(R) VfB Stuttgart Thread 08/09

[Mosco]

Belgrade at home tonight. I'm bummed with the team at the moment so can't be bothered to write any long preview, but basically we have to win to stay in the running, and I hope we do.

I wouldn't mind seeing Boka, Hilbert and Hitzlsperger benched after their calamities against Koeln. We shall see.



What about Pardo and Orsorio how has their performance been to your viewing is Belgrade a good side?

[Rainer24]

Stream:

http://sportvu.page.tl/VU____________9.htm#


Mario has just bagged his second. Up 2-0 with about ten minutes to go.

[benztown]

GOMEZ!!! Finally we scored...twice...and who else but Gomez...too bad that Elson seems to be severly injured. He's had a great game so far and looked rather promising in recent games. 10 more minutes.

[Rainer24]

Full time.

Final score:

Super Mario 2 - 0 Partizan


I only saw the final thirty minutes of the match, but Gomez was extremely active throughout that period. It took a while, but he was tormenting their defenders throughout and it always looked more a question of when rather than if.

Gelson and Träsch looked pretty good to me, Lanig was just more of the same for me, i.e. repeated giveaways and not looking at all like what we need to move up the league table or really make a dent in the Cup.

[Equilibrium]

You have Gomez, you'll make it. :cool:
Did I not call it? :cool:

[footyfan1]

GOMEZ!!! Finally we scored...twice...and who else but Gomez...too bad that Elson seems to be severly injured. He's had a great game so far and looked rather promising in recent games. 10 more minutes.


Any word on Elson???

[footyfan1]

Did I not call it? :cool:

That you did. Good call.

But they haven't "made it" just yet.


However, it does help Stuttgart that Standard Liege went to Sevilla and beat Sevilla.

That should give Stuttgart the belief that they can beat Sevilla too.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Did I not call it? :cool:

Call what?

We won 1 game.

We're nowhere near making anything just yet.

And it hardly takes a genius to predict that Gomez is our most key player.

On the game:
Many changes and i'm glad we won. It was deserved altogether and the team played fairly well. We need to build on this now and win against Frankfurt on the weekend - it'll be hard, but it's possible.

A lot of the changes worked well: Lanig was solid in midfield, Traesch looks good at right back, he's one player we can look forward to, and surprisingly enough, Elson looked very good as a starter as well. Who would've thought.

No news on his injury for now :( , I hope it's not too bad.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

That you did. Good call.

But they haven't "made it" just yet.


However, it does help Stuttgart that Standard Liege went to Sevilla and beat Sevilla.

That should give Stuttgart the belief that they can beat Sevilla too.

I think your getting our fixtures confused.

We've already been to Sevilla, and we lost 2-0.

In my eyes the Liege score is actually bad for us. It really makes the group confusing. We're gonna have to beat them at home, which clearly won't be easy, and hopefully we can get a result in Genoa in the next round of matches. Either qualifying for the next round is still far away and it won't be easy.

[footyfan1]

I think your getting our fixtures confused.

We've already been to Sevilla, and we lost 2-0.

In my eyes the Liege score is actually bad for us. It really makes the group confusing. We're gonna have to beat them at home, which clearly won't be easy, and hopefully we can get a result in Genoa in the next round of matches. Either qualifying for the next round is still far away and it won't be easy.


Thank you. Yes, I got that all wrong. Lots on my mind.

My apologies.

[benztown]

Any word on Elson???

Fortunately, it's not as severe as it was first thought. During the game, it was reported that the doctors suspected a broken ankle. Now I've read that it was only a contusion and that he's probably fit to play against Frankfurt.

[footyfan1]

Fortunately, it's not as severe as it was first thought. During the game, it was reported that the doctors suspected a broken ankle. Now I've read that it was only a contusion and that he's probably fit to play against Frankfurt.

Thanks for that information. And I'm happy it isn't as bad as first suspected. I think you guys have a potential star there.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

I don't really get it with him.

If he's a potential star, then why couldn't he break into our first team when he arrived 3 years ago? and why couldn't he break into the first team for the Brazilian side he was on loan with?

Or has our management simply overlooked for 3 season a very good player?? If so, that needs some explaining.

I never expected to see him play for us again and i've been very surprised by his good performances so far. He's shown he deserves an equal chance, and if he's fit to play against Eintracht, he should.

[footyfan1]

I don't really get it with him.

If he's a potential star, then why couldn't he break into our first team when he arrived 3 years ago? and why couldn't he break into the first team for the Brazilian side he was on loan with?

Or has our management simply overlooked for 3 season a very good player?? If so, that needs some explaining.

Well, you are talking about the same management who thought Yildray f#ckin' Basturk was worth 3M Euros per season.

How'd that work out?

I wouldn't be surprised if this player was mishandled. No one is above it and talent and desire are not things that usually just appear.


I never expected to see him play for us again and i've been very surprised by his good performances so far. He's shown he deserves an equal chance, and if he's fit to play against Eintracht, he should.


Sometimes a player just needs to be given a fair chance. You'd be surprised at how many never really get one.

We're especially bad about it in Dortmund........ :(

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Well, Frankfurt away today. Very tough, especially since we're completely useless at home.

We need a win today if we're to pose any threat this season, we really really cannot afford to lose another one.

I'm cautiously optimistic for some reason, it seems like a day where bad runs can end :) - but I don't want to be overheard saying that too loud. You can never tell with us. I just hope things go well today.

