Borussia Mönchengladbach vs VfB Stuttgart Bundesliga Tuesday, September 19, 6:30 PM Borussia-Park Injured: Badstuber, Ginczek, Insua, Gentner (VfB) (BMG) Referee: TV: FuboTV, Fox Soccer 2, Univision Deportes 9:30AM PST 12:30PM EST VfBTV after the match A quick turnaround for this match. No time to worry about Genter, although we anxiously await more news of his status. I expect Mangala or Orfori will play his position. I hope the eventual replacement doesn't play like a DM there, because we all know what Gentner lent to our attacks. I'm disappointed Badstuber still isn't going to be playing here, but I'll just have to get used to that. Gladbach has not looked impressive, but we're on the road. We'll need a win to stay in the top half.
Unsere Startelf! #BMGVfB #stuttgartgehtab pic.twitter.com/ml4kYZ8Fpo— VfB Stuttgart (@VfB) September 19, 2017
Summary from the Bundesliga site Live Blog: Well it wasn't the most eventful of games, but Borussia won't care as that's a second win of the season for them, while Raffael has opened his Bundesliga account for the season. Stuttgart were solid for long spells in this game, with Ascacibar particularly impressive in the middle of the park, but they looked short of inspiration with Chadrac Akolo and the injured captain Christian Gentner. They must find some goals from somewhere going forward, as that's now just three goals scored in five games.
I am watching a recording (FS2) in the second half, and I don't think Terrode is up to the challenge of the B1. VfB really need a goalscorer, and fast!
To add to my assessment of Terrode, above, neither is Asano BL1 quality, imho. The team has some pretty decent players: Zieler, Beck, Pavard*, Baumgartl*, Ascacibar, Donis*, & Brekalo. If Badstuber can remain healthy, Kaminski should sit. I wasn't impressed by Aogo. He may be a smidgen past his sell-by date, and he definitely fouled Thorgan Hazard for the PK. His sub, Ailton, I thought was better. Mangala didn't show me a whole lot in attack, but I think he did ok on defense. I wasn't too impressed by his sub, Burnic, either. VfB were high-pressing, and would sometimes win the ball, but then the attackers, and midfielders kept turning the ball over, and BMG would counter attack. It was a very boring first half, a 0-0 draw. Too bad it didn't stay that way. *They are young, but they still need to step-up their play.
I thought Terodde did better today, but he was still a step behind making the vital contact. Asano has shown more, like when he was subbed on vs. VfL. Baumgartl has been our best defender. I'm surprised Pavard is starting, but he has gotten better than I thought he would be, but maybe not quite starter quality in the end. If we play three at the back, Baumgartle, Badstuber, and Insua is pretty good, with Kaminsky and Pavard for backup. That's solid. Clearly the problem is that we've only scored three goals! Brekalo is the one I want to step up. With Akolo and Donis, we can probably give him the time he needs to find his best effort. As for Terodde, we just have to hope he can adjust or there's always Ginczek who hasn't started a Bundesliga match for two years. I almost forgot he was on the team.