[nudge]

:( Well, it was even worse than expected and I'm gutted. Not so much with the result, but with the fact how poor we are and will be very lucky if we take part in Europa League next season. The team lacks strength and fitness, players are in a bad condition and able to be a threat only for 20 minutes or so. I don't know if it's the training's problem, or the players are just not up to the standard.
We started the match well, pressured Bayern all around the pitch and deservedly scored the first goal, yet that's about it. If Robben and Gomez had better finishing skills, we'd have lost this match by four goals minimum. An amazing winning goal by Robben, by the way.
The only one who looked well was Fritz, he was immense in defence. Borowski was invisible; I was already sceptical when we re-signed him in summer, and now it's clear he's just a waste of money.
We terribly lack depth. Fourth lost Bundesliga match in a row. Dammit :(

[SchalkeUK]

At least you didn't go 2 up and then poo it down the toilet!!!

[nudge]

well, we went one up just to lose 2-3, so at least you got 1 point after all :P

[nudge]

Quote

Werder Bremen boss Thomas Schaaf was given a vote of confidence by the club's director of sport after his side fell to a fifth straight defeat.

Bremen were torn to shreds by Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday, going 3-0 down within the first 18 minutes.

Although they recovered to only lose 4-3 in the end, the performance left a lot to be desired - but seemingly not enough to make Bremen think of desperate measures.

"Before you even pose the question, there is absolutely no doubting the coach," Klaus Allofs told ZDF television.

"We are very unsettled. We are a long way from the aims that only five weeks ago were right within our reach.

"Of course we cannot act as if everything is normal, but we won't do anything crazy.

"Nothing will change as far as personnel is concerned."

And the longer the sequence of defeats carries on, the harder it will be for Bremen's players to rediscover their focus and return to the kind of form which saw them go 23 games unbeaten late last year.

Allofs just hopes they can turn the corner soon, although he knows it "could still take a while".

"The players are insecure and they have fear of losing," he added.

"You could see how shocked they were to suddenly be 3-0 behind. We have just got to carry on until the mistakes which are settling in the minds of the players move out again.

"It could still take a while."

In the meantime, Bremen have written off their chances of qualifying for Europe again next season, at least via the Bundesliga.

They remain in the DFB Pokal and the Europa League, which now present their most likely route back into Europe.

Source

I'm glad we're sticking with Schaaf, he's an amazing coach and we couldn't find anyone better. The results are poor though, and something must be done. Unfortunately, we don't have the financial means to strengthen the team, and this could get even worse if we don't qualify for Europe next season. It's important to win as soon as possible, as our confidence badly needs a boost.

This post has been edited by nudge: 31 January 2010 - 01:07 PM

[nudge]

Squad update after January transfer window:

In: Sandro Wagner, Aymen Abdennour
Out: Dusko Tosic, Marcelo Moreno, Jurica Vranjes (loan), Torsten Oehrl (loan), Kevin Schindler (loan).

Not exactly the transfers I wanted to see, but I'm glad we got rid of some players, paying their wages was a waste of money.
Lately, things haven't been going our way - 5 lost league matches in a row, dropped level of performance in general, hopes of playing in Europe getting low. In addition, Allofs' lady died yesterday after a long illness, can things get even worse?

Our next match is against struggling Hertha on Friday, a win would give us a desperately needed confidence boost. Coach tried a different tactic in training yesterday, it's clear tactical changes are needed, so I wonder if it will work if adapted on friday. If Schaaf decides to try it out, our lineup should look similarly to this against Hertha:

----------------------Wiese-------------- ------------

Fritz---------Merte----------Naldo------Pasanen

-----------Frings-------------Niemeyer--- ---------

Marin------------------------------------ ------Hunt

-----------------------Özil------------- ---------------

---------------------Pizarro------------- -------------

It would make sense, in my opinion, as playing Marin as a striker definitely doesn't work, while he would be more useful on the right. Borowski will probably be dropped, with Niemeyer starting instead, and playing DM along with Frings. This should help our struggling defence cope with opponents, especially on the counters, that hurt us much in previous matches. Abdennour isn't likely to start either, Boenisch isn't available yet, so Pasanen will probably get his chance; he was in A-team in training too (as well as Niemeyer). Pizza would be the lone striker, getting the support from Özil just behind him.
This could work i think, wonder how will the actual formation look on friday though.

[John Connor]

Werder is the one of the luckiest teams in Bundesliga, cause they got Mertesacker... sometimes i just tune in to watch him (i usually watch Schalke, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern)... i think Gala (Rijkaard) should sign him before Real Madrid or Barcelona... what a player he is !!!

[nudge]

Umm Naldo is way better than Mertesacker, who is quite shaky lately. He's good, of course, yet I rate Naldo much higher.

[John Connor]

nudge, on 02 February 2010 - 11:40 PM, said:

Umm Naldo is way better than Mertesacker, who is quite shaky lately. He's good, of course, yet I rate Naldo much higher.

i don't get to see him much but not for me, from what i've seen, he's a classical Brasilian defender, a little ball dance, rapid act. Per is total German mentality, a true Bundesliga man. his role in a web defence is huge and he knows how to open the play really well. i'd sign him in an instant without even thinking...

[nudge]

a little ball dance, rapid act? I'm afraid I don't agree. He's like a rock in defence, actually he saved our ass more than once in a few last seasons, and he's also dangerous in attack from the standards. I recall only a two or so matches where he was rathe poor, other than that he's incredibly reliable. by the way, Naldo scored 4 goals this season for us already, that's the 4th best in the squad :lol: you don't want to stand in the wall or be a goalie when he takes the free kick, he's damn amazing in it. He's not playing too much with the ball at all, neither is he losing it.

