Looking at the table we are tied at 14th, but with the teams from 14-17 being tied and the way we have been playing I consider it tied for 17th. We are definitely better "on paper" than the teams around us but something needs to be done soon. If we wait to long to get away from the relegation zone we will get dragged into that dogfight.
Player Ratings: Jens Lehmann: Kicker Rating: 3 (10 games played, 2.80 avg. rating) My Rating: 3.5 Ricardo Osorio: KR: 3 (1 game played, 3.00 avg. rating) MR: 3.5 Serdar Tasci: KR: 3.5 (8 games played, 3.50 avg. rating) MR: 3 Matthieu Delpierre: KR: 3 (8 games played, 3.25 avg. rating) MR: 3 - Our Best Arthur Boka: KR: 3 (6 games played, 4.08 avg. rating) MR: 3 Zdravko Kuzmanovic: KR: 4.5 (5 games played, 3 as starter, 4.00 avg. rating) MR: 4.5 Christian Traesch: KR: 4 (7 games played, 3.79 avg. rating) MR: 4.5 Thomas Hitzlsperger: KR: 3 (7 games played, 3.79 avg. rating) MR: 3.5 Aliaksandr Hleb: KR: 5 (7 games played, 6 as starter, 4.25 avg. rating) MR: 5 Elson: KR: 3 (8 games played, 1 as starter, 3.40 avg. rating) MR: 3.5 Julian Schieber: KR: 4 (8 games played, 4 as starter, 3.63 avg. rating) MR: 3.5 SUBS: Sebastian Rudy: KR: No Rating (4 games played, 1 as starter, 4.00 avg. rating) MR: 4 Ciprian Marica: KR: NR (4 games played, 1 as starter, 4.00 avg. rating) MR: 4 Timo Gebhart: KR: NR (8 games played, 6 as starter, 4.42 avg. rating) MR: NR
Hleb has been atrocious. If there's one thing that has really disappointed me about what we did in the transfer window, it's not missing out on Jovanovic, Love, et al, it's the fact that Hleb has given us next to nothing so far.
I know... but I have hope he'll refind his form, i'm all for continuing to let him play until he reaches his best standard. My guess is that eventually he'll reach it, and that'll be around the time the side's fortunes start to turn around.
That is what I'm hoping for you guys too. You guys have to remember, that even worse than injury, he'd been "benched" for quite awhile over the past couple of seasons.....
Yeah, I hope he can get things going here soon. He hasn't played that much in recent history, so I think there are still plenty of miles left in him. It would be such a boost if he could find his game again.
I asked you not just because I think that it would be a huge disappointment for Roberto to miss this game ... but also since I believe that he could be the key for your team. Fürth's left site is their clear weak point at the moment (Müller isn't good enough to replace the injured Prib and the long-term injured LB Rahn also can't be replaced adequately by Hrgovic/Falkenberg) ... almost every conceded goal happens due to bad defending on the left wing. Especially the Bosnian national player and LB Hrgovic is a huge liability (together with the suspended skipper Biliskov, btw), so the Fürth manager Benno Möhlmann often replaces him by the learned RB Falkenberg (what's no ideal solution either). All the more I am surprised that "Kicker" and all tv teletexts anounce this VfB "starting eleven" for tonight: Lehmann - Osorio, Tasci, Delpierre, Boka - Träsch - Kuzmanovic, Hitzlsperger - Elson - Pogrebnyak, Marica Is there any real winger in that squad? Isn't Kuzmanovic a CM like Hitz & Elson? Btw: Here's the expected GF line-up (apparently, the U21 national player Nöthe is out after his bad performance against Koblenz): Loboué - Schröck, Caligiuri, Mauersberger, Falkenberg - Fürstner - Nehrig, N. Müller - L. Haas - Sailer, Allagui Let's hope for a fair and good game. To be honest, I expect your guys to fight for Babbel and win the game with all that quality ... but it's surely gonna be a closer match than 3 months ago. Fürth has no pressure in contrast to Stuttgart, so a lot will depend on how your guys will cope with the situation. How mentioned above, I have seen teams like Dortmund, Lautern, Bayern & Bremen struggling here in the past ... so that's surely the only thing that gives some confidence to a Fürth fan ahead of this game. I'll be at stadium and hopefully take some nice pics again (unfortunately I'll probably miss the moment when the players enter the pitch, since I'm in the Nordkurve where a choreo is planned). ) Gute N8 PS: Wow, the former VfB player Bernd Nehrig sounds pretty confident. http://www.vfb-stuttgart.de/de/aktuell/news/2009/33770.php
That's certainly true, but the important thing is that the status quo has been broken, the previous coach will not be there at the offseason. If the midseason coach is or isn't there in the offseason, those players must still prove themselves to whoever is making the offseason decisions. If a player doesn't up his game simply because he thinks a 3rd coach will be involved in June, then he is not seeing the importance of the situation, IMO.
