bet365.com had Stuttgart as 3.5-1 favorites. I don't control what the media writes. You played a solid game, brother.
VfB Stuttgart Suffer Worst Season Under Frenchie; Future of Club, Manager in Flux Stuttgart - There's no way to sugar coat it - this was the worst season in Frenchie's tenure as manager of VfB Stuttgart. The team earned promotion through expansion of Serie B to 12 teams following a successful run that saw the team earn 29 points in season 6... and then suffered a collapse that nobody saw coming in season 7. The Reds stumbled to a 2-3-13 debacle of a record and, despite having a middle-of-the-table 1.61 goals-against, the Ghosts of Seasons Past returned to haunt the Schwaben locker room, and the team could manage only a paltry 11 goals in league play this season, having been on the wrong side of a clean sheet a staggering 11 times. "This was a humbling and embarrassing season for me," Frenchie said. "Having played a number of friendlies and warm-up matches before the season started, I really expected to finish in the middle of the table, but we just couldn't find our form. We changed formations and lineups so many times, looking for answers, we started creating problems that didn't exist to begin with. It was a case of too much tinkering in the middle of the season and it killed us." Defensively, Stuttgart is still among the elite in the entire league, regardless of division. But too often, they have found trouble finding the back of the net. Only very late in the season did Frenchie stumble upon a lineup and formation that seemed to click, by which time it was too late and a string of meaningless games stretched out before them. "I'm not sure what the future holds for me or this team," Frenchie added soberly. "I expect we'll lose Zdravko Kuzmanovic in the January transfer window. He's a valuable commodity at the end of a contract year and we don't want to lose him on a Bosman. As for me, ownership is meeting in Switzerland during the offseason to determine whether I will return to manage this club again. My heart is here. I believe we have finally found a formula to capitalize and scratch out some wins and score more goals. I sincerely hope they allow me that opportunity."
Stuttgart steals early draw; Barely escapes Scotland intact as enraged fans attack team bus GLASGOW - One game does not a season make. But if the first match of VfB Stuttgart's Season 8 campaign is any indication of what's to come, women, children and those with weak constitutions may wish to avert their eyes. Stuttgart's team bus was literally stoned through the streets of Glasgow after escaping Celtic Park with an ugly, come-from-behind, stoppage-time goal that stole three points from a Celtic squad that was probably already looking forward to pints at the pub after the game. Die Roten stole away with a draw, and didn't even bother changing out of their boots before hopping on on the bus for the frenetic trip back to Germany. Celtic took the lead at home midway through the first half with a pinpoint accurate cross from a corner to the head of the lanky Georgios Samaras, and doubled down just two minutes later in the exact same manner, from the same corner, to the same spot, but this time the ball was headed in by Anthony Stokes as both German defenders were drawn to Samaras. "At that point, I was pretty frustrated, and frankly worried," Frenchie said in an interview on the team plane somewhere over France. "I was concerned he was just going to start raining corners in on me all night, as it was obvious my diminutive defenders were not going to be able to compete with that γίγαντες." The second half started just as badly for the visiting Germans, as defender Gotoku Sakai earned a deserved yellow card for a reckless challenge just outside the box, but Celtic were unable to capitalize on the free kick opportunity - and it would come back to haunt them. The teams traded blows for the next 30 minutes as Stuttgart shifted to a counterattacking strategy with 20 minutes remaining. With 10 minutes left on the clock, Tamas Hajnal was brought down about 5 yards outside of the Celtic area, setting up Stuttgart's best chance to get back in the match. Zdravko Kuzmanovic, who had been warming up on the sideline, came in and was immediately tapped to take the free kick. His shot looped over the wall, past the diving Fraser Forster... and off the inside of the right post. The ball fell to the feet of a Celtic defender and, before he could clear it away, Stuttgart's Serdar Tasci clipped the ball away and just over the line. Stuttgart really ramped up the pressure for the remaining 10 minutes, doing all it could to wrest control of the ball and find a decent shot on frame. When the clock showed 90, it seemed all was lost. Celtic issued one final clearance that trickled over the Stuttgart end line for a goal kick. "I thought that was it," Frenchie said. "I fully expected to hear those dreaded three blasts. But Ulreich sent a great pass up to Shinji Okazaki, and Okazaki reached midfield without a whistle being blown. I knew then we had one final gasp of air." Okazaki, not known for his footwork, deftly danced around his counterpart in the midfield, turned on the speed, made two good forward taps with the ball and sent and long, looping, early cross into the Celtic box. And prayed. And waiting on the other end of that cross was Bosnian striker Vedad Ibisevic, whose driven header was sent low and hard into the bottom right corner of the Scottish net for the stoppage time equalizer. Celtic was given the opportunity to kick off after the goal, but the whistle blew just seconds later, ending the affair. Statistically, the match was very even - possession, shots, shots on target, tackles, fouls, cards ... goals. But while Celtic and BigSmooth33 played the Beautiful Game, Stuttgart scraped two ugly tallies, snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat, and proved that you don't have to play pretty to get a decent result.
