Matchday 1 - Werder 2-2 Arminia Bielefeld

By: Brian | August 16th, 2008

Haven’t seen Werder Bremen play a match in recent years? Catch today’s big curtain raiser? Then you pretty much got a sense of what’s been happening in most matches since the double winning season of 2004. It’s thrilling, it’s maddening, it’s exhilarating, it’s infuriating. It’s Werder.

A fairly dour first half belied the second half histrionics to come. Wiese’s excellent point blank save on Artur Wichniarek being the sole highlight. Passes were either short or long and Werder missed Diego much more than I would have expected. Creativity in the final third left a lot to be desired and even when a dangerous pass was attempted, the execution was off. The result was more long balls than I can remember in one match. Hoof and chase is not Werder football.

1-0

Rosenberg’s first goal saw him score by not doing much more than stand in place, as Almeida’s flick on riccochetted off his torso and into the net. They always say that on set pieces, if there are two headers in the box, you’re most likely going to score. A header and a defelection did the deed here.

1-1

Bielefeld’s first goal came out an innocent long ball and not much else. Prödl did well to mark his man but Wichniarek blew by Naldo, who had clearly dozed off, and fired it home. It’s what we’ve come to expect from Naldo, who didn’t balance his defensive miscues with a shred of offensive contribution today.

2-1

Rosenberg’s response was lovely. Eschewing the run of Frings to his right, he rather selfishless decided to have a go from distance. Oweing more to surprise than placement and power, Rosenberg beat Eilhoff fairly easily. Barring injury, he’ll be Werder’s leading scorer this season. He’s growing in confidence and is supremely comfortable in this offense.

2-2

Amateur hour, with each member of the backline contributing to the horror show. Fritz got caught up field allowing the open counter attack down his side. Prödl closed the ball with the speed of Per Mertesacker. Naldo languidly stuck a toe in the path of the crossed ball. And Boenisch completely lost track of Wichniarek, the one Bielefeld man who showed any initiative all match long. Wiese had no chance.

Werder Man of the Match

Before he was subbed off, it was probably the cavalier Aaron Hunt, but Rosenberg’s brace garners him the award.

Werder Goat of the Match

As inept as Naldo was today, the award goes to Clemens Fritz. Wiese’s fantastic first half save thwarted an attack that originated when Fritz comically overran his man on Bielefeld’s left wing. A missed a flying tackle a few minutes earlier lead to another Bielefeld attempt on goal. Factor in his absence on the second tying goal and it’s fairly clear.

Miscellanea

• Was it a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3? Whatever it was, it was fluid and loosely structured, especially in the midfield. Baumann was camped in front of the back four as always, but Frings, Jensen, and especially Hunt interchanged positions freely. In fact the left pegged Hunt spent most of the day on the right side, forcing him to cut into the middle in lieu of putting in a cross.
• Frings took twice as many long range shots with his left foot (4) than his right (2) and none were particularly successful. Having the ball on his left was often the result of getting a pass from Hunt on the right.
• Boenisch looked fairly strong, if young. He’ll be very, very good.
• Dr. Drees really let them play. Only two cards for bad tackles, where a case could’ve been made for a few more.
• Werder’s white shirts looked better than I thought they would. Bielefeld’s shirts looked like they belonged on Power Rangers.
• The centerline at SchücoArena looked like it was painted by a drunk groundskeeper.
• The Werder Offside watched this match on Werder.tv. Our Dish Network equipped home no longer has Goltv, so it’s the Internet for us for the time being. Anyway, the match was broadcast with no graphics whatsoever (even the time and score was absent) and no commentators. Just lovely images and lovely crowd noise. It was like traveling back in time.

My recommendation for next week? A back four of Pasanen, Vranjes, Baumann, and an injured Mertesacker. They won’t wander more than 25 yards from goal.