VfB Stuttgart Thread- Winter Pause und Ruckrunde 08-09[R]

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Pathetic now - 2 stupid goals conceded and we go into halftime 2-2.

We went from being cruising to another 3 points, now instead we've been hurt big time. Game restarts from the beginning in 15 minutes. Can go either way now.

[benztown]

Bummer...But given that we were the dominating team, I'm still optimistic.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

From the sounds of Bundesliga radio we're being outplayed at the moment and are lucky to still be equal :(

Very exciting game either way. I hope at the very least we can bring a point home from this. We can also still win it. I dunno - 20 mintues left.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Cacau will return for the last 10 minutes.

[benztown]

Crap...I'm listening to the game on the radio and it seems as if a valid goal by Gomez was not given...:mad:

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

We score what would almost certainly have been the winning but the referee didn't give it - apparently a foul on Enke, but the radio commentator doesn't seem too convinced. I'm curious to see the highlights of this scene.

If we still end up losing this now I will be furious.

[benztown]

and there it is...3-2 for Hannover :mad::mad::mad:

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Ok got texts by people on Premiere that it was a regular goal.

********ing idiot German referees. And of course if any of our players dare complain, we'll probably get fined.

Hannover score now. Thank you you mother********ing referee.

[benztown]

3-3 Hitzlsperger:eek:

[benztown]

Come on...one more goal :p;)

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

GOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!! 3-3! 3-3!

******** you Graefe!!!!

What character has Babbel built out of this team. Amazing.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

It's over. We save a point.

Great fighting spirit!

Now I'm looking forward to some replays.

[benztown]

Game over, no injury time...fcuking ref...well, at least I feel like the moral victor. :o

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Yes I feel a moral victory too :)

Babbel still unbeaten in Bundesliga. Next week we will take Hoffenheim down. And it will be fun .

[The Old Lady Hertha]

Yes I feel a moral victory too :)

Babbel still unbeaten in Bundesliga. Next week we will take Hoffenheim down. And it will be fun .

Yes you do that :)

[Rainer24]

Anytime you're up two goals and only get a point, that's a bit of a failure, so I'm not particularly satisfied with this point against a team having a terrible season.

Tasci's "marking," if you can even refer to as such, was pathetic on their 3rd, and Marica made a fool of himself when he flopped to the ground like that after what was barely a smack to the head.

[+Gooner+]

My summary for this match:

WTF?! :mad:

Great spirit in the end but soooo goddamn dumb to give this away. Two lost points definitely. And I want to smash Magnin's mug in. It was his job to take care of that cnut Tarnat (because the ref didn't manage) and he fails for their first goal. And what does that clown do? Yells at Lehmann and minutes later gives away that freekick, that ********tart. He plays like a shower of shit for all season and has exactely two good games, argh!

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Magnin hasn't played a good season but the issue it's either him or Boka at leftback. Boke is even more error-prone, if I have to choose between the two, right now i'd also go with Magnin.

Though I definitely think LB is a position we'll need to strengthen at the end of the season.

I agree it was really stupid of us to give away a two-goal lead but a point away from home is never reeeeally a bad result, especially under the circumstances. A loss would have left me fuming, but with the craziness of the last minutes, I can live with the draw.

It's very important we win next week though. And I think we will.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Jens Lehmann: Kicker Rating: 3.5(20 games played, 3.05 average rating)
My Rating: 3.5

Christian Traesch: KR: 4 (7 games played, 5 as starter, 3.60 avg. rating)
MR: 4.5

Serdar Tasci: KR: 4.5 (19 games played, 3.39 avg. rating)
MR: 4.5

Khalid Boulahrouz: KR: 3 (11 games played, 9 as starter, 3.70 avg. rating)
MR: 4

Ludovic Magnin: KR: 4.5 (11 games played, 10 as starter, 4.30 avg. rating)
MR: 4

Martin Lanig: KR: 3 (15 games played, 10 as starter, 3.60 avg. rating)
MR: 3

Thomas Hitzlsperger: KR: 2 - Man of the Match (19 games played, 3.47 avg. rating)
MR: 2 - Man of the Match

Roberto Hilbert: KR: 4 (17 games played, 13 as starter, 3.75 avg. rating)
MR: 3.5

Jan Simak: KR: 4 (12 games played, 10 as starter, 4.09 avg. rating)
MR: 4

Ciprian Marica: KR: 4.5 (16 games played, 10 as starter, 4.14 avg. rating)
MR: 4

Mario Gomez: KR: 3 (19 games played, 18 as starter, 3.39 avg. rating)
MR: 3.5

SUBS:

Elson: KR: No Rating (9 games played, 3 as starter, 3.90 avg. rating)
MR: No Rating

Cacau: KR: NR (14 games played, 11 as starter, 3.83 avg. rating)
MR: NR

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

The boys have landed in St. Petersburg!

Tomorrow is gonna be a reeeeallly exciting game, I can't wait! I don't know what i'm hoping for - an away goal in any case. And hopefully we don't lose by more than 1 goal. A 2-1 loss would be no drama in my opinion, if we could get a draw then I would be really satisfied, a win obviously would be immense but i'm not expecting that!

Regarding the lineup:

In defence Osorio is back so he should definitely start instead of Traesch at right back. With Delpierre still injured, Tasci and Boulahrouz(who was the better of the two against Hannover) are both obvious starters, and at leftback i'd still Magnin to Boka simply because I don't trust Boka not to make a huge mistake in big game like this.

In midfield, not certain whether Khedira can play yet, even if he's only at 80% i'd still start him, just because this is a huge game and he's been our best midfielder this season. If he can play, he and Hitz(who has been showing it to the critics in the last two games :) ) should form a very strong central midfield. Then i'd have Hilbert on the right wing, and Lanig on the left I guess. Simak i'd bench since he hasn't been particularly impressive lately. If Khedira isn't fit though then Simak should start.

In attack, Gomez is the obvious choice as always, Cacau is back now but i'd still go for Marica in this one, would be hard to put Cacau in the first 11 immediately in such a big match.

So:
------------------Lehmann
Osorio-----Boulahrouz----Tasci-------Magnin
----------Khedira----------Hitzlsperger
Hilbert---------------------------------Lanig
--------------Gomez------Marica