Let's try and get some thread-consistency in these final 6 match days. Europe seems very doable at this stage, let us support the side fully all the way to achieving this objective. Step 1 is at home against Mainz. They are a solid side and duly beat us first time around this season. Time to get our own 3 points. At home, we should make it. I am visiting Stuttgart for Easter and will be in the stadium tomorrow - I am optimistic that we will get the win. 6 matches without a loss, and we must ensure it continues that way. The performance last week was incredible, we combined with Dortmund to offer the best match of the season. Of course, we did not win, but we did not lose either - and to score 4 goals at the German Champion and come home with a vital point is a result we can really be proud of. Regarding team lineup, I truly hope Tasci is fit to start again at last. Maza has been poor since returning to the first 11, and I hope the captain can make it back in. Other than that, please put in Molinaro at LB in place of Boka. These aside, same lineup as Dortmund I would assume. Let's get another win
Great to see Hajnal get a goal! And from the same rough area as Gentner last week. I missed the very beginning and didn't see the foul that led to the Mainz penalty shot. Thought I heard it was on Niedermeier -- anything to it? I'm still thinking about the great showing at Dortmund. Looked up Dortmund's matches this season. Nobody else in BL action has scored 2 on them in a game, let alone 3 or 4! And we did it in their home arena. WHY is Boka starting?!?
It's good to see Ibisevic get on the scoreboard again. Now, VfB needs to score another to seal the deal. Edit: Well what do you know! VfB 3 - 1 Mainz, on Kuzmanovic PK. I should post in these game-threads more often! Noch ein mal!
Brace for Ibisevic! VfB 4 - 1 Mainz in the 86th minute. That's the way to do it! Full time! VfB 4 - 1 Mainz Add 3 points, and hopefully repeat next week!
Well, this is great! From what I could see, we generally looked to be still in good form. Although Mainz outshot us overall, we had the edge in possession and shots on-target. Brace for Ibisevic -- he seems to have been a good pick-up. Elsewhere, Augsburg put up a brave fight at Bayern. Too bad they couldn't hold on to the draw. Gomez!#@! Cologne helped us out, drawing Bremen. Dortmund ended up pounding Wolfsburg. All good for us. We'll see what happens tomorrow with Schalke-Hannover & Hamburg-Leverkusen. Go Royal Blues (tomorrow, anyway)! Would like to see Hamburg win, not only for us, but just because as the last original team from the start of the modern BL, they've never been relegated.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcvthfJXaf0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcvthfJXaf0[/ame] Can we just play this every time Vedo scores even though its the Hoffenheim de facto goal song?
Still think Stuttgart have a chance finish 4th? I think its possible given Moenchengladbach's form and their remaining games
4th place seems like a stretch, and given our now traditional horrible first half, I will be more than happy with 5th or 6th, if we can hang on for that. The baffling inability to win a match at home seems truly a thing of the past now, which is probably what I am most happy about, and there definitely seems to have been a case of addition by subtraction with Poba's departure. He started hot for Fulham, but that has tailed off, and meanwhile his replacement can't help but score for us.
I think if these last 5 games were played 100 times, we would make it to the top 4 maybe 2 or 3 times. The odds are incredibly slim, so much so that it does little to focus on that goal. 5th place would be a very solid finish after our last season. I would take it any day, and I am confident the boys will make it. This was another step in the right direction, another excellent performance. I think right now only Dortmund and Bayern are playing better than us in this league, and that is a real treat to see. Hopefully they follow it up with victory against Augsburg tonight.
Player Ratings: Sven Ulreich: Kicker Rating: 2.5 (29 played, 2.76 avg.) My Rating: 3 Gotoku Sakai: KR: 2 (9 played, 3.44 avg.) MR: 2 Serdar Tasci: KR: 4 (25 played, 3.20 avg.) MR: 3.5 Georg Niedermeier: KR: 4 (13 played, 11 as starter, 3.14 avg.) MR: 3.5 Arthur Boka: KR: 4 (11 played, 8 as starter, 4.15 avg.) MR: 3.5 William Kvist: KR: 2.5 (29 played, 3.22 avg.) MR: 2.5 Zdravko Kuzmanovic: KR: 3 (24 played, 20 as starter, 3.43 avg.) MR: 2.5 Martin Harnik: KR: 3 (29 played, 28 as starter, 3.48 avg.) MR: 3 Tamas Hajnal: KR: 2 (28 played, 25 as starter, 3.64 avg.) MR: 2 Julian Schieber: KR: 3.5 (13 played, 7 as starter, 3.93 avg.) MR: 4 Vedad Ibisevic: KR: 1 (20 played (10 with Hoff), 17 as starter, 3.21 avg.) MR: 1.5 SUBS: Christian Gentner: KR: No Rating (23 played, 12 as starter, 3.35 avg.) MR: NR Cacau: KR: NR (28 played, 19 as starter, 3.98 avg.) MR: NR Shinji Okazaki: KR: NR (23 played, 17 as starter, 3.84 avg.) MR: NR Unused Subs: - Marc Ziegler - Maza - Cristian Molinaro - Ibrahima Traore