Champions League Preview

By: Corey | September 17th, 2007

Werder Bremen on Tuesday

I for one am excited, because we have been playing well recently. I also am a little upset because I cant see the game, I will be in class and I cant bring my laptop to stream it cause the professor is a dirty bitch. Oh well, it is my plight. Lets start this off with a song that acurately describes this years team:

As is the case, I really dont like this song, but I unfortunately have a friend who loves “hits” as he calls them and blasts all the latest and greatest when we have parties. Or when he is showering, or when he is just plain bored. So this stuff gets stuck in my head.

Werder Bremen is my kind of team, all offense, quick passing and reckless abandon with the offside trap. Here is ESPNsoccernet’s description of them:

WERDER BREMEN (3rd in German league)

Champions League pedigree: Second round: 2004/05, 2005/06

THE LOWDOWN: This northern German outfit did not enjoy the best of summers. After long insisting that German international striker Miroslav Klose was not for sale, they finally caved in, agreeing to let him go to Bayern Munich in return for £8.5m.

They then suffered a further blow when key midfielder Torsten Frings damaged a knee in pre-season and even if he wins his battle to be on the team sheet for the group stages, his match-fitness is bound to be in question.

Such major setbacks mean will be impossible for Werder to fire on all cylinders in the early part of the 2007/08 campaign. Hampered by an endless stream of niggles and knocks, they have not looked particularly convincing in the Bundesliga or the Champions League third qualifying round, where they made hard work of defeating Croats Dinamo Zagreb 5-3 on aggregate.

THE TECHNICAL AREA: On the face of it, a rather introverted former full-back would be a long shot to become a risk-taking coach whose side plays some of the most attractive football on the continent, but that’s what Thomas Schaaf has developed into since being handed responsibility for the Bremen first team in May 1999. His PR may not be great, but the playing style he promotes certainly is.

A member of the Bremen side which won the European Cup-winners’ Cup in 1992, Schaaf’s base formation is a 4-4-2, of which the heartbeat is their very fluid midfield diamond. Aided by a pair of constantly-advancing full-backs and forwards who work the channels very well indeed, Bremen have few equals in their slick passing and fast-paced counter-attacks.

THE WOW FACTOR: The impish playmaking of Brazilian “genius” Diego has been quite sensational since arriving from FC Porto at the start of last season. His ability to find space, his twists and turns with the ball, eye for a killer through pass and invention from free-kicks makes him their number one attacking weapon.

Bremen desperately need a fully fit Torsten Frings. Not only does he put in a full shift in the pressing, tackling and covering department, he can play too and loves to drive into enemy territory with a style that has been compared to Lothar Matthaus in his pomp. He packs quite a shot from outside the box.

German international centre-back Per Mertesacker continues to improve by leaps and bounds. Naturally for someone so tall, he dominates in the air, but also specialises in timely-interventions on the floor and excellent positioning.

THE BIG BUY: It took several weeks of negotiations to complete, but finally Bremen general manager Klaus Allofs sealed the £5.6m deal to bring in Brazilian attacking midfielder/forward Carlos Alberto (the guy who dives alot) from Corinthians of Sao Paulo. He has a reputation for inconsistency and nightclubbing, but insists he will be on his best behaviour at Werder.

Carlos Alberto has an outstanding Champions League track record, having scored in FC Porto’s 2004 Final victory over Monaco in Gelsenkirchen.

THE TENDER SPOT: The first rule of the Champions League is that you have to get it right defensively. Werder’s policy of all-out attack could be thought of as naive.

Ex-Hamburg striker Boubacar Sango has looked the part as Klose’s replacement, but who will Schaaf pick to partner him? Both the Portuguese Hugo Almeida and the Swede Markus Rosenberg are decidedly out of touch and look unlikely to test Europe’s best defenders.

With midfield all-rounders Frings and Tim Borowski both struggling with knee injuries, Bremen are in trouble. Would-be replacements Daniel Jensen and Jurica Vranjes offer ball-winning capacity and little more.

HOT GOSSIP: Croat attacker Ivan Klasnic is now back in training after a successful kidney transplant operation and his return to action would give Werder’s Champions League campaign a major lift.

Thomas Schaaf has high hopes for young Austrian striker Martin Harnik (what about Shindler or Amaury Bischoff???), who recently scored on his Bundesliga debut. He may just be the wild card to fire the challenge of the German underdogs.

IDEAL LINE UP: Wiese, Schulz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Fritz, Frings, Borowski, Carlos Alberto, Diego, Sanogo, Almeida
THE VERDICT: If Diego stays fit and Frings can recover from his injury, Bremen will go marching on.

Sort of accurate, sometimes the ESPN guys are way to Premiership based to know anything outside the island. Bremen have a couple of studs, obviously all the German players are solid, and Diego is class. Hugo Almeida is flaky, Sanogo has yet to be tested on the big stage, and Rosenborg is talented but just doesnt turn it on. Im not afraid of them actually scoring, but they will push forward alot, and Diego will be a menace.

Schustie said today that Diego is actually a player that interests him. Not now but for the future. Not me, he was pretty poor against England and in the CONMEBOL champs. He is the kind of player who loves the small stage, a big fish in a small pond. If he couldnt do well at Porto, how do you think he would handle Madrid?

Anyways, Calderon is very proud of eliminating the “galactico culture” and firing Capello because he didnt play with style. Check and check, but you still went on a limb with Schuster, dont think your a Golden God yet big guy.

No news as to whether Frings or Borowski are starting, id say probably on the first and no to the second. This Bremen team just got spanked by Borussia Dortmund over the weekend, so they are low on confidence but the big stage always revitalizes players. They have experience in Spain with Barca last year, but Im calling this one 3-1 for us, Raul, RVN and ummmmm Sneijder. Yeah its so predictable who scores these day, Diego will tally Bremens loan goal. Dont hold me to this prediction, I pulled it out of no where.

Enjoy watching your first live Real Madrid game of the season on ESPN Deportes. If your not Mexican then you probably dont get that channel, well I shouldnt say that, I dont know of anywhere barring California and Miami where ESPN Deportes is on cable, but none the less, enjoy watching crappy EPL teams beat up on Portuguese teams on ESPN 2