were responsible for most of the efforts before the break the match was dead-locked at the break. However thirteen minutes after the restart, Vagelis Mantzios collected an unsuspecting pass from Alexandros Tziolis at the end of the box, turned quickly and drove the ball past Tim Wiese. With twenty minutes remaining Giorgias Karagounis crushed Werder’s hopes with a strike from from the edge of the penalty area. With seven minutes remaining Werder had lost its focus and the third goal was added as a Alexandros Tziolis drive that was heading wide, struck Petri Pasanen and sailed into the net.
After the match Klaus Allofs was pointed when he noted how the club didn’t play as a team and lacked cohesiveness. He went farther praising Thomas Schaaf but also suggesting players who weren’t able to play as a team, should not be a part of the club.
Category: Team NewsGreen-Whites flying high for Panathinaikos
By: Jackson | 2 Comments
Following the triumphant 5-1 victory over the Berliners, the Green-Whites are flying high as Panathinaikos visits for their Champions League match at Weserstadion today. Following the draw in Athens, Group B is wide open with Inter Milan holding the top spot down with seven points, Cypriot squad Anorthosis second with four and Werder at third and Henk Ten Cate’s club following with three and one point respectively. A win for the Green-Whites, particularly in conjunction with a Inter win would see their hopes for advancing to the knockout round increase significantly.
In addressing the opportunity Thomas Schaaf said:
“Draws will not get you into the next round of this competition. Our aim is to progress and to do that we need to start winning. At least we don’t have to rely on anybody except ourselves.”
Panathinaikos is likely to play a highly defensive match and nullify the Werder attack as they did at the Olympic Stadium in Athens as evidenced by Henk Ten Cate’s comment that they will keep them “as far from goal as possible”.
Werder will welcome back Clemens Fritz to the pitch. Prior to the match he showed how anxious he is to get back to playing by stating:
“I would have preferred to have gone without this week of rehabilitation training. I’m sick and tired of all the talk. I am well aware of the fact that I haven’t started the season particularly well and had a couple of poor games, but I think that goes for everyone in the team. The same thing has been churned out for weeks now and at some stage you really start to believe that you are in poor physical condition.”
“I feel good and am looking to force my way back into the team through good performances in training. I’m just looking to the future now, the rest I can leave behind me. The team took its first positive step forward with the win over Hertha and I want to win back my place in order to help the team in moving further up the table.”
Thomas Schaaf commented before todays match that the squad is fit:
“No-one is carrying any knocks. Everyone got off the pitch unscathed”.
Werder will however be without Torsten Frings as he is under suspension.
Panathinaikos will miss Austrian international Andreas Ivanschitz, young Greek international Sotiris Ninis and Souza.
Category: Team Newsideas of crisis at Werder Bremen end
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Following the week where talks of “crisis” surrounded Werder Bremen, the club responded with a 5-1 blow-out of Hertha BSC at Weserstadion.
The Berliners who were riding an unbeaten streak but with the stroke of the new month, that all came tumbling down in front of 42,000. With the lineup boasting the return of Tim Wiese, Claudio Pizarro, Torsten Frings and Diego returning from injury, Per Mertesacker back from suspension and Austrian rear-guard Sebastian Prödl, the Green-Whites were no match for the visitors. With a fervor to end talks of “crisis” quickly, they pressured from the onset. Fourteen minutes into the match, Diego’s corner was parried by Berliner ‘keeper Christopher Gäng into the back of White Eagle ‘capped Gojko Kačar and into the net. With a one goal lead, Werder turned the screw and six minutes later Mesut Özil chipped a pass to Diego who repeated the effort over the ‘keeper to make it 2-0. Still not enough, three minutes before half another goal was added when Per Mertesacker flicked a Diego corner to Markus Rosenberg for finishing. On the hour, Claudio Pizarro finished Diego’s set-up to make in 4-0 before Cícero headed a Andriy Voronin free-kick but Pizza made it 5-1 with five minutes remaining.