[John Connor]

"ball dance", actually that's an idiom mostly used for Brasilianers. i saw his play against, umm...... can't remember but he was pretty rapid, i remember me sayin "haha brasil". yeah, he's a good player but Per is different for me, his role in a total team play is unquestionable. he does great in German national team as well.

[Der Neue Diego]

John Connor, on 03 February 2010 - 10:47 AM, said:

i don't get to see him much but not for me, from what i've seen, he's a classical Brasilian defender, a little ball dance, rapid act. Per is total German mentality, a true Bundesliga man. his role in a web defence is huge and he knows how to open the play really well. i'd sign him in an instant without even thinking...

There goes your argument.

Baffled about the club's recent form and defensive woes. So disillusioned am I about this current season, although really hoping we can inflict Leverkusen's first defeat at the Weserstadion in a few weeks.

[nudge]

John Connor, on 03 February 2010 - 01:11 AM, said:

"ball dance", actually that's an idiom mostly used for Brasilianers. i saw his play against, umm...... can't remember but he was pretty rapid, i remember me sayin "haha brasil". yeah, he's a good player but Per is different for me, his role in a total team play is unquestionable. he does great in German national team as well.

seriously dude, you ask any Bremen supporter who they prefer, the answer will be Naldo. Who did more blunders in defense? Mertesacker. Who scores goals and is more reliable in defence? Naldo. It's fair you like Merte, I rate him pretty high as well, but if I ever had to choose one of them, I know what my answer would be without any doubt.
Merte lacks speed pretty much, you can see that on the counters easily.

[Der Neue Diego]

Apparently Tosic's contract has been terminated, he didn't want to go on loan and didn't "present himself to an interested club in the English Premier League on Monday" according to the official website. Very unprofessional of him, but it didn't look as though he had a future at Werder anyway.

[nudge]

Der Neue Diego, on 03 February 2010 - 01:20 AM, said:

Baffled about the club's recent form and defensive woes. So disillusioned am I about this current season, although really hoping we can inflict Leverkusen's first defeat at the Weserstadion in a few weeks.

Seriously, how much worse can it get? We'll have to win as much as possible remaining matches; technically there's still a chance to qualify for Europe, but we'll also need luck for it, and other clubs to lose. We're 7 points behind HSV already :( other clubs are so close to us, one or two losses more, and we might easily find us in a lower half of the table.

Der Neue Diego, on 03 February 2010 - 07:22 AM, said:

Apparently Tosic's contract has been terminated, he didn't want to go on loan and didn't "present himself to an interested club in the English Premier League on Monday" according to the official website. Very unprofessional of him, but it didn't look as though he had a future at Werder anyway.

The club said they've never seen such unprofessional player, apparently that was not the first display of it. Ffs, the loan deal with Duisburg was already made, yet he ignored it.
I agree, he didn't have a future in Bremen, good riddance anyways, saves us some wage money at least.

[nudge]

Happy 111th Birthday! :)

A win tomorrow would be a good gift.
The players nominated for the match: Wiese, Vander, Pasanen, Naldo, Borowski, Fritz, Rosenberg, Marin, Özil, Hunt, Prödl, Abdennour, Husejinovic, Frings, Almeida, Pizarro, Niemeyer, Mertesacker.

[Der Neue Diego]

A win would indeed be a great gift. What would make it greater would be if Pizzaro starts and makes it through the match without any injury worries. I see no reason why Bremen cannot go on another great run if we actually have a clinical finisher playing every match.

[nudge]

Now after we beat Hertha last Friday, it's time for Hannover in yet another Nord Derby! :hh:

Wiese is fit to play again, and we don't have any big squad selection problems (although I can't wait for Boenisch to come back), I hope for a secure win and a good display.
The squad for match in Hannover: Wiese, Vander, Pasanen, Naldo, Borowski, Fritz, Rosenberg, Marin, Özil, Hunt, Prödl, Abdennour, Husejinovic, Frings, Almeida, Pizarro, Niemeyer, Mertesacker.

Come on SVW!

EDIT: by the way, Tosic signed a contract with Portsmouth :blink:

This post has been edited by nudge: 13 February 2010 - 10:45 AM

[nudge]

Sebastian Mielitz extended his contract with us! Good news, he's a very talented keeper with a lot of potential; glad to see he's sticking with us. If he develops further, I see him breaking into the first squad; considering the fact that Vander will probably leave soon, he might as well become a back-up for Wiese next season.

[nudge]

Quote

Bundesliga side Werder Bremen have successfully completed contract talks with versatile attacker Aaron Hunt. The German international has signed a new contract that runs until the summer of 2014.

"Aaron Hunt has had an excellent development over the past few months with Werder Bremen. And I am really happy that he wants to continue his way with us," said head coach Thomas Schaaf on the official Werder website.

"I am absolutely convinced that his development with us is not yet complete. And I know that he still wants to achieve more with Werder."

The 23-year-old forward is a product of the Werder Bremen youth academy and has made 101 Bundesliga appearances for the Hanseaten so far, scoring 20 goals in the process.

"Werder is, and will remain, my sporting home," said Hunt. "I feel very welcome in Bremen and would like to continue my way here in the next few years. And I see good conditions for that."

Source

Finally, one transfer drama is finally over. Not that I'm keen on holding onto Hunt that much, but I'm glad he made a decision, and will be hopefully able to fully concentrate on pitch. Hunt is an alright player, too inconsistent, but he's still young, and might develop more than we've seen already.

Özil next? It's about time for him to decide as well.

[nudge]

Pizarro's winner against Hoffenheim today! :D