Stuttgart gets early win; looks to retain form Stuttgart - Die Roten earned its first victory of the year against visiting Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and redwings8831 in a match that would be remembered as much for its physicality as it was for the quick first strike that got the home side on the board. Stuttgart was lethal in its passing just minutes into the game, finding tiny pockets of space in which to operate, and capitalizing when William Kvist drew two defenders and offloaded to Tamas Hajnal, whose weak foot blast was too much for Przemyslaw Tyton to handle. PSV tried repeatedly to draw equal, launching cross after cross into the Stuttgart box, but the German defense was able to either out-leap their Dutch opponents, or give enough of a jostle that few of those successful tries ultimately ended on target. Stuttgart twisted the dagger by scoring seconds before the half when pacey winger Ibrahima Traore floated a pinpoint-accurate cross onto the head of Cacau for the first of what would ultimately be a brace for the Brazilian-born striker. Cacau struck again shortly after the half when Martin Harnik was hauled down on the right side of the pitch, about 20 yards from the end line, giving a perfect position for a crossed free kick. At 52 minutes gone, the home side were up 3-0 and looking to cruise. But the Dutch had different ideas. The tempo and physicality of the match ticked up decidedly, as PSV mixed its attacks with long shots, crosses and attempted through balls to try and penetrate the German defense. At 69 minutes, they were ultimately successful when Dries Mertens sent a cross right along the length of the end line onto the waiting head of Ola Toivonen. But that was all the visitors were able to muster. Despite the scoreline showing 23 shots and 12 on target for them, many of those were deflected by the German backline, and the game wasn't so one-sided as the numbers might suggest. It was, beginning to end, a tense affair. Even up 3 goals, Stuttgart knew that PSV and redwings8831 could be back in the match in a matter of seconds.
Stuttgart surpasses season 7 in points, goals just Six games inBELO HORIZONTE - Stuttgart was immediately able to right the ship after suffering a late, heart-wrenching loss to Spartak Moscow in a match that had fans of die Roten still shaking their heads in disgust. But the visiting German side were able to put the loss in the back of their minds and get down to business against the dangerous Brazilians of Atletico Mineiro and manager thebouncer24. Stuttgart dominated much of the run-of play, with possession and shots falling in their favor, but they were largely unable to find the frame, with shot after shot finding the stands or the advertising boards to the sides of the home net. "Clearly, we haven't been spending enough time on shooting drills on the training ground," Frenchie said. "Were the net twice as wide, we still would have missed. We've fired the team optometrist and posted a job opening that we hope to have filled immediately." Stuttgart managed to hit paydirt shortly before the half on a series of long passes around the Mineiro area that stretched the Brazilian defense from one touchline to the other. Martin Harnik's long pass to Cacau drew two defenders and the German striker slid the ball to his attacking partner, Vedad Ibisevic. The Bosnian had a yard of space and a tick on the clock to size up his opportunity, and he didn't miss with a pinpoint blast into the side netting past a diving Victor for the game's only tally. Stuttgart's subbed-on left winger Shinji Okazaki was lucky to escape with just a yellow card int he dying minutes of the game when, having just had the ball taken off his boot, he made a rash challenge that sent his Brazilian counterpart Arsch uber Teekessel halfway into the Brazilian end. It was only the Japanese national's fervent apologies that he'd slipped and that the tackle was purely unintentional that prevented his sending off "A win is a win, and we'll happily go back to Schwaben with this one," Frenchie said. "@thebouncer24 is a good opponent and he could have drawn level a number of times. We'll scurry away with our three points and look to do better in our next three matches."
STUTTGART REVERSES RECENT TREND; EARNS THREE POINTS IN WIN VS "FRUSTRATED AND DETERMINED" CELTIC Stuttgart - After a dreadful run of four straight league losses, Stuttgart finally managed a small reprieve last night in front of the home fans against a frustrated and determined Celtic squad, who was just as eager to claw away three points from the encounter. Stuttgart looked to control the match early and quick passing and quicker feet led to the opening tally - albeit in unspectacular form. Tamas Hajnal found himself with a narrow shooting lane just inside the box, but Forster parried the shot away. Unfortunately for the English keeper, Stuttgart's Cacau was waiting on the doorstep for just such an opportunity and drove the ball home mit seinem Kopf. The rest of the first half was a typical back-and-forth affair, with each side trading territory and possession, but little else. BigSmooth33 obviously tore into his squad in the locker room at the half, however, because the visiting Scots stepped up the pressure on the home squad almost immediately, and Stuttgart had a very difficult time getting the ball out of its own half for the entirety of the second frame. Celtic went to an aggressive three-man backline, packing the middle and fore in an attempt to get bodies in the box. But the visitors were not able to get their offense rolling, as they were frustrated by the swarming and overlapping defense of the Germans, who had an all-time high 24 tackles under manager Frenchie. Celtic seemed to be equally frustrated by their own miscues, as shot after shot found either a defender's boot or the advertisement boards on either side of the German net.Celtic's golden boy Gary Hooper had the best chance of the night to draw the match and divide the spoils when, in the 86th minute, Celtic swarmed and overwhelmed the undermanned German backline, dished a perfect pass to Hooper, who unleashed an absolute howler of a shot. "I felt for certain he was going to tie it then," Frenchie said after the game. "If there was truly any karma, he would have, given the way we drew with Celtic in Glasgow at the beginning of the season. But whether he was distracted by Ulreich rushing him, or he just rushed his shot, the ball went well wide and we escaped this one with all three points. I know how BigSmooth33 felt after this one. I've had games where I had 30, 20, even 10 percent of my shots on target. You just want to load up the team bus and drive the boys to the training ground for shooting practice. But he played a great match, and his team's midfield was truly impenetrable for 45 frustrating minutes for my boys." Stuttgart will hope to capitalize on the win as it faces perhaps its most difficult run over its next handful of matches.