Prior to the match, Thomas Schaaf and Klaus Allofs came out strongly to provoke a response for the club and based upon the result, it worked to perfection.
Category: Team NewsBerliners come in on a hot streak
By: Jackson | 1 Comment
Thomas Schaaf has come out ahead of the Hertha BSC - Werder match at Weserstadion matter-of-factly:
“At the moment we have neither the rhythm nor the stability that we need. We must see to it that we approach the upcoming tasks in concentrated and improved fashion. They’ve hit a run at a good time and are forcing their way through their games successfully. They are not just going to launch everything into attack, they will stand compact as a team. But they have the ability to hit quickly on the break. For all the work we do going forward, we are going to have to be wary when Berlin counter attack.”
The Berliners are one of the hottest clubs in the Bundesliga right now and coming off a 3-0 victory over Hannover on Wednesday and undefeated in October. Łukasz Piszczek, Amine Chermiti, Steve von Bergen, Christian Fiedler, Lucio and Patrick Ebert continue on their injury list with the only issue with the club being turmoil related to Marko Pantelić.
Tim Wiese, Claudio Pizarro, Torsten Frings and Diego all returned to practice from injury and along with Per Mertesacker coming back from suspension, will be needed in the lineup. Unfortunately Daniel Jensen, Clemens Fritz, and Hugo Almeida are doubtful in Thomas Schaaf’s lineup.
Let me hear from all the Green White supporters!
Category: Team NewsGreen-Whites fight back
By: Jackson | 3 Comments
With the Green Whites recent stumble journalists have circled around throwing out ideas of a “crisis” in Bremen. Obviously most of these journalist types have never stepped out on the pitch before because what they haven’t said is that although the team is stricken with a string of injuries they have had the fortitude to gut-out draws in the Bundesliga. However as those injury situations are solved, the Green Whites will respond and with a tough match against Hertha BSC on Saturday, the call to arms has been made.
Todays practice featured the return of Tim Wiese, Claudio Pizarro, Torsten Frings and Diego. Along with Per Mertesacker who returns from suspension the club has a lot to say about the “crisis” this weekend against the Berliners.
In “coach-speak” Thomas Schaaf said:
“I hope that they’ll be fit for Saturday.”
Which for those unaccustomed to “coach-speak” it means it’s time to tighten your boots a bit and defend Weserstadion and for those that can’t distinguish between “discomfort” and injury, maybe green isn’t your colour. There’s a lot more to this situation than meets the eye because their is a very loud message from the club’s leader.
He went on to further note that Daniel Jensen, Peter Niemeyer, Martin Harnik and Hugo Almeida are definitely out with Clemens Fritz questionable for the match.
Category: Team Newswhen a leader speaks
By: Jackson | Add Comments
The “crisis” of the early Green-White season has many notably concerned. However instead of shying away from the problem the club’s granite-solid leadership goes straight at.
Quoting Klaus Allofs:
“Ich habe keine Angst vor dem Wort Krise”
Spoken like a true leader, Herr Allofs comments are loosely translated as “I have no fear at all of the word crisis“, addresses the problem the club is having right now.
As a player and as a supporter, this is what you want to hear from leaders. Admission of the problems but a firm statement that their is no fear of a crisis.
Paraphrasing his comments he simply states that presently Werder has not met pre-season goals and are in negative trend. He adds thats passing lacks comprehension and defensive movement is not killing off the oppositions attacking forays. Noting further that many aspects of play that people are used to seeing are absent but hopefully they will rise to the surface shortly.
In summary, there is no crisis in Werder Bremen. It is a difficult slump during a portion of the season when the team is weighted down with injuries. The competitive nature of the Bundesliga is such that even the slightest flaw in your performance will be preyed upon, which is precisely what clubs have been doing this month. However with the clubs leadership you can count on this problem being rectified shortly.
Category: Team NewsGreen-Whites slide continues against Bayer Leverkusen
By: Jackson | 5 Comments
The Green Whites will be pleased to see October end as the month was an absolute disaster. Coupled with the 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen, they were only able to earn two points in four matches and have crashed to tenth in the table.
