Bayern – Bremen preview, they are green with envy

To each their own problems. FC Bayern is still dealing with fresh injury concerns while Werder Bremen is a crisis in itself. The two will meet on Saturday, unless the storm that hit Northern Germany doesn’t force a last-minute postponing.

Bremen, the leaky bunch

What to say about former rivals from Bremen? They were once good, but the loss of star players never led to a renewal. Problems in the squad hurt them badly last season. The team said goodbye to the managing tandem of Klaus Allofs and Thomas Schaaf after 14 years at the helm.

Robin Dutt, an experienced coach, took over. But these guys have lost Sokratis, Marco Arnautovic and Kevin de Bruyne during the summer, the first two being troublemakers. Their talents are sorely missed and their replacements are not up to the task. Also, central midfielder Zlatko Junuzovic is on the sidelines.

The result is a team that hasn’t improved. It was humiliated with an early Pokal exit against Saarbrücken (!) and it still sits barely above the relegation zone.

Bremen spend too much time pinned in their own half, unable to pass accurately or hold on to the ball. They concede more than 18 shots per game! While not as bad as Tim Wiese was, Sebastian Mielitz isn’t a top keeper. He’s totally beatable. It is why his colleague Raphael Wolf was given a start last weekend.

His back four has been slow and disorganized every time I saw Bremen playing, except against Dortmund. Dutt may have to deploy an incredibly tight formation again to limit damages against FCB.

Their previously frequent shooting has considerably slowed down when striker Nils Petersen was hurt. Shots were not very accurate either. The only things you can credit them for is the ability to burst from the wings (Mehmet Ekici on the left, Eljero Elia on the right) and get very close to the goal before unleashing a shot.

Werder doesn’t mind playing the air game, winning more of those challenges per game than anyone in the league.

If I had to be afraid of anything, it would be their set-piece taking, with Ekici and Hunt as takers. Ekici has a rocket of a shot.

Individually, playmaker Aaron Hunt has a solid shot, passing skills and he can run all over the pitch. Having returned from injury against Hoffenheim, Petersen has added much-needed finishing to Bremen. It was a very entertaining game, but it also highlighted Bremen’s poor defending in the area.

Possible lineup

Bayern, the injury rotation

What can we say about this team? The injury to Arjen Robben has made things more complicated in the attack. On the other hand, Franck Ribéry is available to play again, perhaps as a substitute until he regains full fitness. Xherdan Shaqiri and Claudio Pizarro are training again, probably being available to start on the bench.

I am pretty sure that Dutt will make his boys play just as they did against Dortmund, with more defensive discipline and pressing than usual. That doesn’t mean we can’t take advantage of their slow reactions when putting them under intense pressure. As a bonus, Bremen won’t have its best defensive midfielder out there.

While this game will not be a walk in the park, we can look at Hoffenheim’s offensive prowess against them and reproduce it. I surely expect a win.

Possible lineup