Apparently almost the same team will lineup against Belgrade, but no place for Hilbert, who will have to do with the bench.

[Rainer24]

Well, down 2-1 so far. Their second should not have counted, as Liberopoulos clearly fouled one of our guys to get open for the scoring opportunity. Lanig got ours on a header from a free kick. Still time to get something from this game, and it will suck if we don't, as we seem to have controlled the game throughout and trail nonetheless.

[Rainer24]

Mario equalizes, but then he doesn't, but then he does!


So, Mario scored, but the ref disallowed it but went and consulted with the assistant, who convinced him that we hadn't fouled on the play, so the goal counts in the end!

Let's see if we can get another one at the death and get all the points.

[Rainer24]

Almost got that 3rd one right at the end, but it just wasn't going to happen today. I feel semi-relieved to even get a point after it looked like we were going to get screwed and lose, but I would like to see another away win sometime in my lifetime.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

I'm very proud of the side for fighting back in the last 20 minutes to earn a draw, they don't normally manage to do that and it wouldn't be easy for anyone so i'm pelased that they just managed to save a point.

Gomez's header in the last minute almost even provided us victory, I guess that was just asking for too much on this day though. We were the better team throughout so it's a shame we couldn't win, but at least now we got a point away from home. Doesn't really take us forward but I can tell you a 2-2 draw certainly beats the 2-0 loss we were heading to only 20 minutes before the end of the match.

The next game is at home to Bielefeld. That we'll have to, and I expext us to, win, and hopefully move us forward a little. We're losing track of the competition and with tough games against Bayern, Schalke and away to Wolfsburg coming up still before the xmas break, we NEED to find our form now if we're going to remain in the running for European spots entering the second half of the season.

Although I will be honest that i'd be very surprised if we qualified for Europe this season, from what we've seen so far I can't really blame the team, I just don't think we're all that good to be honest. It's like the team has stagnated in the last two seasons, and some rebuilding may be necessary in the breaks. But whatever, firsst things first, we need to play all our games and hope i'm wrong.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Player Ratings:

Jens Lehmann: Kicker Rating: 3 (12 games played, 2.96 avg.)
My Rating: 3.5

Christian Traesch: KR: 4 (3 games played, 3.17 avg.)
MR: 3.5

Ricardo Osorio: KR: 3.5 (7 games played, 3.50 avg.)
MR: 4

Matthieu Delpierre: KR: 4 (10 games played, 3.50 avg.)
MR: 3.5

Ludovic Magnin: KR: 5 (6 games played, 5 as starter, 4.30 avg.)
MR: 5

Pavel Pardo: KR: 3 (7 games played, 3.07 avg.)
MR: 4.5

Martin Lanig: KR: 2.5 (9 games played, 5 as starter, 3.40 avg.) - Our Best
MR: 2.5

Thomas Hitzlsperger: KR: 3 (12 games played, 3.58 avg.)
MR: 4

Elson: KR: 3.5 (4 games played, 1 as starter, 3.50 avg.)
MR: 3

Mario Gomez: KR: 2.5 (12 games played, 3.42 avg.)
MR: 2.5

Ciprian Marica: KR: 3.5 (9 games played, 4 as starter, 4.30 avg.)
MR: 3

SUBS:

Jan Simak: KR: 3.5 (5 games played, 4 as starter, 3.90 avg.)
MR: 3.5

Cacau: KR: No Rating (8 games played, 7 as starter, 3.64 avg.)
MR: 3

Sami Khedira: KR: NR (10 games played, 7 as starter, 3.25 avg.)
MR: NR


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So overall, it wasn't a brilliant but solid individual performances from the team. Magnin was our weak link, he was very poor, was caught out on the counter for the 1-0 and then looked terrible at the 2-0 as he was unable to get the ball off, or even cause any problem for, Fenin as he crossed the ball in for Liberopoulos to head into the empty net. Magnin really has had a very poor season so far. Major problem is that Boka has also been very poor defensively when playing leftback. So that is definitely a position where we may have to offload one of the players and get some reinforcement in the near future.

In defence, ofcourse with Tasci and Boulahrouz injured, didn't help our central defence, but Osorio had a competent game alongside Delpierre. It isn't his natural position, and he did look too slow to react on the rebound for the 1-0, but other than that had no major mistakes throughout. Traesch who played rightback since Osorio had moved to the centre, was solid again, I think this kid's got a lot of promise. He could be a future regular first-team-starter.

In midfield, Kicker rated Pardo well but I didn't think he was too good. Did not help our attack all the much and looked asleep at the 2-0. Lanig was probably our best player, he is really VERY VERY good at heading haha. Tested the keeper once in the first half, instigated our comeback with his goal in the second. Though I like Hilbert, this season's Lanig's simply been better so far. Elson impressed me again as a creator. He isn't that fast or good in the air but he's technically strong, he had a nice freekick, gives good corners, gives excellent crosses which is great since we have player who can head well, and just seems to have an overall high level of play. We may have not heard of him for the 3 seasons, but he can become a regular fixture now if he continues to play like this. Simak made his first game after being injured when he came on for the last 30 minutes. Let's just hope NOW is the REAL beginning of Simak's time with VfB.

Finally, Marica and Cacau were both strong in attack whilsty they were on the field. Our problem is simply that neither of them score enough goals. When it comes to goalscoring both are constantly in the shadow of Gomez, yet both are also useful players. It'll be interesting to see whether one of the two can really hit form sometime and become a permanent member of the first 11.