VfB Stuttgart: 2015/16 Season Second Half - Rückrunde Discussion

Well VfB knocked off the nanny goats to start the second half! A much needed 3 points, and they might be headed in a good direction, but it's still too early to tell. Except for the PK given up by Niedermeier, VfB played a pretty good match, and got some scoring from Werner, Didavi, & Gentner. If we can continue to earn points against Hamburg & Frankfurt, we will be headed in the right direction.

 

3 Reasons Why VfB Stuttgart Will Survive, again

http://bundesligafanatic.com/3-reasons-why-vfb-stuttgart-will-survive-again/

 

Including the Cologne match, I count four eminently winnable games in a row. (Though that might be too much to expect these days)

I'm not quite ready to place my order for a Großkreutz jersey on the VfB online shop yet, but it's a good start. Funny how having a guy who's a national team player and a big part of Klopp's Dortmund success on the pitch changes the attitude of the team almost instantly.

I will say though, last week's match could have gone horribly wrong if not for Tyton. There was some inexcuseable defending at the end. Yikes. Stuttgart could have easily dropped all 3 points last week.

 

I'm with you. Replacing Niedermeier had to be number 1 priority, and it looks like they're finally addressing that. There are rumors that not only Ervin Zukanovic, but Empoli defender Federico Barba might be headed to VfB as well.

#Stoccarda, si punta dritto su #Barba dopo aver perso #Zukanovic #calciomercato http://gianlucadimarzio.com/news-cat/stoccarda-sfumato-zukanovic-si-pensa-a-barba/…

 

Kramny has this team playing much more organized football defensively for sure. However, finishing appears to be a work in progress. Still nil-nil against HSV, but the chances have definitely been happening. Three solid opportunities right away when the second half began. Unfortunately Werner, Grosskreutz, and Rupp were unable to find the back of the net.

 

1-0 VfB. Didavi just gets enough on the header for it to cross the line. Long wait for the first goal, but that should be a huge relief for you guys.

 

Exciting ending to this one, the second half with lots of open play. What a header by Kravets. Good impact he's had since joining the club.

 

Maxim was in the game for about 20 seconds when he served it on a platter for Kravets. Great play on both ends. Brilliant substitutions. lol

 

I wouldn't mind seeing Maxim get some starts again. Just not sure where he would fit in the formation at the moment. I thought he demonstrated some good quality the past few seasons.

 

Maxim is a quality talent that many teams in the Bundesliga would envy to have in their squad. His greatest misfortune however is that he shares the same mutual position as Didavi. If given the equal playing time and opportunity, I think he can easily put up similar production again as he's shown from a couple seasons ago.

 

A couple defensive lapses but a 4-2 win on the road is always a welcomed result. Overall a fairly comprehensive victory, everyone played their part in attack. Bad news is Didavi was sent off after picking up his second yellow and will miss next game. Perhaps Maxim will get his finally get his start again.

 

This was a great, necessary win. I believe that VfB are on 24 points now, and are in the middle of the table ~11th place. (That could change depending on tomorrow's games' outcomes.)

Now that there is a little breathing room, they need to work on moving further up the table. That will be harder to do against Hertha Berlin, without Didavi.

It has been encouraging these last few weeks since they have been playing well, and winning.

 

The defense has more holes than swiss cheese. The defenders don't react to movement in and around the box very well. Fortunately they have been attacking very well and have been able to offset the poor defending ... at the moment.

 

Holy Moley! 5 in a row! I thought they might be able to win against Hertha, but wasn't really expecting it. I was more hopeful for a draw.

With a tough match next week against Schalke, and a trap-game in two weeks against Hannover, additional points may be hard to come by.

 

Herr Tyton also deserves a raise.......

I hesitate to say anything for fear of Jinxing things.....but we appear to be well on our way to safety and then some!

 

We need to get several more wins before we're out of danger. I will be happy if we can finish mid-table, then work on improving the team, especially shoring up the defense, and strike corps in the off-season.

 

I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad.

Happy, because my boy Harnik got himself back on the scoresheet! (Cherry picking effort as it was)

Or sad because, jesus f*%king Christ Timo Werner......are you ever going to score ever again?

 

What's the latest on Harnik? Any thoughts on why he's clearly lower down the pecking order than Werner, etc.? Has he lost a step? A few years ago he was doing well as a joker though. Don't mind if he comes off the bench now to contribute.

 

He's coming off a pretty significant injury, so it may be that Kramny wants to ease him back in. Personally, I think he's perfect in the role of a super-sub. Minute 70 or so, a fresh, rested Harnik takes the pitch. Look out!

Don't talk to me about Werner. Ugh. I know he's young, and there is so much promise in that kid, but I don't know how many more times I can see him miss the target 4-5 shots in a row in a match before I start throwing things....

 

Well, the undefeated streak couldn't last forever. (At least Werner put one away!)

A bit of a bummer for it to end with Hannover, but 5 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss in 9 matches? I'll take it!

I count four more EXTREMELY winnable matches left on the schedule and 2-3 that could be toss ups.

I'm chalking up Dortmund, Leverkusen, Gladbach and Munich as automatic losses, but who knows....the ball is round and the game lasts 90 minutes as they say....

An interesting position Stuttgart finds themselves in. 7 points off the drop, 7 points off a Europa League spot.

I guess we'll see what this team is really made of very quickly.