Die Roten earn back-to-back victories for the first time in two seasons, shake of lackluster performance of last year EINDHOVEN - Stuttgart continued its run-of-form winning back-to-back matches for the first time this season, visiting Eindhoven and escaping with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the home side Dutch squad. The visiting Roten dominated possession for much of the match and worked short, quick passing to its benefit throughout the game. The first half ended with the sides knotted at 0, but Stuttgart dominating passing 87 to 56 percent, as Eindhoven's long-ball attempts were thwarted by Stuttgart's back line and especially by defensive midfielder William Kvist, who seemed to be everyplace at once, breaking up passes and redistributing the ball forward for German counterattacks. The strategy paid off shortly after the start of the second half when Kvist sent a hard, darting pass to the pacey Traore, who outran his opposition down the left side. Eindhoven over-committed to the Guinean winger, as three Dutch defenders converged on his position in the corner. Traore spotted both Cacau and Ibisevic in the box, with only Cacau being marked. Ibisevic took his time for the cross to fall and, instead of attempting to head the ball early into the corner, took a powered side kick back across the grain. Przemyslaw Tyton got an arm to the shot, but was unable to steer it wide and the ball squeezed in between the keeper's arm and his body for Stuttgart's first of the match. Stuttgart doubled its tally about 20 minutes later when Kvist once again took a cleared ball at about the midfield line and quickly slotted it to Martin Harnik. Harnik spotted Cacau a yard clear of his defender at the edge of the Eindhoven area. Cacau took the ball, sidestepped his defender and unleashed a blast from 8 yards that overpowered Tyton, leaving the Eindhoven keeper little chance of stopping the shot. Leading by 2, Stuttgart did its best to pack the backfield and hold on for the remaining 13 minutes, but was very nearly undone when Shinji Okazaki brought down Tim Matavz in the box for a penalty that was difficult to argue. Matavz calmly slotted the PK home with four minutes remaining, and taking all three points suddenly looked very much in doubt for the Germans. Stuttgart was given a glimmer of hope just minutes later when Daniel Didavi went down after very light contact in the Eindhoven area, but Tyton stepped up and parried Ibisevic's penalty aside. With the clock ticking down and once chance remaining, Eindhoven sent everyone forward for one final rush, but a long cross and header from the very edge of the Stuttgart box was easily handled by Sven Ulreich. "Taking six points this matchweek was very important for us right now," Frenchie said. "We have a very slim possibility for promotion, considering the quality of talent in this division, but this will definitely help ensure we remain in Serie B. Considering our performance last season, I'm very happy with where we are right now. We had 9 points and 9 goals all of last season; we've already nearly doubled our points and more than doubled our scoring output. As I've said, our upcoming matches are going to be difficult, so we are looking to steal points now. redwings8831 has a very talented squad and I'm certain we'll be facing him here again next season."
Stuttgart - Hamburg traveled south to Schwaben to visit Stuttgart in a match fraught with relegation drama and both sides left the pitch unsatisfied, as neither could find the back of their opponent's net. Both sides were coming off of grievous defeats that left each manager with a bitter taste in his mouth, but they agreed in a pre-match interview to rise above and play the game in a sporting manner and let the chips fall where they may. "We both needed a win here, but we weren't willing to compromise to get it," Frenchie said. " UcanHateMeNow has been in this league a long time and he's a wily opponent. We spoke briefly before the match and reaffirmed - win, lose or draw - to use good form. While I'm less than pleased with the final result, I'm very happy with how this match was played." This game was exceedingly balanced, with both teams matching goals, shots, shots on target, and corners, and nearly mirroring each other on possession, and tackles. Each side had ample opportunity to find paydirt, but the football gods were fickle on this night. The visitors showed their mettle in the air as Hamburg sent no fewer than four headers just inches wide of the post, giving the home fans palpitations every time a ball was send into the Stuttgart box. Stuttgart chose a more direct attack and very nearly broke the game open, but Rene Adler's fingernail saved the day. With 10 minutes remaining, Stuttgart once again came within a whisker of taking all three points when Cacau lashed a shot across the face of goal, but the right post once again denied the home squad. The rebound fell to the waiting boot of Tamas Hajnal, but once again Rene Adler was up tot he task and made his second key stop of the game, sealing the draw and ensuring both teams walked away with but a single point. "While William Kvist was awarded the Man of the Match, were it up to me, I would have given it to Rene Adler without question," Frenchie said. "We only had four shots on target, but not one of his saves was simple. He kept them in this match. We were simply lucky on our end that the Hamburg heads kept sending balls wide, but Adler stood on his for his team."
