Very pleasantly surprised at the comeback against Leverkusen, but how sad that we fall behind 0-3 in the first place. I cannot understand why we continue to be so abysmally bad at home.
What's up with Sararer starting today v. Frankfurt? Haven't heard from him in a while and I figured he just wasn't good enough.
Sounded like a barn-burner today at Frankfurt! A big 3 points, badly needed to stay above the drop-zone. Frankfurt 4 - 5 Stuttgart The lead changed hands several times, and VfB scored two goals to overcome a deficit and win the game! Ibisevic must still be out with an injury, because I don't think he was even on the subs bench.
Incredible match, true excitement and drama till the end. VfB showed great fight to recapture the victory. Ibisevic is likely out injured for the rest of the Hinrunde with a stress fracture on his right foot. However, Timo Werner is really hitting his stride and playing in nice form. Classy goal versus Frankfurt, he shows great poise and confidence taking on his opponent on the dribble and smooth with the finish. Certainly a joy to watch.
Ibisevic (fractured foot) is currently ruled out until Dec 22nd. Ulreich's absence (shoulder injury) is hurting us more right now, I think. We were much better than Frankfurt, which is good, but we allowed 4 goals, which is baaad. Anyway, thank god for some points. Sararer look fast and dangerous at times, but quite reckless. I hope the coaches bring him along. Schwaab looks like he's regressing - caught watching a couple of shots. If they pull together for a top 9 finish, I would be satisfied. They need some success they can build on.
I thought we looked better than Wolfsburg, but then three turnovers and led to three goals. They did have a couple of pinpoint crosses, so credit to them for that. As easily as we brought the ball up, we should have had more shots on goal. Maybe this formation does not suit Harnik. There's no rule saying we have to play a lone striker. Again, Kirschbaum does not look like a Bundesliga stopper to me. The first shot almost hit him. If he moves at all it deflects wide. I don't think this team gets in serious trouble this year, but I guess we won't compete for anything either.
A very even contest, which could be very bad, depending on how you rate Bremen. They score on a couple of set pieces - Kirschbaum down on one knee to take himself out of the first one. Gentner missed a wide open header to tie by beating it into the ground. You're supposed to head it down when you need to beat the keeper, but when he's already beaten... It's just not going our way at the moment. Aside from that, we need to create more chances. Veh hasn't sorted it out up front yet. Don't make us wait 'til December, Armin. I'm going to swear off Kirschbaum comments for a while. Just assume he watched 'em go in.
I am on the road with limited connectivity, and haven't seen the last two matches. I had hoped that Veh would have things sorted out by now. Oh well!
Well it seems like the team flips between being really shitty and being really unlucky from week to week. Augsburg definitely got some huge help from the ref today... Seems like nothing goes our way this season. Also I'm pretty pissed Veh seems to have it out for Gruezo because he is the only half decent player from last year's rueckrunde
Timo Baumgartl was a bright spot. Played really defensively composed in his first full start. He took great initiative after Schwaab's sending off, and I thought outshined Rüdiger. Otherwise, the early ejection and referee really ruined the derby match. I would have liked to see more of Ginczek in this system, but the tactical change forced a more conservative approach. Kostic has been quite disappointing so far though.
I thought Kostic gave an effort. He may not have been as effective as I'd expect against this level of competition, but he was constantly picking himself off the ground after battling for the ball. I think Schwaab's tackles were lazy. He deserved both yellows. The linesman screwed us on the penalty call, of course. Hlousek is too close to avoid the handball. Ulreich back in goal was welcome, and he kept us level with a foot save we haven't seen in a while. Not sure about his wandering out of goal later, though. Either way it's an upgrade. Harnick was the biggest disappointment for me. The missed open header was bad to begin with, but then he just didn't fight hard enough for position. There was plenty of dangerous service early on, and too little came of it. There must be a rule against a 4-4-2, because he has not succeeded as the lone striker, but that's all we're trying until Ibisevic comes back.
When is Ibisevic due back? If he's not due back soon, is there ANY chance a good striker could be picked up in January?
Transfermarkt says December 22. I don't mind giving Ginczek and Werner a run out for the next few games to see what we've got. Sure we're bottom, but we've had a pretty difficult schedule so far. Last 5 matches of the Hinrunde are all winnable and we might be getting a new manager bump. After that if we're still in the relegation zone then I'll start to worry.
New manager bump! 3 goal victory in Freiburg and it could have been more. Tentative start until Harnik scored, then we were the better side. Unfortunate late goal made it 1-1 at the break and then Freiburg fell apart in the second half. Only listened to the game, but Harnik sounded like MOTM. Two goals and great high pressing. Counterattacks were deadly. If Rudiger weren't likely to be leaving I would be excited about the Baumgartl/Rudiger partnership for years to come, so instead I'll just hope that they lead us out of the relegation zone this season. Sararer also put in an impressive performance.
Crap. What a time for Stuttgart to sort themselves out.... I'm going to Merc. Arena next week for the game with the visiting Schalke fans
I don't know why, but I have a soft spot for Stuttgart. Glad you guys won today, and hope you avoid relegation.
It would be great if we were sorted out, but I'm afraid that's probably not the case. I don't think anything has really changed for that match. We're at home, so we could always still win, but Schalke has more talent than our boys even if they're struggling to find some form as well. It should be a great game!
You can thank me for VfB winning! I've been away from home all day, and didn't have access to either GolTV or the internet for streaming. I'm thinking of asking Stuttgart to pay me not to watch!
http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/i...all.35c0caa2-7908-4371-817a-e6a834ef9bd8.html Good article on Timo Baumgartl, the rising defensive talent: -Four days before his 12th birthday, he was gifted a ticket to watch a game at the home stadium by his grandfather, a loyal season ticket holder -Recently in home match vs Ausgburg he stood in front of his grandfather for his first time in the starting lineup. And celebrated his first victory against Freiburg. -Baumgartl: "I'm young and I try to do the simple things right. I have managed so far." -Overall bright young man passing his Abitur this year with a 1.7. On non-training days, he works as an intern at Daimler. -Son of former national handball player Michaela Baumgartl. -Born in Böblingen where he began his football basics at GSV Maichingen. At 14, he moved to the SSV Reutlingen, then still a partner of VfB, and a year later joined Stuttgart. -Under Thomas Schneider he became captain of the U17 team. And also joined the pro training camp as a 17-y/o last winter in South Africa. -Rainer Adrion: "It was our original goal to have him join the pros on July 1, 2015. Now everything has moved faster, he has made a successful debut." -Baumgartl is fast, technically savvy, and calm on the ball - but he has some areas to improve. Such as athleticism and playing headers. He understands the challenges ahead and will work hard towards overcoming them.
From ESPN FC: http://www.espnfc.us/german-bundesliga/match/396876/vfb-stuttgart-schalke-04/report Potato Head, the prognosticator! Please send me a PM with the winning Power Ball numbers for next week!
I think I hedged my bet pretty nicely there with the "great game" comment at the end. And I suppose it was a decent game in the end...lots of goals!