Today’s loss will not be any easier because of the clubs injury problems as they allowed two goals in the final nineteen minutes. In the attacking-end excluding Torsten Frings, Mesut Özil and Hugo Almeida’s early chances the offense was lacking intensity and confidence without Diego and Claudio Pizarro and was more inclined to wait for a counter-attack. With nineteen minutes remaining a Patrick Helmes header was saved by Christian Vander but Arturo Vidal snapped-up the rebound and didn’t hesitate making it 1-0. With ten minutes remaining Stefan Kießling’s shot cracked off the post and came to Manuel Friedrich, who then drove the ball into the net and made it 2-0.
After the match Thomas Schaaf, in response to questions of championships:
“We must work now on playing better again.”
With a tough match coming up this weekend against Hertha Berlin he added:
“My thoughts are absolutely directed toward the portion against Hertha BSC.”
Category: Team NewsGreen-Whites face huge test against Bayer Leverkusen
By: Jackson | 3 Comments
Chewing and spitting out their Bundesliga competition, Bayer Leverkusen visits Bremen today in a mid-week match-up. Following the recent disappointing performances the Green-Whites need to summon up their best as Leverkusen is playing an without fear. This past week in the Köln - Düsseldorf derby they dispatched FC Köln 2-0 and a victory at the Weserstadion would raise them to first in the Bundesliga.
Bayer Leverkusen has shown to be the most balanced team in the Bundesliga and Bruno Labbadia is a tactician who after the Köln victory reaffirmed this commitment:
“The win was very significant from my point of view because we played intelligently, kept our shape and won the trial of strengths.”
Adding to this, he is confident of victory:
“We are Bayer Leverkusen. We can expect to want to win even against a top side like Bremen. We’ll have to be on our toes though as Bremen have a lot of talented players in their side.”
Renato Augusto and Swiss international Tranquillo Barnetta are questionable to return for the Werkself.
“Intelligent” is what should be stressed as to produce against Leverkusen you must “create” as they are unlikely to commit unforced errors and you must capitalize on those chances. Green-White manager Thomas Schaaf has not been impressed with play this month which has seen them earn only two points in three matches. Following the victories over TSG Hoffenheim and München, they fell considerably in the table and now face critical matches against Bayer Leverkusen today and Hertha Berlin on Saturday. However the situation for Bremen is not getting easier as Clemens Fritz adds his name to injury list that now includes Diego, Martin Harnik, Daniel Jensen, Peter Niemeyer Claudio Pizarro and Tim Wiese. Per Mertesacker returns from suspension and his leadership will be needed. Markus Rosenberg will need to produce for the Green-Whites and Mesut Özil must capitalize on scoring chances.
I hope this wasn’t too late but just trying to do between practices before I watch the match
Category: Team News
Tags: Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern München, Bruno Labbadia, Claudio Pizarro, Clemens Fritz, Daniel Jensen, Düsseldorf, diego, FC Köln, Hertha Berlin, Köln, Markus Rosenberg, Martin Harnik, Mesut Özil, Per Mertesacker, Peter Niemeyer, Renato Augusto, Switzerland, Team News, Thomas Schaaf, Tim Wiese, Tranquillo Barnetta, TSG Hoffenheimderby ends in a draw
By: Jackson | 4 Comments
The Green Whites trip to Hannover ended in disappointment as they stumbled to a 1-1 draw. Thomas Schaaf was significantly handicapped with a number of absences with which the loss of Per Mertesacker, Diego and Claudio Pizarro had a major impact. The outcome is particularly frustrating as Bremen was generally able to control play but fell far short in creating scoring opportunities or finishing on the ones that they did.
Hannover came out inspired and came close as a Szabolcs Huszt cross into the box was headed by Mikael Forssell to the corner but ‘keeper Christian Vander made a good save. However by the ninth minute die Roten had the 1-0 lead as the Hungarian international Huszti played set-up man again, this time re-directing a corner to Christian Schulz who headed it on from in-close. That goal seemed to provide a general match wake-up call as things became a bit more heated. Fouls were a bit harsher and all of a sudden this started to look and feel like a real derby.
