Oops, the word slipped out! “If we reach the Champions League, maybe he’ll think again,” said Stuttgart’s sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth when asked about the whereabouts of striker Serhou Guirassy after the 3-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt. Wohlgemuth is about to be promoted to sports director, but he is still at the director level and is therefore subject to the authority of the boardroom. However, criminal law experts consider it unlikely that he will now receive a sanction for using a banned term. Champions League!
Unnoticed by the public and without any impact in any table, VfB Stuttgart has already completed a third competition in the current season, alongside the Bundesliga and DFB Cup. And in this third competition – avoiding the term “Champions League” as creatively as possible – VfB has also been unbeaten for many weeks. In January it was said that they wanted to wait until they had 40 points in their account before setting a new season goal; in February, with 40 points in the account, reference was made to the international break in March; According to this it was stated that one thinks from game to game.
Occasionally the coach Sebastian Hoeneß was caught telling the truth, and he then explained that a new goal was of no use to anyone, especially not to his team. She actually seemed to feel incredibly comfortable in that well-protected tunnel, where she could play to her heart’s content without pressure from outside. At some point the reporters gave up asking questions, which is a shame because some nice answers were left unsaid.
For example, the Stuttgart team could have said that they wanted to get 80 points first and also wait until the construction site of the century Stuttgart 21 is done. Or maybe that they have a headache and have to drive afterwards.
“After all this shit / we’re off on a journey / Stuttgart international,” is the new hit song
VfB could actually achieve a goal that doesn’t exist and never has. Unmoved by the afternoon victories of the competition from Leipzig and Dortmund, the team played their Stuttgart football for a half on Saturday evening; it was almost a bit easy against Frankfurt, who had a hugely weakened squad, at least in the first half. The now stable art form of combining controlled and then suddenly sharp passes through no spaces was not initially required. There were enough attractive spaces available, which were used with pleasure by the goal scorers Serhou Guirassy (11th minute), Deniz Undav (17th) and Jamie Leweling (37th) as well as their preparers Angelo Stiller and Undav themselves.
“After all this shit / let’s go on a trip / Stuttgart international,” the fans in the Cannstatter Kurve were singing when the stadium had almost emptied, and in fact this very true-to-life form of modern poetry was actually true that evening. “I do believe that the fans and the environment were longing to take part in it again after ten years,” said sports director Wohlgemuth, referring to the international competition as such. Participation in the group phase of the Europa League is certain after the 3-0 win against Frankfurt – but nothing more than that, despite the like after 29 match days fake news apparent number of 63 points. A yield that in recent years would have always been enough to qualify for, heck, the Champions League; But in the current season, says Sebastian Hoeneß, you need “a hell of a lot of points” for that.
So it will continue to be more than a flirtatious game if the Stuttgart team hints at their big goal rather than naming it. Despite all the visible and reliable facts that currently show VfB as a reliable top team, they still have the feeling in Stuttgart that they are in a fairytale world from which they want to keep industry cynicism away for as long as possible. There is at least a hint of the opposite in some romantic images: When the cameras panned to the bench after the end of the game and caught Deniz Undav and Serhou Guirassy mischievously humming along to the club hit (see above), the huge ice packs could not be overlooked they held onto their knees and thighs. A small snapshot – with the potential to fit into a larger framework.
The image leads to a truth that lies outside the fairy tale and also outside the square. It is at least unclear whether Guirassy and Undav will still do their faxes together in Stuttgart next season. Guirassy’s 25 goals this season included the groundbreaking opening goal ten times, and how many clever through passes the casual Undav (16 goals) also played is probably beyond even more advanced databases – which raises the question of how many points VfB would have if the two would have played together more often in this condition, without injuries and other absences like the Africa Cup.
VfB captain Waldemar Anton is campaigning for everyone to stay
So Guirassy and Undav now represent both – for the extreme potential of this team and for the danger that the team will soon no longer exist in this formation. With his bargain clause of allegedly under 20 million euros, Guirassy has become the most sought-after striker in the planetary system; Chris Führich, Hiroki Ito, Enzo Millot and Waldemar Anton would also be available for similar sums due to contractual side agreements. Thanks to an option, VfB could acquire Undav, who was loaned from Brighton, without outside influence, but given his current success, he would be able to do so for a sum that should approach 20 million. “If you’re valued like that, of course you want to stay,” Undaz later said on his own behalf – but will the club be able to do that with this amount of money? What VfB likes to do on the pitch (control!) has been temporarily withdrawn from their team – the price of success, which the sports director Wohlgemuth has organized, among other things, through clever loan deals.
“We are an incredible team and have an incredible team spirit,” says captain Waldemar Anton, “leaving that behind us is not that easy.” That’s why he’s convinced “that everyone wants to stay.” Assuming, of course, that you reach this one competition, for which there is an entry bonus of 18.5 million alone, this cha…
But shh!