(R) VfB Stuttgart Thread 08/09

[ForeverRed]

i guess he knows hes the man at stuttgart and that allows him "first option" so to speak, while he's only a "backup player" against the likes of ballack and frings for the NT.

I think he's still been a fine player for the NT. Just he AND rolfes in the middle isn't going to be good enough. Anyway, a bit off topic there :)

He also has a true DM and a capable CM behind him at Stuttgart which helps him out a lot.

[benztown]

Personally, I think that Hitz is one of the most underrated players that we have in Germany. His problem is that defensive players in general don't get the attention they deserve.

Another one would be Cacau though. His perception is that of a mediocre striker. But he's so much more than that...he's obviously not a defensive player, but he's also more than a striker. He can set up goals beautifully as he's shown us today. His headers are decent, even though he's rather short, his shots are great (only Hitz can do better) and he has a feeling for where the ball is going to be. Very valuable!

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Ok, well its been 24 hours since VfB's best performance in a whiiiiiiile.
Really, major compliments to the side.

The defence, despite missing Delpierre and Boulah, were very good. Magnin played an excellent game at leftback, I personally still prefer him to Boka there, Boka was good too and ran all over the pitch, fought for every ball, Tasci was strong throughout the game as was Osorio. It was a top notch performance against maybe the best attack in the league.

The midfield was also very surprisingly strong imo. Traesch had played once for our first team in the past, that was last season when both Boka and Magnin were injured and he played leftback against Schalke. But before yesterday still few people knew his name. I think after his scorcher(literally, i'd recommend anyone to see, it's a BEAUTIFUL goal) though, he's known among every VfB fan. Can't have a better impression than that. And he also played solid. Congrats! I was also very pleased to see a return to form for Roberto Hilbert yesterday. The guy was running nonstop on the rightwing, often creating problems with his speed and crosses. And in the end he even scored, his first this season! Good on him, and I hope you keep it up Roberto! Finally Sami, who's the fourth person we've tried this year in the attacking mid. position, was very good. In the first half he was easily the best player on the pitch, giving insightful passes and winning lots of balls and giving away only few. And he had a great run and then good technique to dribble Wiese for the 1-0. Hitz, though not as noteworthy as the other three midfielders yesterday, also did a good job. In short, great all-round performance by our midfield.

In attack, Gomez didn't have his best day actually. He played well but in front of goal was not on form, and he did have mny chances to score a goal. But thankfully, today we didn't even need him. Cacau may not have scored, but he played very well. Gave good balls, set up chances for others, always caused problems with his runs, a very valuable striker. Oddly enough, Marica was only in the stands yesterday. I don't know the reason for it, but heard somewhere it was a signal for having been off-form. If that's true, I don't get it at all as he's played 12 competitive games this season and has hit 6 goals. That's a pretty good record. I really hope there wasn't some fallout between Marica and Veh and this was a one-off thing because Marica is finally playing well this season and it would be frustrating to have him get issues now that he's finally playing well.

But if Veh did just to send a message to the team, it sure worked. In fact, I have no clue what he said to the side, but it REALLY REALLY WORKED. This side was light years, divisions, better than the one against Cherno More Varna, and that despite having 5-6 regular starters out of the side.

And now we're actually up to second place in the league, equal with the leader. That's a phenomenol turn of events for us and, even though Hamburg Schalke and Dortmund can all potentially pass us today, it's still an excellent situation compared to last week.

gotta say, I complained after the Dortmund game that whenever we played a strong strong side this season, we hadn't done well. I argued that our team is fundamentally not that great and that even a UEFA Cup spot would be hard to get. Well after this, I really don't know what we can aim for. This team now seems capable of finishing anywhere from a Champions League to a non-European place. We'll see, could shape up to be an interesting season. :)

And I congratulate all the boys again on turning their form around MASSIVELY in the space of just two days.

[Borussia]

Wow, another impressive win against Werder (last season you won 3:2 & 6:3)! :eek: You like to score against them, don't you? ;) Congrats.

Can't believe to see both former Fürth players Hilbert & Lanig score.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Last year we did beat them 6-3, but we also lost 4-1. The 3-2 came the year before that.

Our 5 Bremen games under Veh:
3-2 Win away
4-1 win at home
4-1 loss away
6-3 win at home
4-1 win at home.

Seems like Veh's got Schaaf's number :p

[Syriaman]

Wow, another impressive win against Werder (last season you won 3:2 & 6:3)! You like to score against them, don't you? Congrats.

Can't believe to see both former Fürth players Hilbert & Lanig score.


