Werder Seek Confidence In Cottbus

First Team
Friday, 23.11.2007 / 16:18

What occurred at the ‚Stadion der Freundschaft‘ (Stadium of Friendship) on March 31st this year was a lesson in destructive football. It was the season’s 27th match day and the hosts from Energie Cottbus had but one game plan, and that was to prevent Werder scoring.

What occurred at the ‚Stadion der Freundschaft‘ (Stadium of Friendship) on March 31st this year was a lesson in destructive football. It was the season’s 27th match day and the hosts from Energie Cottbus had but one game plan, and that was to prevent Werder scoring. The tactic worked and the Green-Whites failed to take the first of many chances to set out their stall in the title challenge and the match finished 0:0.

 

The current second placed side in the Bundesliga must visit the east of Germany again on Saturday, 24.11.2007. Both trainers have very different opinions of how things went last time the sides met. Cottbus’ Slovenian coach, who has only been in charge since September 28th, Bojan Prasnikar stated: “We can’t and don’t want to play ‘Catenaccio’. We go out to score goals and win our games.” Werder coach Thomas Schaaf has very vivid memories of the game and hopes his team have learned their lesson: “I just hope we are offensively better than we were eight months ago and can find a way through this time. Cottbus will defend stoutly and hope to hit on the break, looking to find their forwards quickly. They will battle till collapsing point.”

 

That is to be expected from the little club from deep in Germany’s former east. Battling is something they are well known for. It’s Energie’s fifth season in the top flight and that without the bonus of being automatically promoted into the unified German league from the East German league in 1991 like Hansa Rostock and Dynamo Dresden. Back then, Cottbus made to into the third division and fought until 2000 for a spot in the Bundesliga. They spent three years in the ‘Oberliga’, three years in the ‘Regionalliga’, three years in the second division and then, logically, three years in the first division before slipping back a step. Exactly 36 months later, FCE were back in the top flight and after a topsy-turvy 2006/2007 season, Cottbus finished in 13th place and only spent two days in a relegation position – a positive up-turn in the curve for Energie hasn’t been the case though and their three year rhythm could well be about to break.

 

Warning signs from Schalke

 

Having managed just one win in their first thirteen games, Cottbus are rock bottom of the tablke and six points adrift of the safety of fifteenth spot. Thomas Schaaf is not fooled though: “Being bottom of the table means nothing. We saw just how difficult Schalke had it when they went there.” The fancied ‘Blues’ were Energie’s first scalp, and that was just two games ago when Kuranyi & Co. were beaten 1:0. Schaaf has no intention of finding his side on the end of a similar scoreline: “Most important is to perform there as a team. For that to happen, everything has to slot together.” An expected 1,200 Green-White fans are expected to make the long journey to support their team. A win would see Werder even their away record in Cottbus. Four games have seen Werder lose two, win one and draw one.

 

More importantly than statistics though, would be to have a positive result before Wednesday’s big Champions League clash with Real Madrid. Thomas Schaaf and Klaus Allofs consider it vial that the up-coming tie against the leagues bottom side is put into perspective: “It makes no difference whether we are travelling to Cottbus or playing at home against Real Madrid. It may be a difference for the public but not for us. The necessity of performing is equal in both cases.” Klaus Allofs added: “Cottbus is top of the agenda, then we can think about Real.”

 

Real Madrid, the lost points from last season, the home games of Hamburg and Bayern, 1,200 fans at the ‘Stadion der Freundschaft’. There are many reasons for a three pointer in Cottbus, with the confidence it will bring back to Bremen being high on the list.

 

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