Werder Bremen match preview

By: j | December 12th, 2008

Todays match against Werder Bremen is very possibly the deciding match in grading out the first half of the Wolfsburg campaign. Without a victory on the road yet, die Wölfe are nestled eight points behind Bundesliga leader 1899 Hoffenheim at in seventh place. In a shape of things that need to happen, Wolfsburg must learn to win on the road if they are to repeat their European efforts of last year and drive towards a Champions League bid.

On the opposite end of the pitch, Werder is the model of inconsistency and disappointment as their pre-season dreams of bringing hardware back to Bremen have long since been forgotten as the languish mid-table with a paltry twenty-three points. While it seems impossible to think of anyone other that Thomas Schaaf at the helm, the play has been so disappointing that some have questioned whether change is needed. While I find the entire notion possibly one of the worst things that could happen for the Bremen side and in expressing support of their great manager, it must also be clear that they will be anxious to give their supporters something to cheer about before heading to the winter break.

The tale of this match is possibly the injury factor as while Wolfsburg is hampered with the services of Grafite, Werder Bremen is handcuffed without Claudio Pizarro, Diego, Martin Harnik ,Petri Pasanen, Hugo Almeida and Boubacar Sanogo and additionally Naldo will be a match-time decision. Thomas Schaaf’s choices at striker are limited and it would appear they will put their hopes in former-Ajax man Markus Rosenberg and Bosnian international Said Husejinović, with Aaron Hunt possibly stepping into the midfield. Keeping with recent play, I expect Felix Magath to utilize Edin Džeko and Ashkan Dejagah up-top with Zvjezdan Misimović orchestrating the attack however the key to this match is the continued stalwart play of Andrea Barzagli and Cristian Zaccardo. If Wolfsburg is to get their first victory on the road this year they will need to tighten up defensive and play with enormous discipline.