Last season we lost 4-1 and won 6-3!;)

Thanks for congratulations.:)

[Syriaman]

Highlights of VFB-Bremen 4-1:


http://www.myvideo.de/watch/5215500/4_1_VfB_Stuttgart_vs_Werder_Bremen_Goals

[benztown]

http://www.vfb.de/media/images/spielberichte/vfb/2008_2009/07_vfb-bremen_348x348_2.jpg

http://www.vfb.de/media/images/spielberichte/vfb/2008_2009/07_vfb-bremen_348x348_3.jpg

http://www.vfb.de/media/images/spielberichte/vfb/2008_2009/07_vfb-bremen_348x348_6.jpg

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Player Ratings:

Jens Lehmann: Kicker Rating: 2 (7 games played, 2.79 avg.)
My Rating: 3

Christian Traesch: KR: 2 (1 game played, 2.00 avg.)
MR: 2 - Man of the Match

Serdar Tasci: KR: 2 (7 games played, 3.14 avg.)
MR: 2.5

Ricardo Osorio: KR: 2.5 (5 games played, 3.40 avg.)
MR: 3

Ludovic Magnin: KR: 3 (3 games played, 2 as starter, 4.00 avg.)
MR: 3

Sami Khedira: KR: 2 - Man of the Match (6 games played, 4 as starter, 3.00 avg.)
MR: 2

Thomas Hitzlsperger: KR: 3 (7 games played, 3.36 avg.)
MR: 3.5

Roberto Hilbert: KR: 2.5 (6 games played, 5 as starter, 3.75 avg.)
MR: 2.5

Arthur Boka: KR: 2.5 (7 games played, 6 as starter, 3.93 avg.)
MR: 3

Mario Gomez: KR: 3.5 (7 games played, 3.64 avg.)
MR: 4

Cacau: 3 (3 games played, 3.50 avg.)
MR: 3

SUBS:

Sebastian Rudy: KR: No Rating (2 games played, 0 as starter, No Rating)
MR: No Rating

Marijan Kovacevic: KR: No Rating (1 game played, 0 as starter, No Rating)
MR: No Rating

Martin Lanig: KR: No Rating (7 games played, 4 as starter, 3.63 avg.)
MR: No Rating

[Wappy]

UEFA Cup: u guys are in group C
interesting group, Sevilla looks weaker than they were before, but qualifying shouldn't be much of a problem if u guys can perform consistently

Sevilla FC
VfB Stuttgart
UC Sampdoria
FK Partizan
Standard de Liege

[footyfan1]

UEFA Cup: u guys are in group C
interesting group, Sevilla looks weaker than they were before, but qualifying shouldn't be much of a problem if u guys can perform consistently

Sevilla FC
VfB Stuttgart
UC Sampdoria
FK Partizan
Standard de Liege


I disagree. I think that's one tough group even if VfB performs consistently.

Standard Liege nearly took Liverpool out of the Champions' League and they DID knock Everton out of this competition.

As you said, Sevilla might not be the same, but they're still very tough. They eased past Red Bull Salzburg by a total of 4-0 to get to this round.

Sampdoria might be 17th in Serie A right now, but to me that makes them all the more dangerous. They need to succeed in the UEFA Cup. And they did blow out their first round opponents by a aggregate score of 7-1. VfB SHOULD have done that, but could not.

Partizan gave Bayern a hard time in this competition last season and they did beat always tough Romanian competition to get to this round.

I did pick VfB to finish behind Sevilla myself, but it won't be easy for anyone in this group. I truly think anyone could win it.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Interesting group.

Our first game will probably also be our toughest. We'll travel to Sevilla - they must be the clear favourites in this group. They are a strong side with many stars and our match there is going to be incredibly tough. If we can get a point out of that match, i'll be pleased. It's certainly our hardest one.

Then we play at home to Partizan Belgrade. Here I see us as the clear favourites, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Most of us have probably heard all about their fanatic, passionate fans so I'm looking forward to seeing them travel to Stuttgart. It will be a match that we will be expected to win, and if we don't, qualification could be very tough.

Then off to Sampdoria. Should also be an exciting match. I love playing teams from Italy, and a trip to Genoa should be fun for our fans. Don't be fooled by their place in the table in Serie A atm, they are still a very strong team. I can't wait to see us play against Cassano, a player I really really like :) Again, a point from this game would be pleasing.

We'll skip action on the 4th matchday.

On the last day we host Standard Liege. Also won't be easy but we hate to expect a win here.

Overall, if I were to make a wil prediction, I'd guess we'll win our two home games and lose our two away ones. That should be enough to qualify, but don't expect us to be the stars of this group.

It'll be tough!

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Also, in a draw that's been overshadowed by this one but which has produced an even bigger result, we've been drawn to host ScheissBayern in the DFB Pokal.

Awesome!

Can't wait for that!

[Syriaman]

I think we have been lucky,but Sampdoria and Sevilla are strong teams,too.I think we will qualify with these two.But now it is too early to predict.teams fall and rise.

Anyway I am happy that we are playing in this international cup.

BTW.. when is first matchday?Thanks.:)

[ForeverRed]

BTW.. when is first matchday?Thanks.:)

I believe it starts on October 23rd.

[footyfan1]

I believe it starts on October 23rd.

Yes, it does. VfB opens at Sevilla.

[Rainer24]

Looks like a tough group to me. Away to Sevilla is a tough opener, a trip to Belgrade offers no guarantee of success, and you never know when Cassano will decide to kick some ass. Not a group we can't get out of, but it is a toughie.

[stonesean]

Most people don't know me on this thread, but I just wanted to say that I am quite excited.

The military has seen fit to send me back to Stuttgart-Vaihingen for 3 years!

I should be joining you guys in the stands sometime after the winter break!

Hooray!

I can't wait to see the stadium since the world cup overhaul!!!!!

[benztown]

I can't wait to see the stadium since the world cup overhaul!!!!!

The big overhaul is yet to come ;)

[panicfc]

Thanks for your service and I'm jealous of your deployment location. ;)