A Trip Down Memory Lane: Mesut & Thomas Schaaf - Some Links, A Few Pictures & The Best Video Ever!

[jenny-jenkins.livejournal.com]

Post dedicated to ellapropella, who like me, probably feels orphaned today...

Remembering the year Mesut made three finals and won two of them...

A Trip Down Memory Lane!

Let's start with that time Mesut dumped beer all over his coach after scoring the winning goal for the Bundesliga Pokal...he was interviewed too and when he's told he's "Man des Abends" in this video his self-deprecating shrug and smile (he actually looks surprised!) is TOO CHARMING.

"Thomas Schaaf isn't fast enough for his boys!"

Why are we having this nostaglic post? Because Thomas Schaaf was sacked today by Werder Bremen after 14 years in charge. Bremen have survived the relegation fight for another year, but they are seeking to do better. And Because when Mesut played France in Bremen last year we had some very nice posts about his time at Werder Bremen under Klaus Allofs (deserted the club earlier this year for Wolfsburg) and Schaaf...and I have a few pics of Thorsten Frings...

Frankly, I think they've made a mistake. And not having the sour, dour old man on the sidelines is an awful prospect - Werder Bremen won't seem like Werder Bremen anymore... I have had a small taste today of how awful it will be when Wenger leaves Arsenal.

From Mesut's perspective (the point of this post): they are the two men who brought him to Werder Bremen as a record-signing for a teenager when Schalke 04 ditched him after unsuccessful contract negotiations. It was a very "last-minute" signing.

They were very nice to him. It was good for his career. They let him come to Madrid. Schaaf may be a sour bugger, but he was precisely what a shy lad like Mesut needed for his career.

Links For Fun Reading (When Mesut Was Just A Baby):

Mesut's press conference in March of 2012, fully translated.

A DFB Feature piece on Mesut's time at Bremen, fully translated.

From the always wonderful Bundesliga Fanatic "The Last Time Werder Bremen Won In Bayern" (Mesut's coming out party - he's had several in his career depending on who you ask! And he always plays well against Bayern.)

Link to ladya_sama's bromantic review of the Marksut Phenomenon (Mesut + Marko Marin)

From 11Freunde a typically funny piece in the Series "My Favourite Transfer" entitled "Vokuhila und Bierdusche" - which was written this year, actually, and remembers some fine football and some bad hair-days. German speakers are encouraged to head over. I even forgive 11Freunde for today's headline: "Werder schaafts nichts mehr" (OMFG how could they?)

English speakers can revel in my favourite part which I have translated for them and which pokes fun at Borussia Dortmund fans!

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Snippet from 11Freunde - translated by me, jenny_jenkins -

When Werder Manager Klaus Allofs heard [that Schalke wouldn't renew] Klaus Allofs must have lined up guard-of-honour outside Schalke's headquarters. Not renewing with Mesut Özil? How was this possible? Allofs chuckled up his sleeve, and struck. Mesut Özil transfered on "Deadline Day" in January 2008 to my favourite club Werder Bremen. Allofs and I were both thrilled. As I told a Dortmund-friend about this coup, he laughed at me. "Mesut Özil? Pathetic. Isn't he that shy kid with the blonde streaks? Good luck with him!" Özil provided the answer. He chopped his hair off, played his way into Werder's starting 11 and dazzled the Weserstadion. The first goal followed shortly, his teammate nicknamed him "Messi". When I reminded my friend about the transfer half a year later he didn't want to talk about it. Significant.



The Mesuty Schaaf Spam!


They weren't kidding about bad hair-days. Mesut was described on his first day as "so shy he looked as though he'd sink under his chair..."

Mesut probably only owned blue and white stuff at that point...

Cute bench moments -

Mesut vs Mark van Bommel against Bayern in that game where he pretty much announced his existence to the world (as described in the Bundesliga Fanatic link above) -

The really good times (in 2008-09) -

The DFB Pokal...

The winning goal scored by Mesut against poor old never-Neverkusen:

It was the year Mesut made three finals (he also played in the UEFA cup final) and won two of them - and was the stand-out performer for both wins...

An early instance of the Samisut phenomenon.

The win against England in the U21 final (two assists for Mesut, one goal off a free kick) was an early instance of Mesut's Welpenschutz rescuing him from a good beating for messing up Captain Sami Khedira's PERFECT coiffure -

The rest is history...

Welpenschutz has been saving Mesut ever since...

This is still one of the best pictures ever taken of Mesut - he did so love scoring against Schalke!

"Fuck you! I scored!"

Random picture of Thorsten Frings - thank me for limiting myself to one...

With Klaus Allofs -

"You done good, boy..."

With Schaaf - whose prickly exterior hides a heart of gold -

Mesut: "I have been fouled! I am dying!"
The bench: "Revenge!!!"

Finally: the best video of Mesut ever made, bar none, in which we learn about club-approved bromancing with Pizarro and that Mesut can cook! Thank you Werder Bremen Magazine!!

Link to translation is here.

I leave it to others to dissect how badly Mesut's transfer affected Werder. I personally think it was devastating,disastrous and deadly....and I think most fans  would have him back tomorrow.

Schaaf on Mesut: He's a little shy, but he'll do well at Madrid. He'd do well anywhere...

Good luck to Thomas Schaaf <3

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