"We wanted to give him some encouragement to remain patient and continue believing in himself, in spite of the fact that he didn't get a run-out against Kaiserslautern," said Björn Otzen, who along with his friend Christopher Lausen drove all the way from Flensburg to the banks of the Weser River on Wednesday morning to support their particular favourite.
As the man in question headed towards the showers following training, he acknowledged the poster and raised a thumb in thankfulness declaring: "Super job lads", before signing a number '7' jersey for the Flensburg duo. "I noticed Arnautovic first playing for the Austrian Under 21's and then watched some videos of him on YouTube. I'm most impressed by his shooting technique. His free-kicks are similar to Cristiano Ronaldo's," remarked Christopher Laursen," who has been a fan of Arnautovic for quite some time.
The fans from Flensburg had taken a day off especially to make the trip to Bremen, but seeing Marko Arnautovic live in action was a dream come true. And there could very soon be a very different dream about to come true for Naldo. The defender, who had been out of action for over a year through injury, has been back training with his team mates again for two weeks and is eager to return in the Green & White - although Thomas Schaaf was quick to put the brakes on: "It's normal that Naldo wants to get back as quickly as possible but he needs the time and opportunity to work with the team more intensively. He's not ready for a game in the Bundesliga yet."