Werder To Set The Record Straight

First Team
Friday, 20.04.2007 / 09:33

Has Werder’s time come? On Friday, 20.04.2007 at 8:30pm, the Green-Whites take on Alemania Aachen on the 30th match day of the season and there are a number of things for Werder to put right.

Has Werder’s time come? On Friday, 20.04.2007 at 8:30pm, the Green-Whites take on Alemania Aachen on the 30th match day of the season and there are a number of things for Werder to put right. For example the record in Bundesliga games against Aachen at the Weser Stadium. Aachen have only made three previous appearances at the Weser Stadium, and the last time was some 37 years ago. The visitors won two of their three games in Bremen with the home side taking the points on only one occasion. Time to set the record straight for Werder.

 

With only five games to go in the Bundesliga, Werder will also want to improve their Friday evening record this season. Thomas Schaaf’s men have made three appearances under the evening floodlights in the current season but a stunning 6:1 win in Mainz is somewhat clouded by defeats to Schalke and Dortmund. The match against Aachen is the Green-Whites last chance to even things out.

 

But, on the night, Werder can’t afford to focus on the individual statistics with the big picture being much more important. The Bundesliga table! Werder Bremen have the chance to return to the top of the league and leave Schalke behind them as well as totting up twelve wins on the trot to underline their plans for the title: “We are just concentrating on ourselves”, commented Thomas Schaaf, and continued: “I don’t really know how much a good result for us could influence the others. They will notice though.” Werder have held second place for the last six weeks and with VfB Stuttgart and Bayern Munich playing each other this weekend, two direct title competitors, the Green-Whites can set an early mark.

 

“We have shown again and again that we can deal with the pressure. We know what we have to do”, announced team manager Klaus Allofs, who knows all too well that taking the top spot could possibly be a short lived state of affairs with Schalke to play Cottbus on Saturday. “The fact is that the others also know what they have to do. The question is to whether or not they can do that. The top of the table could get very interesting this weekend.” With so much talk of the Bundeliga table, Werder have also made it clear that they have not forgotten Alemannia Aachen. Werder know all about what Michael Frontzeck’s side are capable of after their first meeting this season. Thanks to some real effort and goals from Per Mertesacker and Miroslav Klose, Werder managed a 2:2 draw at the Tivoli. Jan Schlaudraff’s mazy run through the Werder defence will be discussed in years to come.

 

The warning signs are visable: “It’ll be a tough tie. They are not safe yet and are still battling against relegation. As a newly promoted side they can really only win. Anything that they can take from this game would be celebrated euphorically”, acknowledged Thomas Schaaf. Following a six game unbeaten run, including a 1:0 win against Bayern Munich, Aachen have now gone three games without picking up a point (Stuttgart, Dortmund and Nuremberg) and as fourteenth placed side in the league, Alemannia are a mere two points off the drop zone. Thomas Schaaf is not expecting anything too adventurous from the visitors at the Weser Stadium: “They will make life very difficult for us. They won’t be throwing everything into an all out attack. They will attempt to hit us on the counter attack and with players like Dum, Pinto and Schlaudraff they have dangerous men up front.” It would appear to be typical task for Werder against a side who could well pack their defence to withstand the leagues top scorers. “We certainly won’t be digging in on the edge of the Werder box”, promised Michael Frontzeck. “We won’t be allowing Werder too much space to play their passing game.” Thomas Schaaf considers his side prepared for all eventualities: “The question is as to whether we go all the way. We’ve improved things in recent weeks and have played with more determination.”

 

Frontzeck is concerned about just this determination from Werder: “Once they get in motion, they are very difficult to stop.” The Aachen coach watched Werder play Alkmaar and Dormund, leading him to the conclusion: “We’ll have to have a very good day if we are to withstand Bremen. In their current form they are the best side in Germany in my opinion.” The visitors will arrive in Bremen with just 16 players thanks to a string of injuries to important players such as Plaßhenrich, Nemeth, Straub, Ibisevic and Krontiris. The loss of Sascha Rösler (five goals, five assists) and Laurentiu Reghecampf (seven goals, ten assists) mean Aachen are without two of their most dangerous men. Frontzeck has had to call an Under 19 player into the squad to fill things out.

 

Johnnie Muldoon

 

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