Werder coach Thomas Schaaf is no lover of statistics, but he got familiar with the numbers ahead of his sides clash with VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday, 16.03.2008 (5pm kick-off). 11:6 chances in the cup in Dortmund, final score 1:2. 12:5 chances on goal against VfL Bochum after the winter break, final score 1:2. 8:4 chances in Frankfurt, final score 0:1. 28:9 shots on goal in Stuttgart, final score 3:6. Then, on Thursday night, after what felt like some 15 chances to score against Glasgow Rangers, there was only one goal for the Green-Whites to celebrate – not enough! The numbers here speak volumes – and the resounding question has to be: Where would Werder be now if they had been able to turn their superiority into positive results? The stats also tell a tale of how Werder did a lot of things right in games which subsequently went all wrong.

The trainer summarized: “The statistics from the last few games have all weighed heavily in our favour, except for one – the score!“ Thomas Schaaf’s opposite number in Wolfsburg Felix Magath has a lot of respect for Werder’s policy of attack: “Werder have been playing consistently good, attacking football all season. They haven’t scored the most goals in the Bundesliga from out of nowhere.” The current problem would appear to be the loss of their effectiveness in front of goal – a situation which can be linked to an amount of risk: “When they push forward, holes open up which we must use to launch counter attacks. They are vulnerable to that”, speculated VfL boss Magath.

The Green-Whites consider themselves prepared for that eventuality: “We are going to be faced with an opponent who work very intensively and will be compact”, commented Thomas Schaaf and continued: “We’ll have to look for the openings and hopefully this time we’ll have a bit more luck with our finishing.” With 13 points from six games, Wolfsburg are the second best side in the league, since the post winter-break re-start, behind FC Bayern Munich – in that table, Werder are back in twelfth place! Thomas Schaaf’s men will be highly motivated after the Rangers experience though: “We have just won a game. It’s important that we continue down that road and show what we did on Thursday again this Sunday”, concluded an optimistic Thomas Schaaf.