At times, the spectacle was reminiscent of VfB Stuttgart’s furious preseason. A huge white fan caravan had moved to the stadium before the game, the Swabians had quickly taken a 2-0 lead and joker Fabian Rieder had rocked the arena with his supposed winning goal – but then Maxim Leitsch crashed the party and brought the runners-up back to the present with the equalizer in injury time.
The wild 3:3 (2:1) against 1. FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday caused the Stuttgart team more frustration than pleasure. Their anger was also directed at referee Timo Gerach, but they should start looking for mistakes within themselves. The start of the season in the Bundesliga was a failure. After two match days, VfB has only one point, has a major defensive problem to work on – and has a tough schedule ahead of them after the international break.
Gladbach, Real and Dortmund are waiting
Overall, things are going “in the right direction,” said VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß. Sports director Fabian Wohlgemuth also sees Stuttgart “on the right path.” Of course, one cannot be “completely happy” with the results so far, admitted the 45-year-old. Of the four competitive games so far this season, VfB has only won one – in the first round of the DFB Cup with a 5-0 win against Preußen Münster. Last week’s victory was important after the defeats in the Supercup in Leverkusen and at the league opener in Freiburg, but the second division team is ultimately not a benchmark.
Stuttgart must improve quickly, especially at the back, if they don’t want their stuttering start to become a complete false start. Borussia Mönchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund are their next opponents in the Bundesliga, and in between they face Real Madrid in the Champions League. There are big hurdles ahead. Coach Hoeneß has already announced that they will continue to work on their defensive processes. The coach is aware that conceding six goals in two league games is too many – and not just due to a lack of personnel.
Defensive problems and loss of control
The defense, in which 20-year-old Anrie Chase was allowed to play from the start, was “not always rock solid,” said sporting director Wohlgemuth after the tie against Mainz. The comeback of long-injured full-back Josha Vagnoman in the second half was encouraging. But Wohlgemuth also noticed that the team had “let the game slip out of their hands” at times, as in Freiburg. This has less to do with personnel, but is currently a central problem for VfB.
After goals from Enzo Millot (8th minute) and Jamie Leweling (15th), Stuttgart could have decided the match early on. But they took the tempo out of the game – and brought Mainz back into the game themselves. Nadiem Amiri with a penalty (43rd minute) and Jonathan Burkardt (62nd minute) equalized. Rieder (88th minute) put VfB back in the lead, and Leitsch (90th minute+4), who also came on as a substitute, struck back once again.
Anger over controversial referee decisions
The first two Mainz goals were preceded by controversial scenes, which annoyed the Stuttgart team. “It was not enough for a penalty,” said Wohlgemuth and Hoeneß about the duel between Millot and Burkardt before the 1:2. The Mainz player fell because he had been given a “walking error,” as he himself described it. Before the 2:2, the visitors had handballed, said the Swabians. The referee “didn’t have his best day either,” summed up sporting director Wohlgemuth.
Referee trouble, defence problems, a flood of goals conceded – there’s a lot going on again at VfB, which is still in the process of finding its feet after another squad shake-up in the summer and has to get used to its new role as the hunted runner-up. It’s still causing it more frustration than pleasure.
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