VfB Stuttgart 07/08 Thread [R]

[footyfan1]

a question to throw out to you guys: what do you think of the new buys so far?

I had to respond. So remember, my view is one of a neutral outsider. I have nothing against you guys.


I know it's early to ask this after the fourth game, but the signs at this point are not promising i have to admit.

One of the other guys put it well not long ago. You guys started out much like this last season. You have lots of new players. They need time to gel.



in defense:
I still think Hildebrand was better than Schaefer, but Raphael is still probably the only new guy who is doing a solid job. He hasn't committed any huge errors and has played a couple of good games and has been solid overall.

That's not an unreasonable thought. Wasn't our argument that Hildebrand wasn't signifigantly better than Schaefer??



Gledson, i know, was bought as an extra so it's hard to say much on him, but the few times he has played he hasn't done well: he played terribly in the liga-pokal against Bayern and he got sent off in the DFB-Pokal against Wehen. Not impressive.

Sorry man, but what did you expect from a defender out of Rostock?



In midfield:
Sadly, as footyfan suggested, it seems Basturk may after all be an overpriced invalid: so far he has not played a single competitve match for us as he has been injured the whole time. Not surprising, but there you go. I still have hope that we'll see him in the near future.

He will play, but my argument wasn't just about his injuries. My argument was that even healthy, he's not worth 3M per season. The fact that he's about as durable as a porcelain doll just reinforces my argument.


In attack:
Marica has palyed in all 4 BL games and has so far failed to score a goal. If we add up the matches he has had atleast 5 100% chances that he has failed to take. His playing abilities also haven't impressed me. He may be young, but he isn't living up to the hopes of a VfB-Record-Transfer so far.

As soon as I read Lothar Mattheaus' column saying Marica is worth every cent VfB paid for him, I thought, "Damn, VfB are screwed!"

But, give him time. Maybe despite the Mattheaus kiss of death, the kid may come through anyhow.


Ewerthon is apparently not fit enough. He also hasn't scored. He played the whole game against Hertha and really, really sucked. He looked mch better in the minutes he got against Duisburg and Karlsruhe but he really should've gotten us a point at the death in the derby but missed the open net.

As I told you before, Ewerthon will hit posts, crossbars and miss the occasional open net (Well, OK, maybe a bit more than "occasional" open net), but he will score goals for you too. Like Marica, he may just need time.


As far as attackers go, i personally can't wait for Cacau to be fit again so the Gomez-Cacau partnership can be revived, the new players haven't sold themselves well enough so far.

I think you guys got too many new players. I don't think you needed Marica AND Ewerthon. And some people have to not be happy at what Basturk is getting paid. What has he ever won in his career?

I think you guys screwed up the best thing you had going for you last season.

Team chemistry. You guys were not the best collection of individuals last season. That would have been Schalke. However, you guys were the best TEAM!

And you screwed with that. I think management overreacted to the prospect of playing in the CL.


So my conclusion:
Only Schaefer is living up to expectations. Marica and Ewerthon must improve dramatically or they'll face a LOT of bench time, and Gledson will have to do better from now on whenever he gets a chance. As for Basturk, we simply have to hope that he eventually gets fit and will be able to be of some use to the squad, and hopefully, that we'll even see the talent that we bought him for.

I think you summed that up very nicely!

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

One of the other guys put it well not long ago. You guys started out much like this last season. You have lots of new players. They need time to gel.

I hope this is the case, i am still cautiously optimistic, just a little alert at this point.

That's not an unreasonable thought. Wasn't our argument that Hildebrand wasn't signifigantly better than Schaefer??

Yup. I don't kno the answer for certain at this point. A lot of VfB fans right now are a bit concerned with the risks Schaefer takes during games, such as the suicidal way he runs out of his goal to get balls. Many say it's an accident waiting to happen. but so far he has made any big mistakes and has been solid, so he's proving us wrong for the moment.



Sorry man, but what did you expect from a defender out of Rostock?

Rostock supporters say he was their best player last season. And i also remember them having a rock-solid defense in the 2. Liga. So i expected a bit more.


He will play, but my argument wasn't just about his injuries. My argument was that even healthy, he's not worth 3M per season. The fact that he's about as durable as a porcelain doll just reinforces my argument.

I guess whenever he starts playing we'll see whether he was worth it. We can't judge for now, i'm just dissappointed that he's played no part so far.




As soon as I read Lothar Mattheaus' column saying Marica is worth every cent VfB paid for him, I thought, "Damn, VfB are screwed!"

But, give him time. Maybe despite the Mattheaus kiss of death, the kid may come through anyhow.

Mattheaus praised him? Sh!t, he's gotta be even worse than i thought possible :D

On a serious note, i was a bit harsh on Marica. For sure he has lots of talent, but we'll see what he makes of it. so far it hasn't been enough.


As I told you before, Ewerthon will hit posts, crossbars and miss the occasional open net (Well, OK, maybe a bit more than "occasional" open net), but he will score goals for you too. Like Marica, he may just need time.

