Bremen Match Report from EL

[kewbridgeffc]

Just going to share a few notes about the match, hope someone finds it useful.

Crowd - Pretty good I thought but lots of Bremen supporters in EL which did not sit well with me. When it started pouring things got a bit chaotic with alot of people starting to evacuate the first 4 rows. At one point a few were standing directly in the aisle blocking our view of the goal and I had to yell at them to move. Here is a thought if you buy uncovered seats, check a weather report before you leave and dress accordingly!! Not a lot of noise in the first half but I think I still have Fulham-Hamburg ringing in my ears.  :003:

First half I thought we started strongly but that Bremen goal really took the wind out of our sails and as most people mentioned there wasn't a whole lot of action. At one point Bremen broke out really quick and had a breakaway, Schwarzie tried to close the player down but failed. Luckily they hit the post with a completely wide open net. He made a few nice stops though but did bumble one catch.

The thing that was really putting me off was that Bremen were going down very easily at the slightest provocation. After about 15 minutes I was googling for a translation of "Get up you cheater!" but it turned out to be very difficult to pronounce!

The second half as most of you can gather was much much better. I think what's interesting about Bobby's goal was that just before that play Bremen had a very clear chance in the box and the player just shot it right at Schwarzie and then 30 seconds later Bobby buries it with a similar chance. It shows you the quality we have.

Needless to say, Gera was a force. What was really impressive with his first goal was that he had the chance to pass to a wide open teamate in the box for a sure goal but instead he elected to shoot and it was a thing of beauty. Just shows you how much confidence he must have right now.

The second goal was impressive as well with some nice build up play down the side. The third one was quite opportunistic as the goalie was out of position and Gera had a wide open net but it was far enough away that I didn't think it was a sure thing.

In terms of other performances, I thought Bobby was excellent and Dempsey and Duff had solid games. Danny looked a little shaky and Etuhu was Etuhu (I'm not a huge fan) the defence was for the most part solid. I thought that for a friendly it was a very spirited performance.

Overall it was a very entertaining match, did anyone see if Pantsil did a lap? 

[LBNo11]

...thanks for sharing that with us, did the Bremen fans make much noise? What did you think of Eddie Johnson's overall game, he certainly seems to be trying for a first team berth.

Oh! and how did the newly laid pitch bear up..?

[Banstead White]

Thanks for the write up - interesting.
Cheers
r

[mrska]

Nice report...  thanks for that Kewbridge .

[finnster01]

Thanks for sharing that match report. It is appreciated :clap_hands:

[kewbridgeffc]

...thanks for sharing that with us, did the Bremen fans make much noise? What did you think of Eddie Johnson's overall game, he certainly seems to be trying for a first team berth.

Oh! and how did the newly laid pitch bear up..?

No worries! There were about 30 hard cores in the Putney end and a good smattering all over Johnny Haynes. The Putney group was doing their best and were even cheering their team at 5-1 which was nice to see. It was strange when they annouced that Oezil was coming on a good half of Johnny Haynes cheered. I'm not too sure what that was about. Yes he played well in the World Cup but that's over now although with the way Bremen were diving you wouldn't really know it...

At least though the Bremen fans in the home end were pretty respectful and quiet, even after their goal. Although they didn't exactly have much to cheer about after that.

Eddie played okay, didn't really stand out. I didn't think his goal was that great to be honest and he did go offside a few times. I'd rather not see him in the first team, not sure where he would fit really.

The pitch had a pretty good test today when it started pouring, I thought it held up really well, it certainly didn't look like players were having issues with it.

[Rupert]

First of all, welcome back to the fox, presumably he/she found somewhere nice and quiet to settle down during the summer, then we moved in and there went the neighbourhood. It seemed to know the best way out mind, over the boards, up the Putney End and out of the exit. It looked like the sprinklers scared it out of hiding.
The pitch looks very good, as you would hope for this stage of the season.
The crowd seemed a bit bigger than the club were expecting, and obviously not very noisy, but a good time was had my most of us, doubtless the squaddies taking advantage of the free tickets appreciated seeing six pretty good goals.

