Belated VfB Stuttgart vs. Hansa Rostock roundup

I didn’t see sunday’s match in Hanover and from what I’ve heard, it’d be a waste of time to do so now (I’ve subscribed to the VfB’s “TV” program and while I still can’t watch live matches, I can see them “near live”, meaning after the final whistle has been blown). One bad match is enough for a weekend, and seeing 1860 München lose 1:2 to Jena isn’t my idea of fun, either.
So instead I’m looking back a week to a match that was entertaining, fun and had goals (well, the second half time at least). Also, I saw it live and that’s always something special, isn’t it?
It’s not so much a real match summary but rather some observations and thoughts. A huge thank you goes to the lovely Wiebke for the company in the stadium and for allowing me to use two of the photos she took there.

It’s different to see a match live.

Last Saturday wasn’t my first time at the stadium, but it was the first time I actually had the chance to look at a match and try to make my own opinion of it – the first time was on May 19th in the Daimler-Stadion and it was more celebration than football match and the second time, at the BayArena in Leverkusen, I was too busy drooling over the style of Stefan Kießling’s dribbling to focus on much else and it was only a test match anyway.

In fact what we saw wasn’t one match with two teams, it were two matches which both featured two entirely different versions of the VfB Stuttgart, separated by only a half-time break and a speech by Armin Veh in the dressing room that I don’t even want to imagine.
Apart from the first 45 minutes it was very entertaining, though. It’s good to see that we have something on the pitch that can be called a team again and that especially the older players are aware of the responsibility they have towards club (and the younger ones who need a bit of guidance once in a while).
It’s also good that Mario Gomez isn’t the only one scoring goals any more, even though he was more or less involved in every goal situation – even the goal for Hansa; apparently he got a little bored by the 2:0 lead and decided to spice up the situation by adding an own goal, after he already spoiled a wonderful chance for Stuttgart in the first half-time by just having his feet misplaced.

Of course there’s the atmosphere, the chants, the feeling of being surrounded by people who all want the same as you do, but you also watch the match from a completely different point of view. If you asked anyone who has the possibility to watch Stuttgart’s matches on TV, or even just the summaries in the Sportschau, about who is responsible for the current situation, you’d get the same name, over and over again: Gomez.
And of course Mario is, as he was called recently, the life-insurance of the VfB, but we really aren’t that much of a one-man team. We’ve all seen how much it affects the defence (and, as a consequence, the entire team) when Fernando Meira is on strike, and for reasons I don’t want to have explained he was just that quite often.

However, when you’re at the stadium you have the time to look at things you don’t see in TV. How the players interact, who is playing even without the ball, just waiting for the right moment. There are players you don’t notice unless you watch them deliberately and who don’t catch attention unless they have a bad day or are missing.

Delpierre is one player like that, one who is hardly noticed (except when the defence isn’t working out or when he decides getting sent off would be a fun idea). What they said about last season, that the team was more than a sum of its parts, is even more accurate when you just look at the inner defence. There we have two players who couldn’t be more different, both with flaws (especially Meira’s temper/anger management issues) but when they are on the pitch together, one driving the team forward, the other calming down, stabilising, it couldn’t be better.

Or Pardo. Well, he did get his time on the TV screen with the (quite nicely done) penalty, but the value he has for the VfB can not be emphasised too much. This is what I admire in players: When they don’t just step on the pitch and try to do their own thing, but acknowledge the importance of the team and try to be a role model and leading figure.

Oh, and talking about midfield players who have a leading role in the team: Bastürk isn’t quite one. From his own point of view he’s up there with Diego, Ribery, van der Vaart, but he hasn’t quite realised that it takes more to be a technical midfield genius than being a head shorter than the rest of the team. It’s sad, because he really is a great player, as he proved in the 92nd minute – not so much with the goal, which was more of an Easter gift from Gomez, but with the move that led to the situation in the penalty area in the first place. So it makes me even sadder to see Osorio conquer one ball after the other and pass it to Bastürk, who then loses it because he’s too busy trying to be technically versed to shoot it somewhere it could be useful.

The goals were very beautiful and also relieving, because they weren’t to be blamed on a stroke of luck - maybe except for the 4:1 - but happened simply because they were a good team.

Apart from the match, we also saw
- a short ceremony during which Fritzle, our (slightly scary) team mascot got a new car.
- the rather careless security at the stadium (no patting down, no searching bags – I’m not surprised how some idiots got fireworks and the like in at the derby).

- a spot about how racism, antisemitism and xenophobia don’t belong to football (great idea, but adding “homophobia” or “sexism” to the list wouldn’t have hurt too much).
- Fernando Meira slipping rather ungracefully during the warm up.
- A medic doing the same while running out on the pitch to take care of the injured Magnin. By the way, Ludo, get well soon, I don’t want to see Boka on the pitch for too long. The first thing he did when he came on was a rather nasty foul and he just continues like that.
- The Commando Cannstatt (Ultra group of the VfB) protesting against the upcoming Mercedes-Benz Arena.
- A very awesome parade by Stefan Wächter, who made a very good match and didn’t deserve four goals (though, of course, it was lovely to see them, especially since they were scored right in front of us).
- Sven Ulreich, our little goalkeeper baby (he’s nineteen) who is everybody’s darling these days – even though some fans criticised that he didn’t score yet.

What I didn’t see, however, was the goal for Hansa, mostly because it was made while we were still celebrating the 2:0. I’d still suggest that this goal should also count at the scorer-list, though, and if it’s just for Mario still having the same number of goals as Luca Toni (because, as our wonderfully cynical trainer said earlier this season, he’s younger and physically fitter anyway).

Category: match comments

Tags: Hansa Rostock, match comments, match roundup, Matthieu Delpierre, Pavel Pardo, VfB Stuttgart, Yildiray Bastürk

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share