The success of Werder Bremen

[aloisius]

Is this a great story or what? A team that has lost 3 of their best players over the last 2 years , that's made up of other players rejected by other clubs and some bargain signings is on a verge of winning the double for the first time in their history. And they are doing it by playing wonderful passing football.

Now they are going to again lose (at least) two stars and Klasnic will also probably leave.
But if they can get M'penza, I think they'll do well in the CL.

[wolfsburgh]

Bremen is a great story. I don't view them as a "small" club or a "minnow", but they clearly are not a "big" club either. A good analogy for US sports fans is the Oakland A's--an unfashionable team from an unfashionable place without a lot of money but which manages what it has very well, produces good players and, more often than not, puts a very competitive product on the field. They get it.

All of that being said, Bremen is going nowhere in the CL next season. Keep in mind that this year's Bremen took an early round dump in the UEFA Cup. A depleted Bremen next year? I'm not optimistic.

[JeffS]

The Oakland A's comparison is hitting the nail on the head. Werder, like Oakland, is getting the absolute most out of their limited resources.

Werder Bremen is playing the most attractive soccer in the Bundesliga this season, by far. They are truly playing the beautiful game. Even though I'm a long time Bayern fan, I would much rather watch Bremen than Bayern right now. With Bremen, you get attractive, flowing, attacking, exciting soccer. With Bayern you get slow, ugly, disjointed, mistake prone, boring soccer.