After the game he was suddenly there. He came around the corner as suddenly as he sometimes appears in the opponent’s penalty area – just like that, without notice. But this time, in the catacombs of the Stuttgart stadium, he wasn’t wearing a jersey like he usually does, just a gray jacket that made him look pretty indifferent. And he is uninvolved at the moment.
Striker Deniz Undav is injured. That’s why the 28-year-old was out and about in civilian clothes on Saturday afternoon when he called out to the reporters with a broad grin after VfB Stuttgart’s 2-0 win against VfL Bochum: “Are you all right?” The question was not without a certain irony, after all Undav is the one you’d have to ask these days if you’re with him everything is good. A torn muscle fiber is slowing down the German international – and that puts him at the top of an injury list that is causing a lot of problems for VfB in the last few meters of the football year.
The chest ring is getting tighter and tighter, giving Stuttgart less and less room to breathe. And that in a phase in which the game plan really challenges the team. There are still seven games until Christmas, in which it’s not just about keeping an eye on the international places in the Bundesliga, but also about making it to the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup and getting through the winter in the Champions League.
Big questions are answered during Advent. The answers to this will give Stuttgart’s season a direction, but it was precisely in this phase that VfB was hit by a wave again. Last season it was a wave of euphoria that swept the club onto the international stage, now the wave is pushing them to their limits in terms of personnel. Especially on the offensive, VfB is missing key players, primarily Undav and Jamie Leweling (hamstring injury), but also El Bilal Touré (metatarsal injury).
“We need everyone,” said Sebastian Hoeneß after the game against Bochum, sounding less desperate than one might think. Given the tense personnel situation, Stuttgart’s coach emphasized that he didn’t want to spend too much time on it and instead wanted to “think in terms of solutions”. Against Bochum, one of the solutions was: Josha Vagnoman, a full-back by training, now played in the right midfield. And at least in the eighth minute, this solution was part of the problem. If they had been in full possession of their offensive power, VfB would probably have taken the lead at this early point in the game, because it wouldn’t have been Vagnoman who got the ball completely free at the penalty spot and then kicked a gap – but Undav or Leweling.
The footballers who have been in the shadows of Undav and Leweling this season are now coming to the fore
But as it was, without an early 1-0, the 90 minutes documented in very clear images what one can expect from this troubled VfB: The team manages to win against an opponent like Bochum, which is completely deserved – due to the failures and However, given her efforts in three competitions, she is currently more of a light version of herself, a kind of VfBle. Stuttgart storms and pushes, but, due to the circumstances and understandably, cannot hide the fact that there are a few creaks here and there.
“Situations like this always offer opportunities,” emphasized Hoeneß on Saturday, “we have a few guys who have real potential. And now it’s just a little quicker that they have to step into the breach.” When Stuttgart’s coach said that, he was probably also thinking about the 78th minute, in which his team brought some pretty good news to the people. The news came from the back rows of the squad and bore the hallmarks of two players who have often found themselves on the bench this season or – how could it be otherwise? – The following were completely out due to injuries: Fabian Rieder and Justin Diehl.
In that 78th minute, the two had not even been on the pitch for 60 seconds before Rieder served Diehl. And he promptly scored his first Bundesliga goal and let the whole of Stuttgart know how useful the players are who previously often had to give way to others. Diehl’s goal rounded off the afternoon because the 1-0 was already scored by Chris Führich, a player who no longer has the ball coming off his foot as easily this season as it did last year – but who is now at the mercy of injuries could use for yourself.
Führich, Rieder and Diehl: The footballers who were in the shadow of the Undavs and Lewelings this season are now coming to the fore. That was the story of Stuttgart’s victory over Bochum – and it’s just right for VfB in the tense times they’re in these days.
When Hoeneß was asked about Diehl afterwards, he praised him highly for his professionalism and said: “The future belongs to him.” Given the list of injuries, however, it should be clear: the future is now. Diehl will only be missing on Wednesday, when Stuttgart plays Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League. With all the Undavs and Lewelings, there was no place left to register him for the premier class.
#Bundesliga #Decimated #Stuttgart #VfL #Bochum
