Must win match, therefore a high probability for us to bottle it again. I just don't trust this team. Let us finish this season decently, and have a complete overhaul in the summer.
Relatively slow match so far, our fullbacks are still a joke, Özil looks lively and should have scored.
Frings is sligthly better than he was last week, and in the national team friendly against Norway. But at least we are increasing the pressure now.
Frings really unlucky with that header, he did everything right, but saved on the line by a Gladbach player. That goal really would have given him a boost.
It's ridiculous, yet so typical, how many good chances we waste. I can see us losing this match due to a counter or a lucky deflected shot after a set piece. Would be very typical also.
I had a call from a friend, and at first, it looked like she was going to be our lucky charm, since Pizarro scored. But just a few minutes later, we condeded yet another totally avoidable goal... 1-1 FT Wasted so many chances it was ridiculous, should have won this match clearly. But that's Werder 2009 for you. At least we created a lot of chances again, and didn't allow Gladbach many, that's a step forward at least. One lousy point doesn't really help us though....
don't worry, we'll pull it off with a solid win against AC milan on wednesday. Then we'll hit top form and running... for 2 games max.
Let's hope so, having Diego back should help also, although I really liked Özil again today (he should have used his chances to score though), who had the assist for our goal.
Gladbach played like a district league team and Werder wasted chances like a pub team. If I were Schaaf I would put all players into a bag and kick it until the Milan match. The players have mental problems, that´s not Schaafs fault and that´s why I defend him. Werder created a lot of chances, more than 10 100% chances, that normally professionals use. That´s the problem we have all this season, no chances are created or tons are created, but none used. About the defense performance needn´t be discussed, because it was not proven. At Gladbach the keeper showed class reflexes and the whole match was like Werder vs. Bailly (rating: 10). The result is a complete joke, a 6-1 or 7-1 would have been deserved, but it fits, that directly after the 1-0 our experts slept and got the 1-1. The situation was really unlucky, there was confusion after a freekick and there stood the worst BMG player today, Bradley, who won 0% of his tacklings. But it fits to the match, that this twat scored. It all has all to do with self-confidence, hopefully the Milan match can break the mental curse.
While it's true that Schaaf can't be blamed for the wastefulness of our strikers, he is responsible for the mental side of things! It's up to the coach to motivate the players, to support them psychologically, to make them 'stronger' mentally.
Thing is, even Pizarro, who is the only striker of international class in our squad, is very wasteful with his chances, too. We are very dependent on him to score, yet he is no clinical finisher. Pizarro would be a brilliant striker next to a clinical finisher, e.g. Ailton in the early days (Pizarro + Ailton, good days...). We gifted Gladbach a point today because we didn't use our chances once again. If Allofs still can't see that we need quality up front, and quality is expensive, he never will.
You can´t make a tiger from a p.u.s.s.y. cat. Schaaf does these things, Werder can´t have a better coach. Many players played at the limits the last seasons and now suffered under injuries, bad form and with bad results lost their self-confidence. Such seasons happen to every club. The only German club, that can compensate it is Bayern, because of their dept in squad. A question, that must be asked is, if the size of crisis could have been weakened with transfers or young lads from the reserve (sadly they played also a horrible season so far and potential alternatives for Schaaf like Testroet, Kruse or Artmann suffered under injuries). It´s simply a sh*t season for the whole club. We need a match where the knot gets unfixed; and we need it as soon as possible.
Of course Allofs is to blame for his passiveness, both last summer and this winter, there is absolutely no doubt about that in my eyes. The squad was repeatedly overrated by both, Allofs and Schaaf, we lost various players without replacing them adequately, and the result is this crappy season. If only the right conclusions are drawn this summer, but I'm not even sure about that.
Not a good season for Bremen. But who is to blame today ? The players. If Piza can't score at least twice from his chances then it is not fair to start a discussion about the officals. What a fantastic day for the Gladbach keeper.
My words, Schaaf can´t sub himself in and bring the ball over the line. If you have 24-4 shots in goal and 11-1 100% chances a 1-1 doesn´t speak for the scoring quality. He has very good relexes, but must improve his positioning at freekicks and corners. Guys like Borowski, Womé or Klasnic were most of the time injured (sad Klasnic with his kidney). But especially Klasnic was with his jokes very important for the team atmosphere. I think not the players quality, but there role in the team was underrated. Additional many players were injured last season and are not back on form, especially guys like Frings, Jensen and Hunt. Some coaches say, a player needs about the time of his injury to be back on top-form. And Frings doesn´t become younger. But Werder can´t buy substitutes for them. A club, that did so was Dortmund in the late 90s/early 00s. And short time later the personal costs were so high, that they were nearly bankcrupt. KATS know the limits of the club and that´s why I trust them. Such seasons are simply sad and costs nervs, but we have to live with the blue eye we will get and hit back.
KATS unfortunately don't know their own limits, they can't see their own mistakes, that's why they, and therefore the club, is doomed to repeat them. Sorry, but the 'Dortmund' argument is too cheap - nobody ever demanded a Dortmund-like transfer policy. Allofs seems to have forgotten what made us strong in the last few years - while losing key players now and then, we replaced them with quality ones, usually for considerably less money. That's why there always was a lot of fluctuation in the squad, keeping it hungry and motivated. Buying Klose for €5m in 2004 (as a Ailton replacement) was a considerably higher risk (and a much smarter move, obviously) than buying Sanogo for €5m a few years and CL seasons later to replace him - Allofs was actually much more willing to take risks back then, much more willing to invest in quality, than just fillers. In the last two years, our transfer policy was not just disappointing, it was in no way adequate for a club that supposedly wanted to challenge for the title every season, and remain at the top. Denying this is being in denial, the reality can be seen this season. This is not a freak season, this has not been unavoidable, it is the result of years of inadequate and ineffective transfer policy, resulting in a overrated, complacent and saturated squad, and basically no tactical progress from the coaching perspective. Other clubs copied the Werder model and improved, while we stagnated. They copied our transfer policy based on excellent scouting and taking calculable risks, copied our professional organisation, our attacking philosophy etc. They copied all that and added their own ideas to it, while we stagnated and were found out after a few years, both on the transfer market, and on the pitch. What Werder now needs foremost are fresh ideas, new approaches, and especially courage and vision. Werder needs to reinvent itself for a new decade. Football has changed, and is changing, and we need to change with it. We need to become the frontrunners, the innovators again. That's our only chance to remain a top club in this country, and our only chance to establish ourselves in Europe. If that can be achieved with the same staff remains to be seen. If not, I won't be against change in that area also, as I wrote earlier already. For me, the club comes always first, not the players, Thomas Schaaf, Klaus Allofs, whoever. 100% Werder.