Vor einigen Wochen sind wir gebeten worden, für James Kelly von »These Football Times« ein paar Worte zur glorreichen Ägide Micouds an der Weser zu Protokoll zu geben. Warum schlägt das Herz so vieler Werderaner noch heute höher, wenn sein Name fällt? Okay. — Loblieder auf Le Chef? Natürlich ließen wir uns nicht allzu lange bitten. James hat seinen Artikel »The Joy of Johan Micoud at Werder Bremen« gestern veröffentlicht. Lest und teilt ihn gerne! Zu Dokumentationszwecken veröffentlichen wir hier unsere Eloge in ungekürzter Form.

… and still loving Micoud.

»Hand a guitar over to a guitar player and he will do something good with it. It’s the same when it comes to football players: there are certain basics you need to know. Beyond that you can let your artistic imagination run free. It’s this freedom of mind that fascinates me.«
– Johan Micoud

Ahoy lads, let us tell you a short story about one of the greatest men that have set a foot on a football ground. And by far the greatest man that ever has played for our very club, SV Werder Bremen. Even these days we’re still in awe of his greatness and skill, but let us get this story straight.

We therefore have to start differently: Sometimes you meet people of a strange kind. These are the people that are not into football at all. They don’t understand our devotion, love and yearning. They don’t understand the amount of time and passion people like you and us happily sacrifice for our club. And what’s the worst thing about these people: They don’t know »Le Chef«.

Every now and then we get puzzled looks from these infidels when they glance at our stickers or at our shirts. Sometimes they ask us: »Who is this guy you’re talking about, who is Micoud? I’ve never heard of him…« And since we don’t want to waste our precious time with lost souls, we don’t start talking about the unmatched intelligence of Micoud’s play or about his avant-garde one-touch-style before even the term »one-touch« was coined. We usually respond to their ignorance like this: »Micoud? You don’t know Johan Micoud? You should! He’s one of the greatest French avant-garde directors of all time. He directed and acted in all of our favourite movies. Each and every one – honestly… you don’t know Johan Micoud?« And off we walk, shaking our heads in complete bewilderment. Barbarians!

But every time we meet normal people. Our eyes meet, we smile at each other, knowingly. Because we understand. Because they understand. Because everybody in the city of Bremen knows that Le Chef was the most pristine artist our club has ever had and he was the reason for Werder’s resurrection – that’s why until today the whole Weserstadion chants »Micooooouuud« instead of »Hey Jude« whenever that old Beatles tune is played, giving us the shivers. And that’s the reason why these small green stickers are out there, in every corner of the world. We don’t exaggerate:

We’re still loving Micoud.
And this is a love supreme.