Werder start pre-season

Back together after the summer break: The Werder players greet one another in the morning at Weser Stadium.
First Team
Wednesday, 29.06.2011 / 16:32

It's been 33 since they've seen each other. On Wednesday morning they all met up again - new faces like Lukas Schmitz and Tom Trybull, an old friend in Markus Rosenberg, and veterans like Clemens Fritz and Per Mertesacker...

It's been 33 since they've seen each other. On Wednesday morning they all met up again - new faces like Lukas Schmitz and Tom Trybull, an old friend in Markus Rosenberg, and veterans like Clemens Fritz and Per Mertesacker.

Everyone greeted each other warmly in the changing room ahead of the first collective day of work. The first players began arriving already at 8 a.m. "That was a nice feeling to be around the new teammates, I had a very good first impression," said Mehmet Ekici, who must get used to a new colour scheme. "It is really strange but also nice that everything is in green here. With Bayern and Nuremberg, everything was red," said the new Werder playmaker.

Markus Rosenberg also had to re-acclimate himself anew despite three years of experience in Bremen. But during his time in Santander, quite a few things have changed. "My compatriot Denni Avdic took everything from me - my number and my house," joked the Swede, who will play with the number 11 on his back and will look for a new apartment. In addition, he also had to get used to the new changing room and path to get there, which was built last year, as well as the new NIKE training collection, which is mainly green this year.

The Green-Whites came out in good numbers for the lactate test at 10 a.m. All told, 23 players ran their laps. Not on hand were youngsters Tom Trybull and Özkan Yildirim, both of whom already collected their details with the U23 team. It was still a special day for the latter as he was officially welcomed into the professional squad and had to appear with head coach Thomas Schaaf and the other new acquisitions Tom Trybull, Aleksandar Stevanovic, Lukas Schmitz and Mehmet Ekici for a photo shoot. Also not on hand were the injured Sebastian Boenisch, Sebastian Prödl and Per Mertesacker, who showed up with the team and completed rehab measures. Among the entire squad, the only ones missing were Claudio Pizarro (is being treated with the Peruvian national team) and Naldo (will train in Brazil for about two more weeks).

But the veterans in the team were also happy to be back at Weser Stadium. "The first day is always nice. You learn about a bunch of new things. We had enough relaxation. I really re-energised my battery in America and then intensively prepared for the start of training. You know that Norderney is coming up and you can't start from zero there," said a good-spirited Clemens Fritz.

The preparations for the preparations were all really taken seriously by all the players. "It doesn't work going from zero to a hundred at the beginning. I worked intensively to get fit for the start," said Ekici, who after the hard work returned to the Bremen Park Hotel where he is currently staying until his new apartment is complete. "That is all step-by-step. I am slowly getting used to things," said the German-Turk.

Other than Rosenberg, nearly all of the new players have already found their apartments. Lukas Schmitz as well as he can even walk to Weser Stadium. He moved a couple days ago into a place on Osterdeich and is now a neighbour of Sebastian Prödl.

 

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