Stuttgart finish Season 8 safe... barely Stuttgart - The men of Die Roten can rest easy for a few weeks, knowing their place in Serie B is secure for another season, albeit by the skin of their teeth. Stuttgart definitely improved on its pathetic performance of Season 7, more than doubling both points and goals scored, and maintaining the same number of goals against, despite playing three more games in this season's campaign. While the final record of 5-5-11 is nothing their mothers will stick on the refrigerator with a magnet, it does mean they remain to play in the middle tier for a third straight season. "The fact that we finished in 10th place with 20 points shows just how competitive this division is," Frenchie said. "If we could have turned just two of those draws into wins, we'd have been in the middle of the table. And of our 11 losses, seven of them were by just a single goal. You can bet your Teutonic tushies we're going to be working hard in the training ground for the next two weeks to improve our scoring. One more goal per game is the difference." Stuttgart was undone by an incredible second-half slide that saw the team take only 9 points out of a possible 30, nearly sinking the campaign. "We started off well enough," Frenchie said. "We beat Eindhoven and Celtic to give us some hope, and then we played the disgraced Russian club, whose name is now verboten in our locker room. While they thrashed us with their illegal tactics and poor sportsmanship, I wonder if that game got in my players' heads, because we didn't win another one thereafter. We certainly had our chances against Hamburg, Wolfsburg and even Sporting CP, we just couldn't seal the deal. We have one goal in Season 9, and that is to turn that statistic around - turn those draws into victories, turn those one-goal losses into draws. And that starts by improving our shooting, increasing our shots and making sure those shots go on target. "I'm not afraid of relegation," Frenchie added. "What I can't stand, and what I won't abide, is futility."
Questionable refereeing leads Frenchie to call for investigation RIO DE JANEIRO - Stuttgart traveled to Brazil for its first tilt of the Ninth season of the Tradition Futbol Serie, and left the Brazilian capital disgusted, confused, and calling for an investigation into the conduct of the match official for awarding a controversial penalty in the dying minutes of the affair, giving the home squad a gift 2-2 draw. "There was nothing about this game that felt on the up-and-up," Frenchie said. "My boys played a wonderful first half - we went up 2-0 on two gorgeous shots from Cacau and Ibrahima Traore, we dominated possession, our passing was crisp and clean, our crosses finding their targets. And then the second half came. I wonder if Dan Tan put the call in during halftime, because suddenly the whole pitch was lifted and tilted against us." The rumblings began when, coming off a corner kick, Stuttgart's striker Cacau picked up a yellow card for a phantom foul where replays showed absolutely no contact was made. "This wasn't a case where there was light contact, or you're questioning intent," Frenchie said. "We had the corner at the Fluminense end, we lost possession and as we're retreating, the ref is suddenly giving advantage to the Brazilians. I thought nothing of it until the next stoppage in play when he showed a card to Cacau. Looking at the replay there was nothing there. Suddenly my boys are looking around wondering what the hell is going on." Fluminense came down and scored on a great cross from Wellington Nem to supersub Rafael Sobis to cut the lead in half, and Stuttgart began to reassert themselves. The Germans were looking solid once more, peppering Diego Cavalieri with shots, and sending balls just wide and just over the net, when the referee took matters into his own hands. Fluminense won a corner in the 80th minute when Serdar Tasci blocked a Brazilian cross, the ensuing kick into the area was well-taken, and it bounced around a bit before falling to a Brazilian boot. But the resulting shot went well over the bar and 50 rows deep into the stands. Stuttgart defender Christian Molinaro breathed slightly on the shooter well after the shot was in the stands, and the referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot AND showing the Italian the visiting team's second yellow of the match. "I'm certain there's a conspiracy here: the yellow cards; the penalty; the Man of the Match going to Wellington, when Christian Gentner had two assists, 21 passes, 2 successful crosses and 6 tackles made; Traore's goal not even making the post-match highlight reel..." Frenchie said, fuming. "The only person I'm positive was not on the take is ezio. He played a wonderful match - very honorable and very clean and he admitted after the match that the penalty was a weak call. It doesn't help us now as we should have taken all three points. We will have to work that much harder this season, it's becoming evident. But match officials should be on notice - we're watching you."
