Let’s try that again, shall we?
By: Anna |
3 Comments
The exams are over and it turned out that I have a lot more time at hand than I originally expected. I’m sorry for letting you wait for an update so long and I’ll try my best to make sure that a break as long as this isn’t going to happen again.
So, what happened in these three weeks?
Just a short note
By: Anna | 3 Comments
Hello, everyone!
I’m sorry to write this, but I won’t be able to keep this blog updated for a while. I’m terribly busy studying for exams at the moment, will spend the summer working and on top of that, I’m planning to move in September, all of which keep me away from following the news around the VfB Stuttgart and writing this blog in the way that I would want to, as a reliable source for all important news around the club.
Here’s to hoping that I’ll be able to get back to writing in a few months and that the VfB has a good start into the next season - right now, things are looking good, so far there hasn’t been a single injury at the training camp.
Though I haven’t been here for a long time, it was fun and I enjoyed it.
Goodbye! (And, hopefully, see you)
Category: Uncategorized
Tags: no tagsBusy with the Euro and reconsidering youth politics
By: Anna | 6 Comments
Seems like everyone involved with European football is busy with the Euro. I know I certainly am. But there still are things going in the background and it’s time for a news update.
Mario Gomez is, indeed very busy with the Euro: So busy he didn’t want to comment on the latest shocking rumour which claimed that he had signed a pre-contract with the FC Bayern. Actually the story wasn’t much more than a sidenote to the even bigger shock of Arsenal London’s Aleks Hleb joining the Bavarians. Unlike Gomez, who doesn’t answer the questions about this with more than a smile, Hleb openly said that there’s no truth at all about the stories and Uli Ferber, who manages both players, also stated that he didn’t know anything about negotiations with the German champion in both cases. Read the rest of this entry »
Back for the big news
By: Anna | 8 Comments
Apologies for not having updated in three weeks. To say it with the words of writer Terry Pratchett, “I aten’t dead,” I just happened to get stuck in a giant clutter of university work again, whose appearance coincided with the end of the Bundesliga season. I hope the worst is over now and I’ll be able to keep you updated with the most important news during the Euro and the summer break.
And news there are, indeed: Former Arsenal London and German National Team goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is going to play for the VfB Stuttgart next season. Both team manager Heldt and coach Veh are very happy with the transfer, Lehmann is looking forward to the next season and wants to contribute his part to a successful year. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: transfer newsFarewell, Meise!
By: Anna | 3 Comments
When it comes to players taking their leave from the Bundesliga, this season all the focus is, understandably, on Oliver Kahn. His goodbye-tour through the stadiums of the league was watched with great interest and the public attention will take a while to ebb away.
But there are other players leaving. They may not have won as many titles, they may not have played as many games, maybe they’ve never made such an impact in the national team, but they will also be missed by their fans. There is Leverkusen’s Carsten Ramelow, there is Dortmund’s Christian Wörns, there’s Rostock’s Stefan Beinlich or Stuttgart’s Silvio Meißner.
Read the rest of this entry »
Category: UncategorizedHope is our enemy… or not?
By: Anna | 5 Comments
Last week the VfB Stuttgart had retreated to a short training camp at Burg Staufeneck to be able to focus on the match against Bielefeld, which would decide whether this season would end as frustrating as it started, or if there would at least be the comfort of the UEFA-Cup.
The plan was to try out different options in replacing the injured (Tasci, Pardo, Marica) or otherwise indisposed (Meira, who has been banned for two matches) players without catching too much attention of press or fans. A plan that didn’t quite work out, since there were roughly a thousand people visiting the training. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: match commentsTransfer Rumour Roundup
By: Anna | 4 Comments
With all focus on Mario Gomez, as soon as the words “transfer” and “Stuttgart” are said, one could forget there are a few other people in this team. But the rumours are everywhere and here’s an attempt to summarise what’s been going on the past weeks.
The definite signings: With Jan Šimak (Carl Zeiss Jena) and Martin Lanig (SpVgg Greuther Fürth), the VfB has signed two midfielders. Simak is supposed to strengthen the lacking “creative” department, while Lanig probably is one who will start in the second team and be saved as an emergency solution. Šimak is currently working on the recovery from a groin operation in Stuttgart.
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What is and what should never be
By: Anna | 6 Comments
Raphael Schäfer is not going to play in this season’s last match against Arminia Bielefeld.
After a match in Wolfsburg that was overshadowed by the red card for Meira and a disastrous performance of the inner defence (or actually the whole team, if I saw that correctly), Armin Veh decided to let nineteen year old Sven Ulreich take over the place between the goalposts for the second time this season. After saying just a week before that he’d definitely let Schäfer play the last two matches, because changing now would put Ulreich under a pressure he didn’t cause himself. Now he says: “he’ll surely make it. Ulreich is our coming man.”
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Category: UncategorizedA competition of stupidity
By: Anna | 6 Comments
For someone who is not a fan of any of the teams involved it must be quite a funny picture: Hamburg, Leverkusen and Stuttgart really, really want to play in the UEFA-Cup, but keep stumbling over their own feet, while Wolfsburg, who nobody had expected to do this well, are slowly sneaking their way to the international spots.
On a second thought, it reminds a little of the title race last season.
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Category: match commentsWolfsburg and the new kits
By: Anna | 2 Comments
The importance of today’s match is obvious: Wolfsburg has been one of the most positively surprising teams of the second half of the season and Stuttgart can’t expect to beat them unless they’re fully focused. And with the same number of points as Hamburg and Leverkusen being only one victory away, these three points are absolutely necessary.
Considering the line-up, Serdar Tasci has torn a muscle fiber in the last match, but since Meira is fit again there shouldn’t be any problems. Both Veh and Heldt didn’t want to comment on the situation of Raphael Schäfer. He’s been heavily criticised by the fans once again, which of course isn’t helping the least.
Here’s the line-up from the VfB’s web-site:
Schäfer
Osorio-Meira-Delpierre-Magnin
Hilbert-Pardo-Bastürk-Hitzlsperger
Gomez-Cacau
Nothing new there, da Silva is back on the bench, as well as Beck. Let’s hope this team, which would have been the standard line up for the whole season if it hadn’t been for all the injuries will stand up to the pressure of having to win in order to save the UEFA-Cup spot.
On a different note, since today the kits for the 08/09 season are available. Here’s a look:
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Category: Uncategorized
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