Hello and welcome back to yet more of my Stuttgart challenge! Previously, I gave you my pre-season report and a run through of my team. I have high hopes for this season and believe that this could be the year that I win the title. I have played until the Winter shutdown again so without further ado, lets see how I got on!
August
I was pleased with the nice convincing win in the German Cup to kick us off for the season particularly as it was a mixture of reserves and first team players. The league has started off well too except for the draw against Kaiserslautern. I dominated that game and they had a player sent off but a daft own goal 20 minutes from time prevented us from getting the 3 points.
In August the Champions League groups were drawn.
A nice and easy group for me then! I think I groaned when I was drawn against Barcelona and Napoli. My mind is already thinking about 3rd place and a UEFA cup spot but I could sneak 2nd if I am really lucky.
September
Very disappointed to have gone out of the German Cup already however, I tried playing a couple of youngsters and reserves and it backfired on me. Hoffenheim are always a very tricky team to play against and with Reading legend Glyfi Sigurdsson pulling the strings in midfield for them, it’s no wonder! Champions League campaign has started with the loss away to Napoli. The scoreline looks quite respectable but it could easily have been a lot worse for us. Good news is that we are still going strong in the league keeping us near the top. Again another silly draw, this time away to Koln. Patrick Funk was sent off early on for what appeared to be an off the ball incident! We managed to draw level with a penalty kick in the 82nd minute.
October
We started off with being shown a footballing lesson by Barcelona. It just shows how much further we have to go to become a great team. 2 30 year olds, Messi linking up with Gonzalo Higuain (!) tore us apart. I was hoping that this wouldn’t have a detrimental effect on our players and the draw against our rivals Karlsruhe didn’t do much to ease my concerns. A nice 4 nil win over Bayern was quickly followed by a humiliating 3-2 loss to Brondby leaving us bottom in the Champions League group. This was then swiftly followed by the draw against bogey team Hoffenheim. October proved to be a strange month!
November
A much better month this time except for the loss against fellow title chasers and current holders Leverkusen. The more astute amongst will have noticed that this is our first loss in the league in ages! Since 28th January 2017 against Frankfurt to be precise!
An amazing run of games, too many draws perhaps but nevertheless it is more than what I done at Fiorentina and Liverpool! The rest of the league games this month went quite well, particularly the win against Wolfsburg. I exacted revenge against Brondby but then lost to Napoli which means we cannot qualify. I go into the last game of the group against Barcelona 3 points ahead of Brondby. I should gain 3rd spot as predicted unless they get a freak high scoring win against Napoli.
December
A frustrating month started off well with a win against a struggling Dortmund team who find themselves scrapping at the bottom! Nurnberg and Freiburg are performing above themselves this season with both in the top 6 but I still should have beaten them. The last 2 games of the year were extremely frustrating and is the first time since the beginning of last season that I have gone 2 games without scoring. However, the stand out result as you can all see is the 5-2 mauling of Barcelona!
Completely unexpected and youngster Sandro Jungwirth helping himself to a couple of goals and having an excellent game. The group stage has now finished with Barcelona and Napoli qualifying and Stuttgart going into the UEFA cup. We will face Toulouse who I like to think we can beat!
Final Thoughts
The convincing win against Barcelona shows what my team is capable of which is all the more annoying when I draw nil nil draw and lose 1 nil straight afterwards! I guess the shutdown came at the right time and I can use the friendlies to re-evaluate much like I did last season but for different reasons. The table currently looks like this
Not bad really but Leverkusen and Bayern are showing great form. The lead has been alternating between the 3 of us so far this season. I seem to have the upper hand in games against Bayern so if I beat them next time as well and get a result against Leverkusen then who knows?
My biggest fear at the start of the season is that I didn’t have an established man to play alongside Kryvstov in the centre of defence and them fears have been realised. What I didn’t account for is Kryvstov and my goalkeeper Broun having really poor seasons so far, in fact I dropped Broun in favour of young goalie Rafael who has done okay but nothing special. I have been so disappointed in them so I had to react quick otherwise this season could escape from us. I have brought in this guy
Turkish International with plenty of experience and yet still relatively young. A fairly sizeable 9.25 million for his services which has now left my transfer budget empty but I feel he is all I will need.
Hopefully he will plug the whole in defence and seemed pretty good in the friendlies I have played. Now to make a serious charge to the finish line and with any luck, my next update I will have some silverware to tell you about!
Josh Allen
9 марта, 2011 at 13:30
Not bad at all Dave. You did brilliantly against Barcelona, but it was a shame that you were drawn in such a tough group. Considering it, you have pushed forward. Despite what people say, Germany is actually a very competitive place, and third is therefore a good place to be so far. Good luck in the rest of the season.
Josh Allen
everythingthatisfm.blogspot.com
Davewig1980
11 марта, 2011 at 07:46
Yea it was a really tough group — should have done better in my first game against Brondby though to have given myself more of a fighting chance!
3rd place isn’t a bad place to be Leverkusen and Bayern are proving to be very difficult teams to beat. I fear that they won’t slip up. I will continue pushing though just in case they do!
Sears
9 марта, 2011 at 14:13
Super start David, shame about the Champions League though. At least you can gain some confidence following your 5-2 demolishing of Barcelona :-D Your league form has been excellent too, your still have a great chance to win the title. That new young center back looks like a tidy player too, good luck :-)
Davewig1980
11 марта, 2011 at 07:48
The win against Barcelona was stunning to watch! I did dread it slightly after the thrashing they gave us in the first game so a nice bit of revenge there! Hopefully that result will gain use some momentum to see us through for the rest of the season and the new CB will make us more solid too!
Laxeyman
9 марта, 2011 at 16:05
Pretty good start Dave, although maybe a few too many draws in the league. You’re still in with a good chance of winning it though, and with the new centre back you should be more solid at the back. Shame you couldn’t progress in the Champions League, but a winnable tie against Toulouse in the Europa League :) Good luck for the rest of the season!
Davewig1980
11 марта, 2011 at 07:50
I agree, the draws are killing us! Still in a reasonable position but if the silly draws were wins then I think we would be a fair few points clear at the top.
Ana Garcia
9 марта, 2011 at 16:57
Barcelona signed Higuain!! Well that is a new one!
Your are right in the hunt on the domestic front so you could push for the title, congrats on the result at the Nou Camp really well done!
Good luck! :)
Davewig1980
11 марта, 2011 at 07:53
really surprised by Higuain at Barca too! I really hope I can do it this year but all them draws could prove my downfall — just have to go the 2nd half of the season without losing to make up for it!
Johnny Karp
9 марта, 2011 at 17:27
Well done mate, that win against Barcelona was absolutely fantastic as not many teams can claim beating them at Camp Nou. The league campaign is going pretty well too, I think that you have a very good chance of retaining the title. Good luck!
Davewig1980
11 марта, 2011 at 07:55
Thanks Johnny! Win at Nou Camp was great and my youngster Sandro Jungwirth really done well which was an added bonus. I think I will need your luck — big 2nd half of the season to come!
Darren Smith
9 марта, 2011 at 18:57
Hey Dave, that was a tough half to your second season in Germany. The Champions League group stage offered a harsh draw and then you seemed to struggle at home too. Despite too many draws you are still in there for the title though. Your squad seem to be in second gear, if you can find a way to move them into first I think you can win the Bundesliga :)
Davewig1980
11 марта, 2011 at 07:59
League title is still within our grasp but we could have made it a lot easier for ourselves. Champions League was always going to be difficult. Afterwards I noticed that Napoli were 15th in Serie A — maybe they put all there effort into the European campaign?!