It was clearly my tactical changes that made the differnece in the 2nd half. Well that and the fact that I slipped the ref some Brazilian Real before the match
Stuttgart Warns Fans: You Take Your Life in Your Hands when You Come to Our Matches STUTTGART – In a disturbing, nauseating return to form, the men of Stuttgart have been pathetically unable to find the back of the net for two straight matches. Their shooting has been so woeful, ownership has taken the unusual step of requiring all fans attending matches at Mercedes Benz Arena who sit behind the nets to sign waivers, indicating they understand there is a greater likelihood of being struck by balls there than at any other park in the Tradition Futbol Serie league. Over the course of two matches, Stuttgart’s combined on-target shooting percentage was 16 percent. In the latter match, a 2-0 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt, the Reds had 0 shots on target. “I swear to God, Kevin Trapp was reading a magazine back there in net. He had a liter of pilsner, a copy of Stern and his back to us the entire match,” Frenchie said. Vedad Ibisevic, late in the match, put on a lovely display of deft footwork and sidestepped two defenders, finding himself all alone in the box, 8 yards from glory. And what did he do? He shot wide. “Our shooting is so bad right now, if we were awarded a penalty kick, the other keeper could walk off the pitch with about a 90 percent surety we’d miss the net. I would place my five-year-old daughter in front of our opposition’s net with absolute confidence it was the safest place on the pitch for her to be,” Frenchie said. “I will manage my next game with a paper bag over my head, as I’m embarrassed to be associated with a squad that shoots like this.” “We lost to 1-0 Marseille and we had chance after chance, shot after shot. 12 shots – three of them on target. Wide left, wife right, over the bar… The most dangerous place in the world isn’t Afghanistan or Syria, it’s sitting just above or next to goal at a VfB Stuttgart match.”
Turnaround for Stuttgart? Loss in League, Slugfest in Coppa leads Frenchie to declare, "Stuttgart's Found its Swagger" STUTTGART – In 1650, English theologian Thomas Fuller said, “It is always darkest just before the Day dawneth.” Surely he was looking 363 years into the future, speaking on a yet-to-be-played season for VfB Stuttgart. For perhaps – just maybe – Stuttgart reached its nadir and has begun its long slog upward. The woes of Die Roten have been well-documented in these pages and they unfortunately continued in league play against Deutscher rivals Hamburg, who defeated Stuttgart 1-0 in a match that had the visiting Reds on their heels for most of the game. “I’m not sure why Hamburg was so hard for us to break down,” Frenchie said. “It may have been the 4-1-2-1-2 that UcanHateMeNow was employing, but finding space proved more elusive than usual for us. My boys played very well, defensively. They crowded shooting lanes and for the most part really kept Hamburg well back of our net. One momentary lapse allowed Rafael van der Vaart an extra step on his defender and he absolutely lashed his shot into the corner early in the second half. But we were still in it.” Stuttgart’s shooting problems continued, however, as only 1 of its 6 shots found its intended target. With time dying down and Stuttgart pressing forward, the visitors had a golden chance to equalize when Tamas Hajnal fired a hard-low shot straight at Rene Adler. The rebound fell to a wide open Vedad Ibisevic who, like a pubescent teenager, got overexcited. With a yawning net and a prone keeper, the Bosnian dinked an impotent shot over the net, guaranteeing Hamburg the win and three points. ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Stuttgart limped home for its much-anticipated Coppa match against BESHIKTAS and Queens Park Rangers – a team Stuttgart has faced no fewer than 50 times in league, Coppa and Friendly play, but against whom they have a dreadful record. Stuttgart expected this to be a meaningless game, having anticipated QPR would have cleanly dispatched Sporting CP and Serie C newcomer WingedHelmet, but word leaked into the dressing room right before kickoff that Sporting had defeated QPR 1-0 earlier in the evening, giving much greater significance to the match and placing greater pressure on BESHIKTAS to deliver a positive result. And QPR came out firing, driving forward with pace and numbers, finding the back of the goal just 2 minutes into the match when Shaun Wright Phillips scored from an improbable angle, putting Stuttgart back on its heels and seemingly further into its doldrums. But then something happened, something we haven’t seen for a run of four or five games. Stuttgart started playing football – passes were connecting, players were finding space, shots were finding target, crosses were connecting in the middle – and Stuttgart was having fun on the pitch again. Stuttgart responded just 10 minutes later when Martin Harnik found Vedad Ibisevic – who had heretofore only scored one goal this season, also in a Coppa match – at the edge of the area. Ibisevic took the pass, spun to his left and fired hard and low with his right foot past Julio Cesar to put the match level. Stuttgart’s defense stood solid for the remainder of the half and the teams went into the dressing rooms knotted. QPR came out employing a different method of attack for the second half, choosing much more aerial attack than the straightforward striking Stuttgart was accustomed to, and the switch in strategy paid almost immediate dividends as Loic Remy took a perfect cross from Andrew Johnson and headed it home at 50’, putting the visitors up 2-1. Once again, Stuttgart clawed its way back and once again, Vedad Ibisevic stepped up, this time taking a cross from Christian Gentner. Ibisevic rose up and took a beautiful bicycle that blew past a diving Cesar, but caromed off the left post. The rebound fell right back to Ibisevic who calmly slotted his second home at 64’ with his left foot, and we were off to the races. The game at this point fell to a back-and-forth contest with each side firing shots and crosses with abandon. But QPR’s speed and positioning in the box proved too much to handle as back-to-back cross-header combinations yielded a pair of goals just three minutes apart