It almost exactly a year to the day that something exceptional began to take shape for VfB Stuttgart – in Bremen. On the back of two home defeats and many questions, VfB travelled to Bremen and won back some self-confidence which would be a sign of things to come. An own goal by Roberto Hilbert and a neatly placed lob put the Green-Whies 2:0 up but Hilbert reconciled his favour with a goal to being the Stuttgart comeback. Goals from Pavel Pardo and a late Mario Gomez strike turned the tie. The 2:3 was the fifth defeat Werder have suffered against VfB in their last six meetings at home which would indicate that Werder played their part in the amazing title success of Armin Veh’s side. The Bremen side travelled to Stuttgart after the winter break and did all in their power to boost VfB’s challenge for the championship. Stuttgart’s 4:1 win on that occasion was one of twelve wins in the second half of the season. VfB pulled clear of Thomas Schaaf’s side on match day 31 before eventually clinching the title with a 2:1 win on the final day of the season against Cottbus and the Red-Whites could have pulled off the double but crashed against 1. FC Nuremburg in the cup final.
Not the optimal start – here or there
At 3:30pm on Saturday, 22.09.2007, Werder and Stuttgart will meet again and it’s been five games since the Bremen club last beat VfB – down the years the record is a negative one too with 27 wins to 29 defeats with 26 draws. Thomas Schaaf has set out his stall: “We must be cleverer than the last time, have a win orientated attitude and take the points.” – Points plural!!Just one point will be of little use to Schaaf’s men who have taken just seven points from the first five games in the league.It has been by no means a good start to the season yet general manager Klaus Allofs has been able to spot some positive aspects: “For all of our problems we are just four points off the team at the top of the table – there is still a lot possible.” Thirteenth place doesn’t look good on paper though and a minus 5 goal difference is another negative issue that is keeping Werder below six teams on all with the same number of points. At the top of the seven point group is VfB who stated with a draw at home to Schalke before losing in Berlin and Karlsruhe (1:3 and 0:1). Wins at home against Duisburg (1:0) and Cottbus (3:0) laves Veh’s men with a plus 1 goal difference and in ninth place – not where the league champions would expect to be and the club are not satisfied with their results so far.
The Swabian sides poor start could well be put down to the number of injury problems they’ve had to deal with as well as the late return of a number of their international players. Trainer Armin Veh and team manager Horst Heldt have managed to hang on to the bulk of their championship winning team with a few exceptions. First choice goal keeper and German international Timo Hildebrand left for a new challenge at FC Valencia. Striker Marco Streller moved to FC Basel, Daniel Bierofka headed off to 1860 Munich in the second division, Jon Dahl Tommasson signed a full time deal with FC Villareal and veteran Markus Babbel hung up his boots for good. To compensate there were a number of introductions to the squad with goalkeeper Raphael Schäfer coming in from Nuremberg, Gledson was signed from Hansa Rostock to stabilise the defence. For creative inspiration, Turkish international Yildiray Bastürk was signed from Hertha Berlin and for goals VfB took on Ewerton from Real Saragossa and Ciprian Marica from Schachtjor Donezk. The Romanian was the most expensive signing in the clubs history but is yet to find the net for his new club – Ewerton got off the mark against Cottbus last Saturday.
No Champions League luck – here or there
Best goal scorer is once again Mario Gomez with two to his credit despite only being involved on three occasions due to injury. Last year the striker scored 14 goals for Stuttgart and was named ‘Player of the Year’. In the Champions League against Glasgow Rangers the German international put his side in the lead but just like Werder, VfB started their Champions League campaign with a defeat, losing 2:1 in Glasgow. Thomas Schaaf commented on the result: “Compliments to Stuttgart. They played very well, controlled the game and had the better of the game for long periods. There wasn’t much to see from Rangers for a long time.” Werder’s performance in Madrid wasn’t quite so impressive but they did make Real work hard for the points: “I hope we can take some of the positive aspects of the Real game into the Stuttgart match. It was clear to see what we are capable of when we have a couple of days together to prepare”, stated Thomas Schaaf. Werder will be hoping for a full compliment of points on Saturday against VfB, who will be without French centre half Matthieu Delpierre (rehab following a knee op) and Thomas Hitzlsperger who is carrying a foot injury. The plan is to make a quick escape from the two digit places in the league table.