I'll be watching this matchup tonight, but can't say that I'll be rooting for anyone. While I dig you guys, I "grew up" here in Germany up in Franken (Franconia) and unless they are playing one another, BVB or 1860, I don't usually root against either of the Franken teams, so I can't cheer against Greuther Fürth tonight. I just hope the best team wins and the referees don't decide the match.
The referees have arguably decided both our last two games - so here's to also hoping this doesn't happen again tonight. Also, can I quickly say you can tell a coach may well be running out of ideas when he starts coming up with increasingly odd formations. Remember when Walch randomly started a game against Bremen?? Needless to say he wasn't anywhere near the necessary standard and hasn't featured again since. But one wonders what was the reasoning behind his selection. And now in the last games we've seen a formation change from a 4-1-2-1-2 lineup, to a 4-1-3-1-1 last game, to what may well be a 4-1-2-1-2 again this game.... all of this of course different to the 4-2-2-2 lineup we've had for the last year. Not to mention it looks like Traesch will start his 4th game in a row in defensive midfield. Can I ask why???? In Hitzlsperger, Khedira and Kuzmanovic we have 3 players who can all play very, very well in that position, so why are we instead going with a young wingback with no experience in the position, and who naturally is nowhere near the level of the other 3 in this spot???? Traesch's position should be at rightback, his focus should be fighting Osorio (who Babbel apparently has realized is alive after all) and Celozzi at that spot. We are seriously weakening our midfield, and arguably our defence (since he is imo our best rightback currently), by playing Traesch there. He hasn't convinced in any of the last 3 matches in that spot, so why keep him there????? Just a thought.
Legend Guido Buchwald has advertised himself as a potential successor of Babbel: http://www.spox.com/de/sport/fussba...ario-gomez-claudio-pizarro-marcel-koller.html I agree with all of his criticisms, and I love the guy, but I can't say i'd be too keen on him ever coaching the side - he hasn't had an impact at any coaching station as of yet, indeed his time with Aachen was a disappointment. I think he's right about Koller though. If Babbel were to leave I honestly would love to see Klinsi, however unlikely, become our coach. Bayern was a catastrophe for him, but let's not forget his job for the German NT. If you give him time I think he's capable of helping the club a great deal, assuming he's given the space to do so without pressure, not the case at Bayern. Plus, he's a Stuttgarter Junge Nevertheless, I hope any such discussion would be put on ice at least for a few days after the Fuerth game, because I would be incredibly upset if we exited the cup tonight. We may be a crap team at the moment, but that does not mean we'll still be a crap team in a few months time. And in the cup, it's always about advancing from the present match. Regardless how poorly the season's going, with each game we win in the cup we've still got a shot at making Berlin. And that's something to strive for and keep up hope for.