at 69’and 72’, and Stuttgart’s chances of advancing beyond the group stages of the Coppa seemed to be fading in the distance like the taillights of the car driven by the hot girlfriend who’d just dumped you. But the boys in Red dug deep for one last push and they found redemption as a team – and one man in particular was able to silence critics (*COUGH* A_Touch_Of_Class *COUGH*) by scoring his third goal of the match. Ibrahima Traore, Stuttgart’s paciest player, but on legs of rubber, took the ball on the left side at midfield, sprinted about 25 yards, cut inside and with energy fading, sent an early cross forward to a waiting Ibisevic, who headed his perfect hat trick home at 80’. The remaining 10 minutes was a forgettable blur as neither side was able to mount much on tired legs, and the match ended – predictably – in a Queens Park Rangers victory. What nobody could have foreseen, though, was Stuttgart’s resiliency, never-say-die attitude, and hunger for goals that has been distinctly lacking so far this season. “It was like being in a slump, and I just needed to find an ugly woman to sleep with. Thank you, Queens Park Rangers, for being that ugly woman,” Frenchie said. “Yes, we lost, but what a loss it was! We came from behind to draw even twice against a far superior opponent. Down two goals we cut that lead in half with 10 minutes to play and gave ourselves an honest-to-God shot at drawing level. But more than that, we had 13 shots, 8 of which were on target. This is just the kind of game we needed right now, and we will come out of this game a much more dangerous team. We aren’t walking around with our heads down, looking at the ground, wondering what’s wrong with us anymore. We will look every team out there in the eye and we will give them a match to remember. Every team in the Tradition Futbol Serie should be on notice – Stuttgart’s found its swagger.” After carefully studying the rules on Coppa tiebreakers, Frenchie is fairly certain Stuttgart will advance to the knockout stages of the Coppa, but the team must await confirmation and a final ruling from Coppa commissioner Broncos218.
Stuttgart gets second win of the season; likely safe from relegation in utterly forgettable Season 9 campaignStuttgart - VfB Stuttgart may - just may - be finding its form, albeit too late to make any sort of serious noise in what amounts to an utterly pathetic Season 9 campaign in the Tradition Futbol Serie. The latest spark of life came in a scrappy 3-1 victory at home over German rivals Hamburger SV and the always-dangerous UcanHateMeNow and his lethal combination of Rafael van der Vaart and Artjoms Rudnevs. Stuttgart has been playing well with its newer lineup, anchored in the middle by young central attacker Daniel Didavi, who has replaced Tamas Hajnal in the starting XI. Didavi scored his first league goal against Marseille just the previous week, and was looking to retain his spot in the starting squad with a solid performance this go-'round. And he didn't disappoint. The young German struck first just 15 minutes into the match when a lobbed through ball cleared the Hamburg back line, but fell well short of the visitors' 18-yard box. Didavi was racing to reach the bass as Hamburg keeper Rene Adler rushed out to clear, but a clumsy first touch put the ball right back into the path of an onrushing Didavi, who casually sidestepped the keeper and buried the ball into an empty net from just beyond 20 yards. Hamburg looked to come back quickly, firing long, hard shots and getting ample opportunities from the corner, with the best look coming in the 39th minute when Rudnevs, unguarded, unleashed a header from near the top of the box that glanced off the crossbar. Stuttgart keeper Sven Ulreich never even moved on the play, and the team breathed a collective sigh when the ref blew the whistle for halftime. But their relief was short-lived. Just two minutes into the second half, Hamburg struck when Heung-Min Son fired a shot from the top of the box that was deflected by defender Serdar Tasci, but fell right onto the boot of Rudnevs, whose angle of attack was nearly indefensible. "We live and die by our defense and blocking shots," Frenchie said. "We normally do a fantastic job of getting bodies in front of those and this was one of those circumstances that you just have to chalk up to to the bounce of the ball and the will of the gods. It fell perfectly to Rudnevs on a cutting angle and he wasn't going to miss that one. Sven did all he could to cut down the angle, but a scorer of his (Rudnevs') quality doesn't miss from there." Where in previous matches Stuttgart has fallen apart when an equalizer is scored, the team instead put its collective shoulder to the wheel and put Hamburg right back on its heels. Less than 20 minutes after giving up the goal, Stuttgart scored on a goal that was made entirely at the feet of right midfielder Martin Harnik. Harnik created space for himself by juking his defender and finding a moment of daylight that allowed him to put a cross to the far post where Didavi - all 5' 10" of him - outleaped his defender right on the line and put a header over a sprawling Adler for his brace. Just a minute later, Didavi returned the favor when he spotted Harnik in space streaking for the the edge of the Hamburg box. Harnik admitted after the match he should have taken an earlier shot, but he instead turned in and was jostled momentarily off the ball. But his forward momentum allowed him to collect it again without possession changing hands, and he deposited it low and left for Stuttgart's third of the game. "There certainly wasn't anything pretty about this match," Frenchie said. "None of the goals are going to be a contender for goal of the week - bad touches, deflections, crosses that probably went too far, shooters hesitating to fire and picking up scrap goals - but in the end, I'm happy we took the three points. We needed this little cushion, because the rest of the season won't be easy for us. And looking at what's coming up from Serie C, next season won't be any easier, either. This is the story of Stuttgart - we need to grind out our games and do what we can to get those goals and keep our opponents at bay. We still need to work on finding our scoring touch, but at least we can rest for a few days with this one in our rearview mirror."
