Energie Cottbus vs VfB Stuttgart DFB Pokal Sunday, August 13, 6:30 PM Stadion der Freundschaft, Cottbus Injured: Insua, Ailton, Grgic, Ginceck (VfB), who knows (FCE) Suspended: Badstuber Referee: Benjamin Cortus TV: SKY Sports 6:30 PM VfBTV after the match Another warm-up, but this time it counts, so no more practice. No more trials for players who have not made the cut. With Insua injured, one can only guess who will start in that position. I'll guess Pavard, although I'm not sure he's ever played there. I'm very curious as to who we will see in goal. I'm not sure Zieler has done enough to pass Langerak. I'll go with Mitch in goal. Good luck to the new guys!
Well, VfB dodged a bullet today! Cottbus took them to penalty kicks, before they could put it away. I did not see the game, so can anyone tell me what the problem was? Offense? Defense? Goalkeeping? Coaching?
I had to look it up. Regionalliga Nordost is a fourth tier league. There's no moral victories in this performance, only the scoreboard victory. Before the match, I'd have said let's bow out as soon as we face a decent team, but not to these guys. With Baumgartl a late scratch, the line-up to start was: Zimmermann - Pavard - Kaminski - Burnic Ofori - Gentner Asano - Akolo - Brekalo Terodde We didn't seem to have a speed advantage on them, and they were pressing the ball very well. We dominated possession, as you would expect, but had trouble playing anything through the middle. Gentner, and especially Akolo, had few touches. Even service down the wings didn't result in many good crosses. Asano had some shots early on, including one off the crossbar. Terodde had some half-chances that were behind him and he couldn't control. We weren't terrible, but you'd have to be afraid of playing a B1 team now. So, defense is the concern. It's not they they scored their only two chances. They had several dangerous shots. We turned the ball over in our own half. Gave away free kicks on the edge of the area. They started counter attacks that we had to foul to cut short (all 3 yellows). And on top of that we created too little on the attack. Brekalo's was a self-made shot, dribbling past a few players. (Every time he does this, the first thing I think of is that he's only on loan.) Terodde did have a penalty claim, but he seemed generally offside more than usual. I expect he'll be alright, but I can't say the same of Ofori, Akolo, and Burnic. Donis and Mangala looked good. I think the StZ might have player ratings that we can bring in here. We can hope they'll play up to their competition, but I think it will take some time for them to find their feet.