Trainer Ole Werner was upset about the lack of an explanation for his yellow card in the final minutes of Werder Bremen’s 2-1 (0-1) draw against RB Leipzig. “Neither the referee nor the fourth official could tell me exactly what the reason was,” complained the Werder coach after the game in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Referee Matthias Jöllenbeck had warned Werner, who was standing on the sidelines, in injury time. He may have decided to do so because Werner had previously been too upset about a penalty that was not given after a duel between RB defender Marcel Halstenberg and Werder attacker Niclas Füllkrug in the penalty area.
“The responsibility is shifted to each other and in the end no one knows who decides what. And the one who decides hasn’t heard from the other. That just annoys me,” said the 34-year-old and then added: “You have to ask the referees why there was a yellow card.” The long-time Bundesliga referee Manuel Graefe was a guest on ZDF’s “Aktuelle Sportstudio” on Saturday evening and explained that he understood Jöllenbeck’s decision and would not have awarded a penalty either.
“The boys could do it too”
Gräfe also suggested that the referees explain contentious decisions live on the field to football fans, as they do in football in the USA. The Berliner, who is now working as a ZDF expert, said that he trusted the referees to do this. “The boys could do that too,” said Gräfe. “If I don’t get an explanation of the final 1-0, which is ruled out for offside, or the foul play that is withdrawn by the VAR, then that’s a problem for the stadium spectators,” explained Gräfe. An explanation via microphone would create greater transparency.”
The former top referee had to end his career in the Bundesliga for reasons of age. The 49-year-old has been critical of the decisions ever since. Most recently, after the controversial scene had been assessed, discussions about the video assistant (VAR) increased again.
Werder Bremen attacker and World Cup participant Niclas Füllkrug is looking forward to defenders Antonio Rüdiger from Real Madrid and Christian Günter from SC Freiburg in the German national soccer team. “I know Toni Rüdiger from the national team. I know Christian Günter from before. It will definitely be very relaxed,” said the 29-year-old top scorer of the Hanseatic League after the 1-2 (0-1) draw in the Bundesliga against Leipzig on Saturday.
Two days earlier, Füllkrug had been called up to the squad of the German DFB team for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. As a newcomer to the senior national team, the Hanover-born and former junior select player is relaxed about the upcoming time with his many new colleagues. “I’m totally relaxed about it. I think the team is very healthy anyway and there won’t be any problems there,” added Füllkrug.
Despite his upcoming World Cup assignment, he was not afraid of short-term injuries before the game against Leipzig. “I didn’t even think about it. I tried to focus on my performance and go into every duel as if nothing was going on,” he said after the game. “I think that’s for the best then. That will prevent most injuries if you go the right way and aren’t afraid of something like that.”
