Action is not stopping, our third match in 7 days coming up today. A crucial one against a direct rival in the table. If we win this, we are looking pretty saft for the European spots. This is a Bremen side that has been weak lately. We, on the other hand, are playing some excellent football at the moment. As a result, I am confident we will get another 3 points.
Only really expecting two changes to the lineup: First of all, Kuzmanovic is suspended so he will definitely miss this one. Gentner is the obvious replacement. He has played a solid season and has done well recently whenever coming in, so i'm sure he will be fine today as well. Other than that, please replace Boka with Molinaro at leftback. Boka is the weakest member of the squad in every game he plays. I would do more than raise an eyebrow if he gets to start yet again.
Not a good development in the 25th minute: Stuttgart 0 : 1 Bremen on Rosenberg goal. Stuttgart have most of the possession & shots, but have fallen behind.
VfB tie it up in the 37th minute by Christian Gentner, outside the box! Keep it up, guys. It's your turn now, Ibi!
Well, he wasn't Ibisevic, but Martin Harnik will do! And he does it again in the 53rd minute! Stuttgart 3 : 1 Bremen Now in the 70th minute.
And Cacau has got in on the act! Stuttgart 4 : 1 Bremen And that's the match. Sorry, Ibi, you'll get yours next time! Stuttgart is solid in 5th place, getting closer to Mönchengladbach. Keep it up VfB!
What a great win! Unbelievable. Ibisevic was "right there" with all of the goals. Had a nice free kick as well. He'll get his next time
Kind of funny. When Stuttgart went through their big slump at start of Ruckrunde all the posters/fans stopped saying a peep. Now that they are hot again everyone is back. Ah, Stuttgart.
Hey, what do you guys think of Gotoku Sakai? Will he emerge to become an important team member in the future? congrats for the big win, stuttgart always have bremen's number
The push for Europe continues. Nice to see Cacau back in the goals. Harnik has turned out to be the bargain buy of the past couple seasons in the Bundesliga, IMO. Here's to more of the same.
I think Sakai has already become an important member of the team. Good at leftback and rightback, and improving very rapidly. Could turn into our best wingback since Phillip Lahm imo. I was in the stadium for this one, another great win I love what these boys have become over the past months. Europe is sealed now. Holding on to 5th should be the aim for these last weeks, with a 4 point advantage I would say it is pretty manageable. Gladbach need just one more win to guarantee finishing ahead of us, and they will still play Augsburg at home. CL is nothing more than a pipe dream at this stage, a shame that they could not string more performances together earlier in the season. But that's the Stuttgart life story. Nevertheless, they are looking like the 3rd best team in Germany at the moment. With these developments, a top 4 finish will have to be the aim for next year. Huge potential in this squad. Most of the credit goes to Fredi Bobic.
Player Ratings: Sven Ulreich: Kicker Rating: 3 (31 played, 2.79 avg.) Gotoku Sakai: 2.5 (11 played, 3.41 avg.) Serdar Tasci: 2 (27 played, 3.11 avg.) Georg Niedermeier: 2 (15 played, 13 as starter, 2.96 avg.) Cristian Molinaro: 2.5 (20 played, 17 as starter, 3.78 avg.) William Kvist: 2 (31 played, 3.16 avg.) Christian Gentner: 1.5 (25 played, 12 as starter, 3.17 avg.) Martin Harnik: 1.5 (31 played, 30 as starter, 3.38 avg.) Tamas Hajnal: 2 (30 played, 27 as starter, 3.56 avg.) Julian Schieber: 3 (15 played, 9 as starter, 3.83 avg.) Vedad Ibisevic: 3 (22 played (10 with Hoff), 19 as starter, 3.18 avg.) SUBS: Shinji Okazaki: No Rating (24 played, 17 as starter, 3.84 avg.) Cacau: NR (30 played, 19 as starter, 3.98 avg.) Ibrahima Traore: NR (10 played, 1 as starter, 4.00 avg.) Unused Subs: - Marc Ziegler - Maza - Arthur Boka - Mamadou Bah