(R) VfB Stuttgart Thread 08/09

[benztown]

Congrats on the 3-1.

Does anyone have photos of the fan chereo
before the start of the match? It looked great. :)

I'm a VfB TV subscriber, so I wanted to take some screen shots...however, it doesn't seem to work.

I can watch it via my browser through an embedded WMV and when I try to take a screen shot, there's a blank where the image of the video is supposed to be.

I can't even open it through an external player (which did work last time I tried) because it either doesn't even begin to work or it says that I'm not logged in properly. :mad:

[Fußballgott]

http://www.lostboys99.de/fotos/fotos-0809.htm

Although the best part was the knight slowly being raised from the ground. :cool:

[Rainer24]

That 0-0 against Hoffenheim doesn't sting nearly as much after this weekend.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

What an awesome result! :D

********ING TAKE THAT KSC!!! 9 DERBY WINS IN A ROW IN STUTTGART! ********ING RIGHT!

And it was for the most part a really solid performance by our boys. We started a bit slowly, though we could have taken the lead early on through Simak, who was definitely our weak link in this game. Missed two sitters and didn't create anything. Then we got a goal out of nowhere, Freis was left completely unmarked. But we soon got better again and then got a deserved equaliser through Khedira, excellent header, his first header goal for us since that amazing day against Cottbus 16 months ago. We could've taken the lead before halftime but Simak missed another chance, however we remained strong and composed in the second half and once we got the chance, Super Mario was there to finish it off. The 3-1 by Marica was the icing on the cake, and sealed an awesome win!

The stars of this derby for me were definitely Gomez, who scored and provided an excellent cross for Khedira's goal, and Hitzlsperger, who was great throughout, assisted the 2-1 and 3-1 with brilliant through balls and also created other chances. Played the way any captain should in a derby.

So, here we are, in third place now, and I guess now is the time where the beginning of the season is officially over and, in stark contrast to last year, I believe we can definitely say we've had a successful debut to the year. Let's hope we keep it up. As for KSC, they're in 15th, and it makes the victory extra sweet because i'm not sure we'll be having a derby here in Stuttgart when next season comes around. :p

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Player Ratings:

Jens Lehmann: Kicker Rating: 3.5 (5 games played, 2.90 avg.)
My Rating: 3.5

Ricardo Osorio: KR: 3.5 (4 games played, 3.63 avg.)
MR: 3.5

Khalid Boulahrouz: KR: 4 (3 games played, 2 as starter, 3.67 avg.)
MR: 3.5

Serdar Tasci: KR: 3 (5 games played, 3.20 avg.)
MR: 3

Arthur Boka: KR: 3.5 (5 games played, 4.20 avg.)
MR: 3.5

Sami Khedira: KR: 2.5 (4 games played, 2 as starter, 3.00 avg.)
MR: 2.5

Martin Lanig: KR: 3.5 (5 games played, 3 as starter, 3.17 avg.)
MR: 4

Thomas Hitzlsperger: KR: 2.5 (5 games played, 3.10 avg.)
MR: 2

Jan Simak: KR: 5 (4 games played, 4.00 avg.)
MR: 5

Cacau: KR: 3 (1 game played, 3.00 avg.)
MR: 3.5

Mario Gomez: KR: 2.5 - Man of the match (5 games played, 3.40 avg.)
MR: 2 - Man of the match

SUBS:

Roberto Hilbert: KR: 3.5 (4 games played, 3 as starter, 4.13 avg.)
MR: 3.5

Ciprian Marica: KR: No rating (4 games played, 3 as starter, 4.33 avg.)
MR: 2.5

Georges Mandjeck: KR: No rating (2 games played, 0 as starter, no avg.)
MR: No rating.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Pics of the Choreo:

http://www.lostboys99.de/fotos/2008-2009/vfb-ksc/DSC0324400.jpg

http://www.lostboys99.de/fotos/2008-2009/vfb-ksc/DSC023640.jpg

[ForeverRed]

So according to those kicker ratings Khedira is your best outfield player this season......hmmmm....doesn't really tell the whole story does it?

Congrats on your derby win and good start to the season btw.

[Fußballgott]

So according to those kicker ratings Khedira is your best outfield player this season......hmmmm....doesn't really tell the whole story does it?

Congrats on your derby win and good start to the season btw.

Thanks! And Khedira's rating is no mistake. Delpierre is not in the list due to injury. Pardo has been our best player at the beginning but he's also injured. Khedira has replaced him splendidly and was very important in our last games. I think he gained confidence taking over Pardo's job.
He acts faster and also had some very well timed runs into the oppositions' penalty box. It says all if the DM is the most dangerous midfielder. In one attack he was our most advanced midfielder and the first to arrive back to help the defense. Of course too early to tell if this performance will be permanent.

Overall our defenders and attackers had some off days but performed quite well.
Midfield looks not that good.

Simak needs a bit more time to arrive in League 1.
Lanig has been very dynamic going forward but loses most of his defensiv duels.
Hilbert has been out of form for a long time but seems to get better (might be more hope than fact).
Hitzlsperger has played some brillant passes but overall is the weak link in our midfield.
Nearly no movement, never gets the ball in a duel, rarely is in a position to receave a pass and often wastes possetion with pointless and inaccurate longrange shots.
I would leave him in the stands till christmas and hope he gets his act together.

So yes Khedira is defiantly one of our best players atm and the only question will be
how to get him and Pardo into one lineup.