Stuttgart's accuracy from seasons past return to bite them in the Arsch STUTTGART - VfB Stuttgart's home opener was a snoozer against the French frenemies of Mareseille, led by the indomitable Go Devils. Stuttgart's ghosts of their past were rearing there heads and the makings of a very, very ugly season could be in store for die Roten, as their shooting percentage amounted to a whopping 8.3 percent."This isn't good," Frenchie said in the tunnel following the scoreless draw. "We were saved by an offside that could very well have put the Frogs ahead, and our shooting was atrocious. I think Vedad Ibisevic actually killed a kid in the 25th row with an errant shot. If this doesn't improve, we're doomed. Plain and simple."Go Devils was equally sedated by the nil-nil affair and admitted to a howler of a coaching gaffe, inadvertently starting a lumbering centre back in lieu of a pacey winger on the right side, which hurt the team's early speed. Commenting on the offside that could have been the difference-maker, the always-motivational manger said of his player: "I know he was [offside] ...and he can't score for shit... But still, (our) best chance of the game and (we) blew it."A regular Knute Rockne, that one!Stuttgart looked to open its scoring against German rivals Hamburg and UcanHateMeNow in a match played later that same evening.
Two Games, Four Points. Stuttgart's ups and downs look to continue in Season 10 HAMBURG - Stuttgart earned its first win of the fledgling 10th season of the Tradition Futbol Serie with an unpretty victory over German rivals Hamburger SV, but the football gods had as much to do with the outcome as any "talent" the team allegedly has. Missed breakaway chances, goals called back due to offsides, set pieces raining down like hailstones all factored in how this match would end.The visiting Reds almost got ahead halfway through the first half when center back, captain and possible Fenerbahce target Serdar Tasci sent a wild and desperate clearance from the edge of his own area that fell almost perfectly to the boot of young center midfielder Daniel Didavi, who easily burst past Hamburg's high defensive line and had a 1-on-1 with the keeper for about 30 yards. But he exuberance of youth got the better of the young German and he fired high and hard, well over the home net and safely (for the team on the pitch) over the net."I was looking at that and chewing through my clipboard," Frenchie said. "Our first match of the season, we didn't even manage a 10 percent shooting accuracy, and now we have one of our young stars all alone with a keeper and a beautiful wide open virgin of a net and he blasts it into the stands? I was dumbfounded."The first half ended scoreless, but with each team sending more than a fair share of probing attacks and counterattacks.the visitors managed to get on the board first shortly into the second half with a simple corner kick that was perfectly deposited by center back Georg Niedermeier. The goal was Stuttgart's first tally from a corner kick in league play in more than two seasons, a point of offensive embarrassment for the squad.Just six minutes later, Stuttgart doubled its pleasure with a lovely wrong-footed strike on the volley from Vedad Ibisevic, who struggled mightily to find the back of the net last season. Martin Harnik gained the box and tried a simple dink cross to Didavi, but the diminutive mid was covered by two defenders. Hamburg's defense got a head to it first, but the clearance attempt fell right to the boot of Ibisevic, who was joining the attack at the top of the 18-yard box. The Bosnian tried to settle the ball with a touch, but opted to fire when the space around him became crowded, and a beautiful left-footed strike was unstoppable by Rene Adler. Hamburg immediately ramped up the pressure, knowing that time was growing short. The home squad fired shot after shot on frame, but Sven Ulreich or the defenders in front of him thwarted attack after attack. Six corners weren't enough to put the ball in the back of the net, although some wild scrambles in front of the Stuttgart net increased the overall pucker factor in the long-time manager of the Schwaben squad. In the 75th minute, Hamburg appeared to have halved the deficit on a perfect low early cross that found the head of Artjoms Rudnevs, who buried the ball with authority. But before the celebrations could begin in the Northern German industrial port, the touch judge's flag was raised and Rudnevs deemed to have been behind his defender. "We played just well enough to escape with a victory," Frenchie said. "One corner, one goal from a corner. The more telling stat is that we ably defended six coming the other way. UcanHateMeNow is a talented manager with a talented squad. Don't let his slow start fool you - he'll be climbing the table soon enough. I'm glad to have gotten our match with him out of the way early, because I know he'll be gunning for us when we meet again. We are admittedly one of the beatable teams in Serie B if we let our guard down. But this season, I tell you what - we won't let our guard down."
