Matchday 1: A. Bielefeld - Werder Bremen 16.08.08 3:30 PM CET [R]

[hackespitze123]

Tomorrow, the new Bundesliga season starts for us, an away match in Bielefeld. Although our record there isn't exactly great, I hope and actually expect us to win there tomorrow. We should take advantage of Bayern and HSV drawing tonight, I expect a tough and close race for the title this season, unlike last season, that's why every point will count in the end. The competition for the CL spots is stronger this year, and even mid-table teams like Dortmund or Hannover have improved considerably.

Likely lineups according to kicker.de (http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/spieltag/spielpaarungsvorschau/object/863404):

Arminia Bielefeld:
Eilhoff - Lamey, Bollmann, Kucera, Schuler - Kirch, Kauf, Halfar, Tesche - Wichniarek, Sadik

Werder Bremen:
Wiese - C. Fritz, Prödl, Naldo, Pasanen - Baumann - Frings, D. Jensen - Hunt - Rosenberg, Almeida


Auf geht's Jungs, Sieg! :D

[scrbblsz]

let's hope for an explosive start to the season!

although i'm a bit uncertain with how things will unfold for us, as you mentioned, mid table teams have improved and we've got a pretty young squad.

[scrbblsz]

here's a nice preview from the werder offside: http://bremen.theoffside.com/team-news/preview-matchday-1-armenia-bielefeld-away.html#more-86

[Rust_In_Peace]

Not the start I was looking for...

Defence looked shaky all game

[dkm1469]

Not the start I was looking for...

Defence looked shaky all game

Bummer, I was really hoping we could take advantage of the Hamburg gift. Do we miss Borowski that much?? I didn't get to see the match.:(

[waterboyro]

Today we miss about 9 players: Wiese and Rosenberg are the only ones who can't be blamed. Today i saw a catastrophic match for Werder. Before the game i would have said a draw meant we lose 2 points but after how we played i can say we won a point today.

[Rust_In_Peace]

I wouldn't worry just yet..Werder usually have a pretty slow start to the season.

[shinyyy]

Bummer, I was really hoping we could take advantage of the Hamburg gift. Do we miss Borowski that much?? I didn't get to see the match.:(
I didn't either, but Borowski was gone for much of last season due to injury. Slow start, or the inconsistency we've had to live with the last 2 seasons or so.
Either way, gotta hope for better results. It hurts twice as much because we never seem to take advantage of when Bayern doesn't win.

[scrbblsz]

http://bremen.theoffside.com/team-news/matchday-1-werder-2-2-arminia-bielefeld.html

[dkm1469]

http://bremen.theoffside.com/team-news/matchday-1-werder-2-2-arminia-bielefeld.html

Wow, interesting recap, thanks scrbblsz!! Every match I was able to see last year, I always thought Naldo was a waste of O2.

Loved the Power Rangers reference.....:p

[waterboyro]

Yeah it was a good commentary but the first goal against us i saw it like a mistake of Prodl, not Naldo. Prodl lost head 1 on 1 head duel and after that Wichniarek got the ball.

Maybe Naldo hadn't had a very solid back round last season but we don't have to forget all the good things he done here.

[LebenslangGruenWeiss]

Yeah it was a good commentary but the first goal against us i saw it like a mistake of Prodl, not Naldo. Prodl lost head 1 on 1 head duel and after that Wichniarek got the ball.

Maybe Naldo hadn't had a very solid back round last season but we don't have to forget all the good things he done here.

Naldo and Prödl both had solid games imo. Clemens Fritz was the surprising weak link in the defence.
For some reason Bielefeld is always hard to play for us on the road.

["Eisenfuß" Eilts]

Sh** performance. :mad:

We made too many mistakes and can be happy with the draw.
Worst mistake (or chain of mistakes) was the 2-2, one minute
after the lead. It seems like everyone was still celebrating in
that seem. Every player (especially Fritz) was too far away from
his opponent.

Lot´s of things to improve.

[hackespitze123]

Same old, same old. If we finally don't improve our defence (which includes the midfield and attack! defence starts with the strikers), we won't win anything this year, let alone the championship. Championship winners always have a solid defence, this includes our 2004 team which was very attacking, but solid also. Without a solid defence, successful attacking football is simply not possible.

["Eisenfuß" Eilts]

Absolute, same old story. :(

The team must learn to act more clever in some situations
and avoid counter situations (1st goal) and the positioning
must be improved (2nd goal).

@2004-team:
The with Ailton in front we often played counters ourselves.

[The Old Lady Hertha]

Yeah it was a good commentary but the first goal against us i saw it like a mistake of Prodl, not Naldo. Prodl lost head 1 on 1 head duel and after that Wichniarek got the ball.

Maybe Naldo hadn't had a very solid back round last season but we don't have to forget all the good things he done here.

Think that Naldo should have been closer to Wichniarek too. Think it was a dual mistake.

[waterboyro]

Yeah it's true. It's like Allofs said: it's not normal to lose the 1 on 1 duel but also it's not normal to lose the ball in midfield and let them send a trough pass and also in not normal to let the second striker to free.

So 3 things remain:
1. It was a multiple mistake goal
2. The defence was shaky in the game
3. The match vs Arminia is water under the bridge, now it's time to focus on the next task ahead: Schalke.