@footy Jusy realized the referee for this game will be Babak Rafati... well, that could be that for our hopes of a game without major refereeing errors Whether they'll be decisive or not, this guy makes a couple of blunders each game. Literally the worst Bundesliga referee of recent years by a MILE imo
I agree on Traesch. Doesn't make sense at DM. I like Code: ---------Schieber-----Pogrebnyak------- ------------------Hleb--------------------- ----Kuzmanovic---------Khedira--------- ---------------Hitzlsperger--------------- Magnin------?-------Tasci-------Traesch best myself. And attack through the middle, not the wings, since our forwards and Hleb can't head for crap.
I agree with your overall opinion of Rafati, but he had a great match this past Friday night when he refereed Leverkusen-Dortmund.
Believe it or not this is the exact lineup I would pick. Only difference would be that for me Delpierre would be the certain starting CB with Boulahrouz/Tasci fighting for the second spot. Imo he's been our best defender, perhaps field player, of the whole season so far. This lineup is strong as it is the only way of incorporating our 4 best midfielders into one. We could also edit it a bit into games where wingers would be beneficial by playing with one striker and having a five man midfield, like so: ------------------Pogrebnyak/Schieber Gebhart/Khedira-----------Hleb------------Hilbert/Khedira ----------------Hitz--------------Kuz
Everyone wants to see Hleb deployed directly behind the strikers, probably because he is obviously our most creative player, at least when healthy and in form, but that is not his position. He attacks coming in from the wing. That has always been where he's been at his best, so even if he does get his act together, I think we are setting ourselves up for disappointment if we are expecting him to pull the strings from a central position.
No longer. IMO, he improved a lot lately. Compared to referees like Guido Winkmann (who's simply a joke - I still remember the derby 'Fürth vs Nürnberg'), Rafati is a saint. Let's hope he won't prove me wrong tonight. Btw: Did you know that Markus Babbel once was playing under the coach Benno Möhlmann (guess at which club)? I'm off to the stadium now. Would you mind enjoying a thriller like these? ) http://www.greuther-fuerth.de/v3/sa...id=2383&saison=19981999&team=1&menu=vergleich http://www.greuther-fuerth.de/v3/sa...id=7096&saison=20032004&team=1&menu=vergleich
NO!! Say you're joking!! Winkmann has the VfL Osnabrück v BVB match tonight!! BTW, I said Rafati had very good match this past Friday when he reffed Bayer Leverkusen v BVB. I was surprised..... I'd say HSV.
@vfbfan, btw that's my most favorite line-up a team can have. I LOVE the lone striker approach. I just think it works best if you have the right players. It allows you to be flexible. Chelsea played it best when Drogba was at his peak. You can do a 4-1-2-2-1 Winger approach with 1 DM, 2 CM and 2 W, then drop to a 4-2-1-2-1 approach (probably my favorite) with 2 DM, 1 AM, 2 W, or slide to a 4-1-4-1 defensive approach with 1 DM, 2 CM, 1 LM, 1 RM Good point about Hleb, Rainer... but in the same token I REALLY don't trust the way our forwards work with wingers, and I REALLY don't trust the opposite winger. Thus it can be lop-sided (i.e. only good attack is from left side) and our forwards only work well on releases or through balls from the middle. ( or set pieces :-/ ) That's why Hleb in the midfield being the distribution link between the hardwork and muscle in the midfield and runs of the forwards is the best bet right now. I hear you, but the rest of the team makes him attacking from the wing impossible. (Then, you can mix in the runs from Khedira and Kuz as well to get a lot of channels. That's really our only way of attacking now!)
Thanks. What's everyone's thoughts on Elson? Like the way he's played? Think he's playing his way into the starting XI? Everyone needs a starting Brazilian or Argentine in the midfield
Elson's good but I view him more as a bench player than someone with a real future in first XI. But he's been one of our better players so far this season, I think the supersub role fits him alright.
Having said this he's playing a good game so far...the squad is doing well controlling the possession so far, but last games have shown this means nothing if we don't score.