Werder team news & general discussion

To pick up on a suggestion from nudge (p.8, "Welcome to the English speaking part of the new Werder forum. Where are you from?").

I think newsworthy items regarding the upcoming away match against Dortmund, this coming Saturday are a good starting point for this thread.

Let's kick the discussion off with the first piece of news, which many of you might know already.

Torsten Frings will not feature in Dortmund after picking up a red card in the home match against Nuremberg. Today the club showed disappointment at the decision but accepted the controversial one match ban of the player.

The red card is generally regarded as unjust. The player's ban does not increase the sense of optimism among Dortmund fans. Judging from "Das sagt der Gegner" thread in the German language section of the forum, both sets of fans are expecting a tight encounter. Whether these sentiments are representing a mean among supporters is another question.

A tight game will be expected. I try to find out how many Green-Whites are actually making the journey to the former "Westfalenstadion" in Dortmund.

I expect a tight game and I think defense is the key on Saturday. Frings is out, but Naldo is back after being banned for collecting a fifth yellow card in the 3:2 home win against Bochum.

For a long while this week is a chance for players to relax their muscles from a tight schedule in the past weeks.

Marko Marin was elected to be the player of the month by Kicker magazine.:svw_schal:

Go on, my son!

 

Good Topic, Bremer!

 

Of course, I would love to see place three in the end, but that would give KA and TS the chance to say that the balance in the squad is alright. I don't think it is yet. We have seen the skeleton of a future Werder team. In terms of offence, I am not too worried. This skeleton of a team has achieved a lot in this season. A cup final, a finish in the top 5 (we are in with a big shout in this one) and we get knocked out against Valencia only on away goals. A better season than last year's in my book.

But, we need an experienced LB and we need to strengthen other bits of defence.

An offence wins games, a defence wins championships. Against teams of less attacking potency, when our energy levels are short after the cup competitions, Schaaf opts to play "shut up shop," as seen against Hoffenheim and Mainz. Why on earth, did he play such a risky game against Dortmund when a key midfielder is out. That still upsets me. We have failed again against a direct competitor.

Many people predicted a Werder team without Diego falls apart and is left behind in no-man's land in the league. That didn't happen, but we are not quite there yet. I hope there is a bit of money to invest in experienced defensive players that might give the squad a boost and new ideas about the defensive approach to a game or to a situation in play. Then, I am more than confident that something amazing could happen again.

 

^^
Good post, definitely agree.

However, I feel a good finisher would be very useful as well, since we create a lot of chances, but usually they lack the final touch. With Rosenberg probably leaving in the summer, that leaves us with Pizarro and Almeida as real strikers only - and Almeida is great as a super-sub, but rarely impress when given a starting place. Alright, then we have Wagner, Futacs, Ayik and Testroet, but neither is an established striker yet.
As for defence, left back is of course the weakest link there. Boenisch has potential, and I think he was doing well before his injury, but we have almost no back up for him. Pasanen is still a good player, but he doesn't have enough pace, especially against a fast opposition.

 

Without having an match thread I think i can say it here: WERDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :svw_schal::svw_schal:

After many years a victory away at Schalke and what a perfect moment to get it. Ozil was MoM, maybe the first time in this second half of the season, but what a game!!!

And the good news don't stop here: Dortmund and Leverkusen were both held to a draw and this means we can also afford a draw next week to get that 3rd spot(if Leverkusen doesn't win by 5 or more goals).

 

Awesome victory for us today! This continues to demonstrate how well we can perform when the team is focused. It has already been an entertaining season, especially considering how many people wrote the team off after losing Diego. Regardless of the finish at this point, I will remain a proud fan.:svw_schal:

Having said that......let's close out the Bundesliga with another win, and PLEASE beat Bayern for the cup! :applaus:

 

yeah, the result from Gelsenkirchen is really fantastic:applaus:
Now we have it in our own hands. Under some circumstances, just one point could be enough for the 3rd spot, or even a loss could be possible. But I hope we will finish the season with victory and show again that "we are number one in the north of Germany"

 

.........til the fixtures are announced for next season :applaus:

 

And to the presentation of the new matchshirts! :svw_schal:

 

So the fixtures are announced on 21st June, when can we expect to see the new strips for next season?

 

Well usually around the 1st of July. Maybe some preview on the Internet. But the official presentation is normally the day, when the team gathers for their first training session, this year on the 29th of June. So I guess on that day we will see the new shirts for next season. But don't expect too much anyway.

 

Supposedly they look like this:

http://www7.pic-upload.de/31.05.11/yr9z723gx7eg.jpg

http://www7.pic-upload.de/31.05.11/geric1c8dq4v.jpg

At least according to one guy from JerseydiscussionThread. Don't know how reliable this info is though.

 

The "red" one is but green one looks better then the one from 2010/2011

 

......season finished. Good first half of the season in comparison to the end of last season. Terrible time with injuries & suspensions. In the end was it a bad thing that we didn't qualify for the Europa League? We don't have a team just now capable of doing themselves justice & need time to rebuild & be in a better position for future Bundesliga campaigns & then look towards Europe too. Herr Allofs has said about the change in personnel to improve the team over the summer so lets just see what we're going to get.

Highlight of the season - IWF w/e
Low point of the season - Gladbach away!

 

I think there were many highlights and lowpoints in this years campaign.


+ IWF
+ Derby double against HSV
+ incredible turnarounds and last minute comebacks e.g. against Cologne and Hertha

- early cup exit against a 3rd league team
- tough defeats in Gladbach and Schalke
- 93. minute at the IWF
- horrible second half of the season


Anyway with the right players coming in I think we will be back next season.

 

I guess we made this season unforgettable with our International Weekend.
Hoepfully we can repeat that with a better season... footballwise...

Had a weekend with mixed feelings but at least I was able to say goodbye to my favourite player :grinsen:

Hope you all have a nice Euro 2012.
@ Scottland: Who will you be supporting?

 

let me guess.. Every team playing against England?

 

SWEDEN!!! :applaus:

 

@chris: What you say about the need to rebuild before we play internationally is true, but I'm gonna be honest: With my last (definite) year ahead on the island and the local team, Newcastle United, being likely to qualify for Europe I was really hoping for a home game abroad.

And yes, the IWF was definitely a highlight
Personally I also enjoyed the two only wins I saw live this year: Lautern and Hertha at home...

I also hope everyone has fun watching the Euro, with that and the Olympics coming up summer break will hopefully not seem so long.

 

A.B.E. (anyone but E**land)

Always good to see the smaller nations do well though.