[benztown]

Hitzlsperger has played some brillant passes but overall is the weak link in our midfield.
Nearly no movement, never gets the ball in a duel, rarely is in a position to receave a pass and often wastes possetion with pointless and inaccurate longrange shots.
I would leave him in the stands till christmas and hope he gets his act together.


Don't know where you get that from. Hitz was awesome in this last game and solid throughout the rest of the season so far. His "pointless" long range shots have often proven to be vital, so I say let him try.

Our midfield in general loses too many tackles and gives the ball away easily at times. But Hitz is still a bright spot IMHO.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Thanks! And Khedira's rating is no mistake. Delpierre is not in the list due to injury. Pardo has been our best player at the beginning but he's also injured. Khedira has replaced him splendidly and was very important in our last games. I think he gained confidence taking over Pardo's job.
He acts faster and also had some very well timed runs into the oppositions' penalty box. It says all if the DM is the most dangerous midfielder. In one attack he was our most advanced midfielder and the first to arrive back to help the defense. Of course too early to tell if this performance will be permanent.

Overall our defenders and attackers had some off days but performed quite well.
Midfield looks not that good.

Simak needs a bit more time to arrive in League 1.
Lanig has been very dynamic going forward but loses most of his defensiv duels.
Hilbert has been out of form for a long time but seems to get better (might be more hope than fact).
Hitzlsperger has played some brillant passes but overall is the weak link in our midfield.
Nearly no movement, never gets the ball in a duel, rarely is in a position to receave a pass and often wastes possetion with pointless and inaccurate longrange shots.
I would leave him in the stands till christmas and hope he gets his act together.

So yes Khedira is defiantly one of our best players atm and the only question will be
how to get him and Pardo into one lineup.

I gotta say I disagree with a lot of this. Khedira has been alright the last few games but I still believe that Pardo will have his spot back the second he's no longer injured, as Khedira is not at Pardo's level yet I think. Sami is very young and is very 'ahead of his age' so to speak, and in the long term, maybe next season if Pardo leaves in the summer, he could become a key member of the first 11, but I don't believe he is yet. And the game against KSC was, in my opinion, the first truly good performance by him this season, the rest of the time he was ok but not remarkable.

I agree when you say the midfield is our weak link. In defensive midfield, we're sorted with Pardo and Khedira, but we still haven't found the great creator that we've searched all these years for. Simak had one very good game, against Gladbach, and has been poor since then. And I don't expect Basturk to suddenly turn into a superstar after 12 months of mediocrity. Hilbert has been poor for a while but once he returns to form he'll be very useful again. Lanig has been pretty good, but i'm not sure if we can see him as a longterm member of the first team.

My big disagreement is regarding Hitzlsperger. He has, in my opinion, been EASILY our best midfielder this season. Against KSC, he provided all the creativity from the midfield, he essentially put both Gomez's and Marica's goals on their plate with his good set ups and did the same for Simak, who didn't take the chance. What's more I do believe he's strong defensively as well, and he never makes any blunders that can lead to an opposition attacks. Easily our best midfielder so far this season, and i'm very surprised you consider him our weak link in midfield.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Oh and let's not forget that Hitz's 'pointless longrange shots' have actually gone in and won us points many many times.

Remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzk5zQOiLVw&feature=related


not to mention he's already scored once this season through a longrange shot, and it's only the beginning of the year.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Here's an absolutely awesome video of CC and the rest of our support during the derby!

http://www.myvideo.de/watch/5145751/0809_05_Derby


Without a doubt, we won this derby in every way possible. :)

[+Gooner+]

Wow, you don't get this kind of stuff in the PL. Very impressive. I am not really a VfB fan but this was sexy. :D:p

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Well, derby win was great but now it's time to continue.

Tonight we're playing at home to Bielefeld in the second round of the DFB Pokal and at halftime we're currently up 1-0. :)

Gomez is being rested, so Cacau and Marica are up front, and Cacau was the one who scored the 1-0, his first of the season. :)

Well, I don't expect us to lose this, and we should look to get a decisive second goal as early as possible in the second half. But we're looking good and have had no trouble controlling the game.

Here's to making it into the next round. :)

[kaiser kraut]

Great displays, very inspiring for those of us involved in the grassroots efforts here in the US (columbus, in my case).

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

And Marica scores the 2-0. :)

That's the confirmation we were looking for.

And now we can look forward to the next round of the cup. :)

[kaiser kraut]

Another good result, and hoffenheim falls against freiburg as well.

[Rainer24]

Already higher in the table than we ever were last season, and progressing in orderly fashion through both the cup tournaments. Can't ask for much more so far. Well, a first class playmaker in January, maybe, not that it will happen!

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Yup, definitely been a solid start to the season I gotta say, if we keep up this consistency in all competitions it could end up being a very good year. But we'll see.

Real test coming up this weekend by the way, we'll be playing away to Borussia Dortmund. That'll be a tough match and we'll see what we can do there. To be hones if we can take a point home with us, i'll already be satisfied.

[footyfan1]

Yup, definitely been a solid start to the season I gotta say, if we keep up this consistency in all competitions it could end up being a very good year. But we'll see.

Real test coming up this weekend by the way, we'll be playing away to Borussia Dortmund. That'll be a tough match and we'll see what we can do there. To be hones if we can take a point home with us, i'll already be satisfied.


We shouldn't be scaring anyone right now.......