The Green Whites started to show some inspiration and came close with Naldo coming close on two separate occasions five minutes later but it was to no avail. Just past the half-hour mark Hugo Almeida crossed to Mesut Özil, playing in place of Diego, near the spot but his drive was woefully off target. However Almeida continues to be the offensive leader and four minutes before break the Portuguese international scores for the right side of the box to the opposite corner with his left foot. Only two minutes later he nearly gives Bremen the lead with a header from in the box but it falls wide. A flurry of activity begins on the Hannover attack with Huszti once again stirring things ups but the match goes to the break even.
After the break the first fifteen minutes show little final product from either side but tempers are continuing to flare up. However with thirty minutes to go a whirlwind of attacking prowess commences with die Roten ‘keeper Florian Fromlowitz robbing Mesut Özil from close range. Not to be outdone in this battle of back-up ‘keepers Christian Vander stands tall and denies Sergio Pinto in the ensuing attack. With twenty minutes remaining the clubs trades scoring chances but finishing is lacking once again. Bremen’s best opportunity falls into the hands of Özil, who pushes a drive from the left side of the box wide. As the match is winding down, it is all Hannover as they have sea of red in the Bremen end. Bremen appear satisfied with a point and in-the-end that is where the match ends.
The result is a tough decision for Green White supporters to take although on a positive side Christian Vander proved himself to be very sturdy in gaol and if it wasn’t for him, Hannover would have taken the three points. It will be nice to move on from October where we are winless with two draws but before we do we face Bayer Leverkusen at the Weserstadion.
Category: Team NewsDiego and Pizarro out for derby
By: Jackson | 2 Comments
After a lackluster 2-2 draw in Athens against Panathinaikos in the Champions League, the Green-Whites scoot down the road to face Hannover 96 in the classic Nord derby. Hannover is a perfect stop in the Bundesliga road-warriors guide packed with a sick club scene that will hold you over for an extra night.
Given it’s Football we’re chit-chatting about, it hasn’t been the best of starts for Dieter Hecking’s club as their offense has generated a paltry nine goals in eight matches while allowing sixteen into their own net. Before Die Roten inflicted cruel and unusual punishment on Borussia Mönchengladbach defeating them 5-1 they were held scoreless in their first three matches including an opening weekend 3-0 blowout by Schalke 04. Following the Mönchengladbach beat-down they were mauled by Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 but went out the following week really upset der Kaiser with a 1-0 over Bayern. After a relatively normal 1-1 draw to Borussia Dortmund, they were handed a 5-2 drubbing by TSG Hoffenheim last week. For Hannover fan’s it’s been a good year to reach for a Hasseroeder as you have no idea who is showing up each weekend.
The big story of this derby is injuries as both clubs rosters are dilapidated. For Hannover, Mario Eggimann is out and of their regulars in the back-line, only Vinicius will start but even that is questionable. Jan Rosenthal, Robert Enke, Michael Tarnat and Arnold Bruggink are all out as well. Dieter Hecking has urged his club to “play aggressively” with particular focus on the “unsettled” Bremen defenders.
The Green-Whites will miss Per Mertesacker, out on suspension as well as missing Diego, Claudio Pizarro, Daniel Jensen and Tim Wiese to injury which is obviously an enormous drain on the club. They come into the match allowing die Roten to win only one of the last ten however last years derby in Hannover ended in a 4-3 victory for the home squad. Probable lineups are posted are as follows:
Werder-Bremen lineup:
Vander – Mielitz, Boenisch, Pasanen, Naldo, Tosic, Baumann, Vranjes, Fritz, Rosenberg, Özil, Hunt, Prödl, Husejinovic, Sanogo, Frings, Almeida.
Hannover 96 lineup:
Fromlowitz – Cherundolo, Vinicius, Fahrenhorst, Rausch – Balitsch, C. Schulz, Stajner, Schlaudraff (Pinto), Huszti – Forssell
Category: Team News
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