DFB Pokal: Borussia Dortmund vs. Werder Bremen [R]

Re: DFB Pokal: BV 09 Borussia Dortmund vs. Werder Bremen 29.01.2008

I expect a very close match, too.

I hope the team let us forget the bad winter preparation
and reach the next round.

 

Today it was something between unluck and incapacity in using chances.

Weird match for us, a team, that played CL and competes for German CL
must play more consequent in attack and use the chances better.
Klasnic and Rosenberg didn´t hit the ball in the 5 metres area,
a post shot and a very bad shot second penalty.

Furthermore it seemed, that the running ways of the players were very suboptimal.
In offense the players stepped each other on the feet and in defense
Dortmund came to some very good counter chances.

So dissapointing match for us, because the team controlled most parts of
the match, but couldn´t use this advantage, because of the mistakes
described before.

Unlucky loss, but if you don´t use your chances, you don´t win.
Congrats to Dortmund.

 

Schaaf said you guys beat yourselves. I agree with that. However, had Schaaf himself brought Diego on at least ten minutes earlier, I think you guys win the match.

No "bragging" or "boasting" from me. In my opinion, you guys were the better side through most of the match.

But as you said EE, if you don't use your chances, you didn't win.

It really didn't help you guys that Ivan Klasnic took his chances like Nelson Valdez last night.......

I thought Klasnic should have had at least two goals and possibly a hat-trick.

It was lucky for us, but we'll take it.

Now you guys go and kick the shit out of this freakin' "Millionairtruppe" about 45 minutes north of me (Bayern) and take the Bundesliga title!!!

 

I translated a couple of quotes for the non-german speakers because the Werder homepage doesn't have much english content.

Ivan Klasnic: "I would have wished for a better birthday but the ball just didn't want to go in. We should have been up like 5:2 after 45 minutes."

Tim Wiese: "We were 3 to 4 times better than Dortmund but didn't manage to win the game"

Aaron Hunt: "We didn't award ourselves for our effort. We had so many chances we should have scored 3 or 4 times. Even towards the end of the game when Dortmund had all guys back in defence we managed to create chances. We have to take responsibility for this loss. Playing in the #10 position wasn't a problem for me. I read my name on the chalkboard and prepared myself accordingly. It wasn't the first time I played this position."

Klaus Allofs: "Normally Diego is the guy for the deadly pass but his absence in the starting lineup wasn't the reason for losing today. We were able to create good situations for our forwards"

Per Mertesacker: "Concerning our level of play it was a big step forward today. Our chances were well created but we lacked the ultimate will to score. We did a lot of things right and the game looked really good from the defence: We were extremely long in the Dortmund half and we fought until the end and forced the two penalties. We were always able to decide the game in our favor but we didn't do it. I'm very disapointed. Analysing this game is hard on me. Nonetheless I saw many good things for the 2nd half of the season. We stood well and I didn't count many scoring chances for Dortmund. Those that they had cannot be avoided. We are not perfectionists who can avoid everything on the road. That's utopian. But every once in a while maybe we should fall back a little more. We always want to defend very offensively but especially during the phase when Dortmund scored the first time it was fatal. During that phase we wanted too much because it was working out well for us until that point. We are missing the feeling of going ahead with a goal in a game like this. If that had happened it would have been really difficult for Dortmund."

Klaus Allofs again: "It was frustrating today but at least we showed a different face compared to the test matches. Even after the first goal we continued to play well and we always gave reason to believe that we could win this game. The decisive factor today was the bad use of our scoring chances. We know that it was going to be a tough match but now we will concentrate on the Bundesliga and on the UEFA Cup. We want to win one of those two and the DFB Cup is forgotten now. It's essential that we win one of those two."

Thomas Schaaf: "I can't blame the team today. They were in the game from the beginning and played well towards the Dortmund goal for 90 minutes. congratulations for this performance. It's sad that that we didn't manage to convert our play into something that counts. Dortmund used their chances more forcefully. In the end we defeated ourselves."

Thomas Doll: "If you saw the way Werder played you can imagine that it was hard work for us today. Normally they score almost every match 2 or 3 goals and especially in the beginning of the match we had the necessary luck. We were very agitated in our actions because Werder was moving it's players around very well. Being the first game after the break it was a great match from both sides"

 

Thank you for that translation. I cannot disagree with any of it.

I know we lucked out.

 

a lackluster performance from both teams I'll say (maybe because of my high expectations after a month of football absence), but I think Bremen did deserve to lose the game.
apart from the opening 15 minutes and the last 10 minutes, Werder had very little to offer, although dominating a lot of possession. The passing was scrappy and the team lacked any fluidity.
Dortmund were clever enough to exploit our offside trap and we had to rely on Wiese to save ourselves and they were far clinical in front of goal.

btw Tosic had a very bad game.