Again, i hope this is the case. I remember he once went something like 6 months in Dortmund without scoring and then one goal went in and after that he was on fire again.


I think you guys got too many new players. I don't think you needed Marica AND Ewerthon. And some people have to not be happy at what Basturk is getting paid. What has he ever won in his career?

Playing in 3 tournaments means the squad has to have strength in depth, and with Lauth and Streller leaving it seemed logical to get two new attackers. No mistake there imo. Basturk's salary hasn't been an issue so far amongst VfB fans, but if he continues to be injured for a while it may become an issue.

I think you guys screwed up the best thing you had going for you last season.

Team chemistry. You guys were not the best collection of individuals last season. That would have been Schalke. However, you guys were the best TEAM!

I don't think we lost it. The chemistry is still there: Besides Schaefer(and possibly Basturk once he can play), the whole starting 11 is the same as the one that won the title last year. It's still there, they just gotta find it again.

Oh, and i'd say the best individuals last season were Werder Bremen :)

And you screwed with that. I think management overreacted to the prospect of playing in the CL.

I hope not, but we'll see.

[kaiser kraut]

I agree that our team chemistry was the key last year. We played as a real team and each player covered for another's areas of weakness. We had a confidence and a swagger that came along with the chemistry, so we could find ways to make things happen, even if things looked rough at times, we clawed back or found ways to win.

We've got a few injuries right now that are having an impact, and I agree that we needed to add the # of players we added due to our schedule this year, if not the particular players we ended up with.

As for Marica and Ewerthon, let's remember that these guys are our #3 & 4 hitters up top. Marica is a prospect, a work in progress. Ewerthon is supposed to be experienced depth that has the ability to make a difference. During the summer, neither of these guys was thought to be our top options out there. I think we'll get our rhythm back. Hopefully in time for our CL group matches, if not a lot sooner. Basturk getting fit would be nice for sure, just so that we could see what we ended up getting in that transaction.

[schwabe13]

I hope this is the case, i am still cautiously optimistic, just a little alert at this point.



Yup. I don't kno the answer for certain at this point. A lot of VfB fans right now are a bit concerned with the risks Schaefer takes during games, such as the suicidal way he runs out of his goal to get balls. Many say it's an accident waiting to happen. but so far he has made any big mistakes and has been solid, so he's proving us wrong for the moment.





Rostock supporters say he was their best player last season. And i also remember them having a rock-solid defense in the 2. Liga. So i expected a bit more.




I guess whenever he starts playing we'll see whether he was worth it. We can't judge for now, i'm just dissappointed that he's played no part so far.






Mattheaus praised him? Sh!t, he's gotta be even worse than i thought possible :D

On a serious note, i was a bit harsh on Marica. For sure he has lots of talent, but we'll see what he makes of it. so far it hasn't been enough.



Again, i hope this is the case. I remember he once went something like 6 months in Dortmund without scoring and then one goal went in and after that he was on fire again.



Playing in 3 tournaments means the squad has to have strength in depth, and with Lauth and Streller leaving it seemed logical to get two new attackers. No mistake there imo. Basturk's salary hasn't been an issue so far amongst VfB fans, but if he continues to be injured for a while it may become an issue.



I don't think we lost it. The chemistry is still there: Besides Schaefer(and possibly Basturk once he can play), the whole starting 11 is the same as the one that won the title last year. It's still there, they just gotta find it again.

Oh, and i'd say the best individuals last season were Werder Bremen :)



I hope not, but we'll see.

pretty good post, pleasure reading it ! Somebody reps VfBStuttgartan, something about spreading round, before bla bla bla ...

[eissman]

Hey, gang. Looking into ticket information for a friend of mine who is staying southwest of Stuttgart around the time of the Stuttgart/Bayern game. I realize tickets are likely extremely hard to come by, but in the event I can point him in the right direction, can any of you offer any advice that I can pass on?

Danke.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

In Stuttgart there are two main places where you can buy tickets.

If he's already in Germany near Stuttgart, he should go to one of these two places:

The Fan Center in Cannstatt next to the stadium.
The address is: Mercedesstrasse 73
Phone number: (0049) 01805 8325463

OR

the VfB City Shop which can be found on the main shopping street of Stuttgart.
Address: Konigstrasse 23-25
Phone number: (0049) 01805 8325463


Online Tickets can be found here:
http://www.eventim.de/cgi-bin/tinfo.dll?fun=tdetaila&doc=detaila&key=218962&affiliate=vfb

However, the Bayern match is not up there yet since it'll be in the Rueckrunde. I expect they'll start selling tickets for it in early January.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

In some news, Magnin scored for his NT yesterday :)

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

On a recent poll on the main VfB forums, here is who they want to play as starters in attack:

95% want Gomez to start.
65% want Cacau to start.
28% want Marica to start.
8% want Ewerthon to start.

So for now, an overwhelming majority would want to see us return to our strike partnership from last season. Marica still seems to have many fans though, despite the poor start. Ewerthon is the clear number 4 at this point.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Another interesting polll is that over who people would prefer to see play at leftback.

