Team Focus: Werder Bremen - A One Man Team?

Werder Bremen slumped to a lacklustre home draw against Hoffenheim on Saturday and many pointed at the omission of Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro as a reason for their disappointing performance. Hoffenheim were under new stewardship with Markus Babbel taking charge of the club for the first time having replaced Holger Stanislawski on Friday morning, and his side performed remarkably well given their last few displays under the ex-St Pauli coach.

It took the River Islanders almost the entire match to kick into action and a late flurry forward handed Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic his fifth goal of the season to level the scores after Hoffenheim defender Jannik Vestergaard put the visiting side ahead on four minutes. However, more than anything, the game highlighted Werder’s reliance on Pizarro with the striker scoring 44% of the club’s goals this season in the German Bundesliga.

The 33-year-old has played just five matches this season in which he hasn’t contributed a goal or an assist and in 17 league starts this campaign, he has netted 15 times. Pizarro has already achieved an impressive WhoScored rating of 7.71, helped by three ‘Man of the match’ performances this season for Werder.

The veteran forward spent six seasons with FC Bayern before leaving for English giants Chelsea and that would turn out to be a move that would last less than a year for the striker. He returned to Germany permanently to the Weser Stadion in 2008 for a £3m transfer fee and he has enjoyed some fantastic form with Thomas Schaaf’s men.

The 33-year-old sits on 157 Bundesliga goals in 322 appearances and is level in the all-time league scorer’s table with German international and Kaiserslautern legend Fritz Walter, though it is inevitable that the Peruvian will pass Walter’s record within the next few weeks.

The Werder fans favourite is described sometimes as “an old-fashioned” striker but his general all-round game is very impressive which is why he is a firm regular in Schaaf’s expansive 4-3-1-2 system. Pizarro has a 74.1% pass completion ratio from 505 total passes and has an average of 3.1 shots per game.

Sticking with his passing game, Pizarro makes just over 2.1 key passes every match, an average of 28.1 passes and 1.1 long balls per game. The striker uses his dominant presence well in Werder’s attack and but also likes to play the ball in the air and attempt long passes. So far this season, he has already scored three ‘doubles’ and one hat-trick.

So if Pizarro is unavailable selection – what other reinforcements do Werder have to replace their lethal striker?

Markus Rosenborg – WhoScored rating (6.83):

The 29-year-old Swedish hitman returned to the club in the summer after a loan spell in Spain and he has played 20 times in total for Werder, with 13 starts. His goal return though, is fairly disappointing with just five strikes and three assists. Over the course of the season, he has mainly featured as a partner for Pizarro in the 4-3-1-2 formation.

His general all-round game complemented Pizarro relatively well and the Swede has a 70.4% pass completion ratio and two ‘man of the match’ awards. Some could consider him as an attacking midfielder and that possibly explains just 2.4 shots on goal on average, per match.

Marko Marin – WhoScored rating (6.82):

Marin built up an excellent reputation as an extremely talented attacking midfielder and that has perhaps hindered his progress over the last 12 months.

He has started just nine matches this season and has rotated in the ‘No.10’ with Aaron Hunt and Marko Arnautovic, amongst others. He has won one ‘man of the match’ award this season and has assisted three goals so far. At times last summer, he was linked with the likes of Inter Milan and Liverpool.

Marko Arnautovic – WhoScored rating (6.64):

The Austrian forward is adept at playing as a central-striker or as an attacking midfielder and he has started 10 matches this campaign. Most would regard Arnautovic as a fairly enigmatic player with a very poor consistency level.

The 22-year-old has scored five goals this season and has contributed a lot in the matches he has played in. He has a 74% pass completion ratio, attempts an average of 2.6 shots per game and 1.6 dribbles per match but on the other hand, he is one of four players to have been sent off this year.

The options are limited for Thomas Schaaf, in comparison with clubs around them in the Bundesliga table having three, four or five players available in attacking positions.

It is unlikely that Werder Bremen will be able to work their way back in to the title race with a seven-point gap separating them and fourth-placed Schalke but the target for Schaaf and Werder is to guarantee European football next season.

Sitting in fifth place, with a two-point lead over Bayer Leverkusen, they would go straight in to the UEFA Europa League and would be likely ensure Schaaf continues his incredibly long reign into 2012/2013.