The Current State Of Stuttgart In The League
The 2021/22 Bundesliga campaign has been somewhat of a struggle for VfB Stuttgart, with Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side languishing in the bottom half of the table.
The modern day Stuttgart FC are not one of Germany’s top tier football clubs – nor do they claim to be. They simply do not possess the spending power of Bayern Munich, the attraction of Borussia Dortmund or the hunger of RB Leipzig.
However, Stuttgart do boast a rich history of success. With five German league titles, three DFB-Pokal triumphs and a German Super Cup on the honours list, the club has an illustrious past.
Supporters who lived through the early 1990s will recall Stuttgart winning three trophies in the space of six years. They are a long way off that level now, with the club suffering two relegations since their last major trophy.
It looked like Stuttgart had learned their lesson following their second relegation. A ninth placed finish in 2020/21 gave fans plenty of reason to be optimistic ahead of the current campaign.
Unfortunately, things haven’t gone to plan and Stuttgart find themselves in another titanic battle to stay in Germany’s top flight. Should Stuttgart FC stay up, something must be done to ensure they climb the Bundesliga ladder in the coming years.
Here, I attempt to dissect the current state of VfB Stuttgart and why they are in danger of becoming a club who yoyo between the top two tiers of German football.
Inconsistency A Major Issue
It is difficult to sum up a club’s entire season in the space of two months but February and March give a decent indication with regards to VfB Stuttgart.
Some weeks great, other weeks awful – consistency has been the biggest issue for the club this season and there is an ominous cloud over the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
Here, we’ve provided Stuttgart results and fixtures during the period in question…
- 05/02: Stuttgart 2-3 Eintracht Frankfurt
- 12/02: Leverkusen 4-2 Stuttgart
- 19/02: Stuttgart 1-1 Bochum
- 25/02: Hoffenheim 2-1 Stuttgart
- 05/03: Stuttgart 3-2 Monchengladbach
- 12/03: Union Berlin 1-1 Stuttgart
- 19/03: Stuttgart 3-2 Augsburg
- 26/03: Stuttgart 2-3 Sandhausen
What a mess. Even if you exclude the friendly with Sandhausen, there is an obvious problem that stands out like a sore thumb: no clean sheet.
Conceding an average of two goals per game over the period, Matarazzo’s side have failed to inspire confidence defensively for the entirety of the 2021/22 Bundesliga campaign.
In fact, they’ve kept just three clean sheets all season – and that puts additional pressure on the attackers to perform.
Scoring goals hasn’t been the issue. Defensively, Stuttgart have been found wanting on so many occasions and they have allowed more than 50 goals once again.
With seven games remaining, they look destined to surpass last season’s tally of 55 barring the most miraculous of turnarounds.
At the other end, Matarazzo’s side have failed to score in eight games this season. While three of those shutouts came in games against Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, there were a handful of disappointing results.
Losing 1-0 at home to Arminia Bielefeld in November was tough to take. A direct rival in the relegation fight, Stuttgart were toothless in attack – and that could end up being a huge result come May.
Is Pellegrino Matarazzo Right For Stuttgart?
He guided the club to promotion in 2019/2020 but there are doubts over the manager’s position – and with good reason.
Matarazzo’s record since taking over in 2019 is decent enough but it is skewed in his favour with the majority of that 2. Bundesliga season in charge.
There is no doubt that performances have been disappointing this year but have outside factors impacted Stuttgart’s progress?
Without making too many excuses for him, Matarazzo has a point when he refers to injuries having a major impact on VfB Stuttgart results – especially early on in the season.
Speaking to Bundesliga.com, Matarazzo exclaimed: “We had a rough and bumpy first leg of the season.
“We didn’t have two of our top goalscorers for the first half of the season. Not wanting to make any excuses because we have other players… but it was just a continuous destabilisation of the squad with a lot of players falling out of the roster.
“We fought through that, tried to stabilise a bit through less variations in our game. We conceded many goals by losing possession, which created a certain loss of self-confidence moving forward.
“So we needed to change our style of play – less variations and just kind of started battling for relegation.”
Matarazzo has a point. He led Stuttgart to a top half finish last season and you can easily form an argument that he deserves more time.
However, time often isn’t afforded to managers in the modern era. Whether Matarazzo is in charge at the start of next season or not will rely heavily on Stuttgart avoiding the drop…
What Next For Stuttgart?
We’ll learn a lot about this Stuttgart team in the coming months. Mentally, Stuttgart need to prove themselves and results have to improve.
This is the stage of the season where leaders are born. Players must step up and be counted – relish the responsibility and control your own destiny.
Defensively, a clean sheet would do wonders for confidence. Fans are heading into matches assuming they’ll need to score twice to win as their defensive record is so poor.
In addition, it speaks volumes that central defender Konstantinos Mavropanos is Stuttgart’s leading goal scorer this season. Their strikers must start firing sooner rather than later.
Every game is a cup final for Matarazzo and his players. If they are up to the challenge, they’ll survive. If not, it’s back down to 2. Bundesliga for the third time since 2016.
VfB Stuttgart are in control of their Bundesliga destiny. It’s been a topsy turvy journey this season but let’s hope they can step up when it matters most of all.
