Wanted: A Forward

By: Brian | July 7th, 2008

Position Open

France, Italy or Spain? Such is the dilemma facing Ivan Klasnic this morning. After a mildly serious flirtation with Steve Bruce and Wigan, Ivan has ruled out a move to NW England due to the poor weather and the possible impact on his health. Or Wigan turned him down due to the possible impact of his poor health on Wigan. Depends who you ask. Looks like Besiktas is out too.

Barring another suitor, the three horse race for his signature includes Nantes, Torino, and Mallorca.

Nantes seem to have the inside track, at least for today. You may know FC Nantes as the last club to win Ligue 1 before Lyon decided to put a chokehold on the title seven years ago and not let go. If warm weather is what Klasnic is looking for, he could do a whole lot worse than Mallorca. The Spanish club are losing Daniel Guiza and Ivan would be an obvious candidate to slot into his spot up top. The question still remains if he can play 90 minutes on a weekly basis. Might not be a whole lot in this rumor as Klasnic was apparently at home in Hamburg whilst being reportedly in Spain working on contractual details. The Torino whispers have been around a little while, but remain a possibility.

Three real distinct situations too. Mallaroca finished seventh in La Liga last season, largely in part to the league’s leading goal scorer. Nantes won promotion from Ligue 2 and would obviously like to secure their spot in the top flight. Torino found themselves dangerously close to the drop in last season’s Serie A and Klasnic could find himself part of a relegation fight again.

The best news in all of this for Werder? It looks as though a possible move to another Bundesliga club is not on the table. Didn’t relish the thought of a revitalized, something to prove Ivan Klasnic stepping out for BVB/HSV/Hannover at the Weser next season. You just know he would’ve scored. Maybe twice.

Only Serious Candidates Need Apply

This just in: Bremen are looking for another forward. After being rejected again and again by mediocre (Samaras) to average (Vennegoor of Hesselink) to intriguing (Moreno) offensive players, Werder are still in the market for somone to put the ball in the net on a regular basis.

As Allofs and Schaaf have crossed name after name off of their wanted list this summer, there is still one player that seemingly won’t go away - Milan Baros. Werder have been passively expressing an interest in the Czech playmaker for a number of years it seems and those rumors have resurfaced in recent weeks. The striker has been beloved/bumbling/reviled/effective at his various club stops and looks to be roughly in line with Werder’s policy of spending low on proven players during a dip in their careers. The risk is relatively low (maybe 4-6 Million Euros) for a player that could provide a stable veteran presence on a front line that desparately needs it.

Forwardwise, Werder has a stable of rough, but extremely talented players. However, all are fairly young and have each proven to be a bit up and down as the season progresses. Rosenberg (25) was one of last year’s success stories, but may actually perform better off the bench. Almeida (24) had flashes of magnificence, especially in Europe, but was invisible far too often. Hunt (21) is better suited to the midfield. Sanogo (25), rejected by Hamburg, was often a more extreme version of Almeida - bigger highs along with lower lows. With the addition of Huseinovic (19), the attacking force got even more inexperienced. Klasnic was the one true veteran striker, at the ripe ol’ age of 28. He had been through the pressure packed double win of 2004, however.

On one hand, Schaaf has been able to change his starters and substitution patterns to play the most in form strikers at the moment. Last year’s rotation was quite fluid and the starting two up top changed almost from week to week. Of course the inevitable downside to all of this is that Werder lack the deadly, out and out, pure goalscorer that most successful clubs have (and need). Klose scored a boatload of goals, but even he looked to pass first on many occasions.

So, it’s July 7th and already everyone here at the Werder Offside is beginning to get a little concerned. Werder will keep looking for an experienced striker over the next two months, but as time goes by, more and more players will get picked up by other clubs and the pool will continue to get smaller. Plus the amount of training time with new teammates decreases everyday.

Even the voice of sanity, Tim Weise is sounding a bit worried. “There has to be another top quality striker arriving, because we have lost Ivan Klasnic” he said.