Marica brace salvages point for Stuttgart
By: Pete | May 4th, 2010
Better late than never folks. Sorry I was away this weekend and didn’t write up a proper preview or any sort of timely follow-up.
Stuttgart were not able to clinch a Europa league berth this past weekend and with HSV’s emphatic 4-0 win over Nuremberg ensured that they still have a chance next weekend. Luckily Marica was able to level the match in lightning quick fashion to grab one point and as such allow us just to tie to guarantee 6th place. Nobody ever wants to stumble into a better position but with Werder not guaranteed a Champions League place quite yet they’ll be sure to put their best foot forward against HSV, which with Werder’s current form, could be enough for us to eke in irregardless of how well we play. Of course, tying or beating Hoffenheim would be preferred.
The last home match of the year was also an opportunity for the Stuttgart faithful to thank those that will not be here next season, mainly Jens Lehmann (retirement,) Hleb (loan,) Hilbert and Osorio, with the latter two not re-signing new contracts here.
Other news
-Boka and Boulharouz have both been put onto the inital Ivory Coast and Dutch squads respectively. Low is due to announce Germany’s initial squad this Thursday.
-The Stuttgarter Zeitung reports Die Schwaben are the front runners for 23 year old Hertha Berlin midfielder Patrick Ebert. Given Hertha’s impending relegation it’s no surprise they’ll be shedding payroll and losing some of their better commodities, Ebert included. He’ll probably plug into the departing Hilbert’s spot, and once again is another younger player who will probably a decent amount of time.
Category: 
Comments
-
Hi Pete. What’s up with Marica lately? What has changed? He used to have a hard time scoring before. Also, if you can post video highlitghts, that would be great. Thanks.
-
Hi Dumitru,
I think it’s a combination of things but more than anything else it’s just been a confidence and opportunity issue. In the past couple of years there was (with good reason) and heavy reliance on Mario Gomez and also on Cacau as a 2nd option. So he never really had the opportunity to shine as he does now.
As this year has progressed his playing time and starts have also increased. Earlier on Pogrebnyak and to a lesser extent Schieber were starting ahead of him (along with Cacau.) With the early struggles and lack of any consistent offensive threat w/Pogrebnyak and Schieber he’s cemented his place in the starting lineup by proving himself to be a reliable option. I think he’s just seen the opportunity to step up and done more with it than some of the other striking options we have.
Home 