This was pretty close, in the end:
55% voted for Boka.
44% voted for Magnin.

So it seems Boka could be getting the starting spot back in the coming games.

[footyfan1]

Another interesting polll is that over who people would prefer to see play at leftback.

This was pretty close, in the end:
55% voted for Boka.
44% voted for Magnin.

So it seems Boka could be getting the starting spot back in the coming games.

You think Armin Veh selects his lineups based on fan polls? :confused:

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Of course not, but public opinion obviously does have an influence on trainers, and here it seems like Boka is preferred at the moment.

[footyfan1]

Of course not, but public opinion obviously does have an influence on trainers, and here it seems like Boka is preferred at the moment.

Let me put it this way. Most trainers I know of who let public opinion influence their choices didn't have their jobs long......

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Look at it this way, if 55% of the public believes that Boka should start, that would mean there is a 55% chance(logically) that Veh would prefer to play Boka. That means Boka is the favourite to play.

I don't see the point really in taking out 1 innocent, uncontroversial post and making an argument about it...

[footyfan1]

Look at it this way, if 55% of the public believes that Boka should start, that would mean there is a 55% chance(logically) that Veh would prefer to play Boka. That means Boka is the favourite to play.

I don't see the point really in taking out 1 innocent, uncontroversial post and making an argument about it...

Excuse me? Basically, what you are telling me is that when I disagree with you I should just say nothing? Is that it?

You make "1 innocent, uncontroversial post" and because you see it that way, we aren't allowed to disagree??

All I'm telling you is that from what I've seen in football in my life, trainers who allow public opinion to influence their player or tactical decisions, don't normally keep their jobs long.

I think Veh, if he is the trainer I think he is, makes his decisions based on what he sees in training every day, not based on what the fans think.

If he sticks by Magnin and wins, people will eventually change their minds or shut the f#ck up.

If he plays Magnin and loses, of course fans will clamor for Boka. When Cacau comes back and possibly goes a few matches without scoring, some fans will scream for Marica. If Basturk gets played ahead of da Silva and doesn't do well right way, fans will scream for da Silva.

What do you think will happen to team chemistry if Veh makes a change every time the fans think one should be made??

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

OMG man, all i ever said was that since 55% of the public believes Boka to be better then there's a 55% chance that Veh prefers Boka, which would make Boka the favourite to start. That's just logic.

That doesn't mean Veh DOES prefer Boka, and if he does it's certainly not because the majority of fans do, all it means is that it's MORE LIKELY that Veh would prefer to play Boka in the next game. Nothing more or nothing less.

You misunderstood me and thought i meant that Veh should play Boka because that's what the public wants, when in reality what i was saying was that Boka MAY become the one with the starting spot since polls show a trend going in his favour at the moment, meaning it is also more likely that the coach would not prefer to play him

...

[cdmphy]

Cacau and Bastürk are both back for the game.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Great news, i'm looking forward to seeing both of them tomorrow :)

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Leaving to the game in a minute... today i fully expect the three points. After the losses in Berlin and Ka... it's vital that we don't drop unnecessary points for a third time in so few matches: we must beat Cottbus, who are in my opinion the weakest team in the Bundesliga, and get the three points that can't start to bring us back upwards.

This is also gonna be my last home game before leaving to Sheffield, so that's another reason why VfB must win.

I expect the defense will be unchanged, perhaps with Boka instead of Magnin. Since Delpierre looks like he's not fit for this one it'll still be a Meira-Tasci partnership. Looking like this:
---------------Schaefer
Osorio-----Meira-----Tasci------Boka

The big news for our midfield is that it seems Basturk can finally make his debut for us. I'm eager to see the guy and i hope he'll live up to our expectations :) The only real question is at left midfield. Normally Hitzlsperger plays there, but since Khedira has been one of our best players so far this season it would perhaps be a good idea to start him at left-mid instead. But i'm guessing Hitz will get the nod. So the midfield shoul be:
-----------------Pardo
----Hilbert---------------Hitzlsperger---
--------------Basturk------------------

And finally, in attack, it's great news Cacau is back. I'm looking forward to seeing the return of last season's Meister-Sturm:
Cacau------------Gomez

So that's about it, now i'm off, and i anticipate a fully deserved 3 points!

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Yayyy, an impressive 3 points!

We played as a team and showed good football throughout, dominating the game. No one played badly, and the 3-0 was entirely deserved, could've been even higher!

Still no Basturk to be seen, but that's ok, Cacau returns in style, Gomez comes in and scores, and big props to Ewerthon for coming in in the 70th minute, scoring his first VfB goal AND providing an assist. Well done, Ewerthon :)

This result was just what we needed ahead of a tough week: we can head off into a week with the first CL game in Scotland and then the vital match away to Bremen with good spirits :)

This is what i hoped my last game in he stadium would be like, and it seems the side is heading back towards the form it is capable of.

[Pirru]

player ratings?