So, to the match-
First half, I thought we were in trouble. Scratch that, we were definately in trouble. We did start brightly, but their goal did not come against the run of play. Thet could have had three in the first half, Mark made an outstanding save, virtually point blank, while he came way out of the area for one challenge and the striker put the ball over him and hit the post.
The lads were not playing poorly, they just seemed to lack any real invention, John Pantsil was caught out of position on several occasions and they started to target his flank for their attacks, and Clint seemed, to me, to be on a different wavelength to everyone else. He worked hard and tried hard but it just was not coming off. Bobby Z and Simon Davies posed most of our questions in the first half without really threatening a goal.
I can't say I agree with the diving aspect. The fouls I saw up close really were fouls, and on a couple of occasions I thought we got away with it, though in the second half I thought we were penalised for perfectly good challenges several times, so maybe these things really do even themselves out.

The half time talk was an outstanding sucess, and if anything that is the most encouraging thing from today, because we dominated the second half. If Hughes can inspire this sort of performance more often, then we are in for a good season.

Bobby Z's goal, very cooly taken, showed a player who is full of confidence. Zoltan Gera's hat-trick was excellent, one twenty yard drive, one glancing header from a Zamora cross and then smacking the ball into the open goal from twenty-five yards, once again a sure sign of somebody who is enjoying his football. He (Gera) even set up Eddie Johnson for his goal, again well taken, though you could argue that Werder Bremen were just hoping the nightmare would end by then.

So, a useful run out against a good opposition, as of next weekend it really starts to matter.

Keep the Faith, as a great man often used to say.

[finnster01]

Mr Rupert,
Was the fox Silver by any chance...?  :005:

[Rupert]

Mr Rupert,
Was the fox Silver by any chance...?  :005:

If it was, then it was blushing red with embarrassment  :013:

[Mr Fulham]

"Get up you cheater!"

"Steh auf du Betrüger!" :dft009:

[Jimpav]

Thanks for the reports guys. Gutted to have missed the match but looking forward to a point or three at Bolton.

Is anyone else worried that BZ and Gera may be in the shop window now?

Villa will have some money swilling about after City splash the cash and Woys word isP not to be taken at face value.

[LRCN]

my take on the game:

first half we were real poor. konch and pantsil especially, not cutting out crosses and not marking their man. i counted 4 clear cut chances that they had, and 3 came from crosses to the far post (the other one was almeida when he chipped and hit the post), so yeah it all looked very bad. dempsey was poor, zamora couldn't get in the game and passes were going astray everywhere. thought hangeland and hughes looked good though.
but second half we were really, really impressive. cut them open several times and got the goals to show for it. even eddie looked sharp, some good runs off the ball, a couple of nice passes and showed good composure for his goal. wont cut it in the prem but championship deffo. gera's first was a peach of a goal, and i was impressed by the attackin football we played. alot of flicks from duff which came off in the second half, pantsil and konch completely different from the first half. not sure what hughes said but it was genius. ozil and marin disappointed for werder bremen which was a shame but ah well.

[ImperialWhite]

Am I the only one who thought that our defence was awful in the first half? Our back four were really out of sorts, and they were passing through it with relative ease - it was only a combination of poor (to say the least) finishing and one-two cracking saves from Schwarzer that kept us in it. (honestly, it could have been 2-3 from them)

Which made our deserved second half goal bonanza all the more enjoyable.

What do you reckon it was? Hughseys half time team talk (now listen 'er lads, you're playing for a place in my team...)? The Zoltan-factor? Poor substitutions/tactical changes by Werder Bremen?

Enjoyable game. Lots of tactical stuff to mull over (when I'm less tired, and not so under the influence of post-game lemonade, I'll give my tuppence worth about what I thought looked like Fulham playing 4-3-3 during some of the first half).

[ImperialWhite]

konch and pantsil especially, not cutting out crosses and not marking their man. i counted 4 clear cut chances that they had, and 3 came from crosses to the far post (the other one was almeida when he chipped and hit the post), so yeah it all looked very bad. dempsey was poor, zamora couldn't get in the game and passes were going astray everywhere. thought hangeland and hughes looked good though.

I agree: our centre-backs were solid through out. Not sure what was going on with a full-backs during the first half, but they seemed to sort themselves out for the second half. Konch in particular was very useful in providing attacking width when Duff cut in, as usual.

[Lighthouse]

Sir Alex Ferguson was at the match. To look at Ozil I expect.

Always appreciate first hand reports on the games so thanks to all those who bothered. Let's hope we can replicate the second half form next week.

[Steve_orino]

From over here in the States, thank you for the match reports...muh obliged.