Bundesliga
These construction sites await Hoeneß at VfB Stuttgart
Sebastian Hoeneß is the new coach of VfB Stuttgart. photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
Sebastian Hoeneß is the fourth coach this season to start work at VfB Stuttgart. The first game is on Wednesday. And the new guy has a lot to do.
Sebastian Hoeneß has set himself three goals at VfB Stuttgart for the time being: The new coach wants to win the DFB Cup quarter-finals at second division club 1. FC Nürnberg, avoid the threat of relegation from the Bundesliga with the Swabians and in the summer with the sporting leadership of the club carry out an in-depth analysis.
The successor to the hapless Bruno Labbadia starts today. He has big plans – and many problems to solve.
Lack of discipline
Sometimes it seems as if some VfB professionals have not yet fully internalized the seriousness of the situation, despite falling to the bottom of the table and two points behind relegation rank 16. Some performances in the past few weeks, such as at Schalke (1: 2) or against Wolfsburg (0: 1), can hardly be explained otherwise. The team lacks leaders and drivers. Moderate performance has been and is too often glossed over. “He will quickly find the right approach,” says VfB sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth about Hoeneß. It will need it to rekindle passion.
Lack of goal risk
The week-long absence of center forward Serhou Guirassy due to an adductor injury was a huge problem for VfB – and ultimately also for Labbadia. Without the massive 27-year-old, the Swabians found it extremely difficult to develop a goal threat. The actions of other offensive forces like Silas, Tiago Tomás or Chris Führich often lack the necessary consistency and penetrating power. VfB have only scored 29 league goals this season, only Bochum (28) and Schalke (21) have fewer. After all: Guirassy made his comeback in the 0-3 defeat at 1. FC Union Berlin on Saturday.
flood of mistakes
Because they rarely hit the front, an individual blunder is often enough to deprive Stuttgart of important points. Sometimes the defenders are inattentive, sometimes the goalkeepers weaken – like Florian Müller against RB Leipzig (1: 2) or his deputy and successor as number one, Fabian Bredlow, against FC Bayern Munich (1: 2).
There are more than three million euros for reaching the cup semi-finals. In the very first game under Hoeneß in Nuremberg, the financially stricken VfB are all about a lot of money – four days later at VfL Bochum they are about important points in the fight to stay in the league. The new coach doesn’t have much time to get started. But plenty of work.