Die Schwaben take 2-2 draw against top-of-the-table CagliariSTUTTGART - Stuttgart emerged with a surprising draw against top-of-the-table Cagliari as the Germans played one of their best tactical matches to date, matching their Italian foes in every category. The match started off on the wrong foot for the home-town Roten as Mauricio Pinilla took a pass from Andrea Cossu, who had drawn two defenders to him in the process. With a defender bearing down on him and 25 yards between himself and the goal, Pinilla lashed a beautifully struck shot that glanced off the inside of the post and settled in the back of the net, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead just 4 minutes into the match. Unlike in seasons past, however, Stuttgart didn't panic and begin shooting wildly from all over the pitch and didn't form a defensive shell and cry "Not in the Face!" from their parked bus. The Reds used possession methodically getting good looks at goal, but often firing wide of the net - a bugaboo that continues to plague the squad. Going into the locker room down 1-0 at the half, neither tam had established a dominant presence, and the match remained tautly within reach of either manager. Stuttgart came out in the second half leaning forward, striving for an early equalizer, and they got it on the back (and boot) of Martin Harnik. The Austrian right wing received a beautiful pass from the midfield, one-touched the ball, and lashed it into the upper 90 just three minutes into the second half. The lead would last less than 20 minutes, however, as Pinilla got the second of his brace. In a beautiful setup that had he and Marco Sau passing and sidestepping defenders through the Stuttgart area, the Italians positively hypnotized their opponents and Pinilla was able to knot home his second with relative ease, and 25 minutes remaining in the match. Again, however, the Germans refused to say die and refused to succumb to the cold grip of panic that had so often gripped them in the past when playing an opponent they knew to be better than they. Stuttgart tried a few more attacks down the middle with deft passing and movement, but Cagliari was sewing up tight. With less than 15 minutes on the clock, speedy left wing Ibrahima Traore spotted striker Vedad Ibisevic bearing down on the net and sent a perfect cross. Ibisevic used his strength and height to beat his defender to the ball and sent a powerful header to the near post, drawing the match level at 76 minutes. Neither squad could crack the other for the remaining draw, and the referee's blast of the whistle at full time came as both relief and disappointment that the nervy and balanced match had to come to a close. "I'm happy to have taken a point from HokieNYC, because I know the caliber player he is," Frenchie said. "My goal this season is to take 3 points from those I should beat and those level with me, and 1 point from those better. This was definitely the case of the latter and I can't be terribly disappointed with the result. We were even on shots, shots on target, goals, tackles, corners. I know we'd both like to have better shooting accuracy, but I think it speaks as much to solid defending on both sides. I'm both dreading and eagerly anticipating our next matchup."
Stuttgart gets first point of the season, but disappointing draw leaves winnable points on the table Stuttgart - Longtime rivals and long-distance drinking buddies Frenchie1916 and Go Devils met once more on the field of battle in the season opener of the season, looking to kick off a campaign that is likely to see both of these managers clawing for every point in an attempt to stay clear of the relegation zone. true to form, the first half was a largely probing, exploratory affair, with many turnovers in the midfield and the teams looking wobbly, It looked like each manager would go into the changing rooms at the half with nothing to show for the first 45 until an improbable sequence of events conspired against the hometown Germans. From an inexplicable distance of about 30 yards, Marseille CAM Mathieu Valbuena fired a high, curling shot toward the German net. While it looked like Ulreich had plenty of time to track the ball, he instead dove at the last second, missing the shot entirely. The ball caromed off the post and fell to a waiting Jordan Ayew, who was able to slot home the rebound. "I don't know what Sven was thinking of out there," Frenchie said. "I thought he should have followed that ball the whole way and effortlessly caught it or steered it aside. But he took one step, waited and then dove at the very last instant, looking buffoonish in the process. It was like he had watched videos of Rene Higuita the night before and wanted to do something flashy. But he must remember: We. Are. German. We don't do flash." Frenchie obviously gave his team the hairdryer treatment at the half, because they came out a whole new squad. The first half saw the Germans with only one chance at goal. The second, they took control of the match. While their shooting was a bit erratic, the possession and dangerous opportunities they created for themselves do possibly bode well for the future. Stuttgart was able to draw level with their French rivals just 15 minutes into the half when CDM Christian Gentner sent a perfect through ball to Martin Harnik, tearing down the right hand side. New signing Mohammed Abdelouae put on an inch-perfect dummy to keep his defender from intercepting the ball and allowing Harnik the space to run on. The Austrian then fired hard and high to Steve Mandanda's right, and the game was knotted. Stuttgart didn't let up from there, and very nearly had the game winner when ST Vedad Ibisevic blasted a shot from the edge of the area at the 79th minute, but Mandanda made the save of the game with a dive to his right, preserving the point and sending both sides home with but a single point.
