It would appear as if the Gods of football have singled out the Weser Stadium as their laboratory for crazy games. The result of these experiments are clearly the strained nerves of the Green-White fateful, who...
It would appear as if the Gods of football have singled out the Weser Stadium as their laboratory for crazy games. The result of these experiments are clearly the strained nerves of the Green-White fateful, who...
It would appear as if the Gods of football have singled out the Weser Stadium as their laboratory for crazy games. The result of these experiments are clearly the strained nerves of the Green-White fateful, who regularly have their staying power tested. Following the stunning 5-4 win against Hoffenheim, there was a game which began in rather sluggish fashion against BVB, but when the floodgates opened, they did so in unforgettable style. The closing phase of the game was surely one to go down in Bundesliga history.
“That was an emotional tug-o-war! We were behind for so long, then we finally scored the equaliser and were still celebrating that when we went in front - with what many thought had to be the winner. The fact that we got caught out again in injury time is just something that should never happen,” commented captain Frank Baumann. Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp had a slightly different perspective on things: “The pictures from the closing minutes of the game were just so mind-blowing. With two minutes to go we were in front and we would not have been happy taking just a point. Four minutes later the situation was a very different one.”
Trainer Thomas Schaaf opted for a rather unusual measure after the final whistle. Instead of the usual programme of winding down and a marathon of interviews, the coach gathered his team together in the changing room for twenty minutes. “There are different options as to how to react to such a game. Sometimes you say nothing at first and allow things to sink in, but today I decided to get the lads together immediately and give them something to think about. Every individual player should go home tonight and think about what happened here, mull it over a little. I’m hoping to receive an echo at training. We can’t afford just to accept what we witnessed here today,” insisted the Werder trainer.
General manager Klaus Allofs was very much in support of his team coach’s decision to choose such harsh words directly after the tie: “The team hadn’t quite taken the situation fully on board and that is something that we must work on. There is no point just belting down on everything with a hammer though, often then you are left a million crushed pieces which you must put together again. Criticism should always be constructive.”
