VfB Stuttgart [FM2006] (Bundesliga M9:Frankfurt v Stuttgart)

Who will win the Bundesliga this season?

  • Vfb Stuttgart

    Votes: 6 40.0%
  • Bayern Munchen

    Votes: 7 46.7%
  • Schalke

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Werder Bremen

    Votes: 2 13.3%
  • Hertha Berlin

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    15

MWaugh

International Coach
Joined
Feb 2, 2005
Online Cricket Games Owned
great thread here mate. i would want materazzi if i had a choice
 

m_vaughan

Chairman of Selectors
Joined
Apr 10, 2004
Location
United Arab Emirates
Online Cricket Games Owned
Stuttgart training

Well the Stuttgart players have been training hard and working on those areas which Ranieri feels needs improvement after watching the friendly game against Holstein Kiel.

The Goalkeepers are having a heavy schedule, especially Timo Hildebrand.
The defenders are also having to train and practice extremely hard. Ranieri wants his defenders to go out a lot more and block the players from taking shots on goal. He is also stressing the important of out-muscling the opposition players, and using them to get throw-ins and goal-kicks in your favour.

train2vu7.jpg

John Dahl Tomasson trying a few tricks

In midfield and upfront, he has been trying out different formations. He seems to be happy with having two strikers, one of which is surely going to be John Dahl Tomasson.

But Ranieri is also confident that the other strikers and midfielders will do well, and score goals themselves as well.

"Although Tomasson is our main source of goals, he definately isnt our only source. As we saw against Kiel, Carevic has a great ability to score and create goals. Cacau, Gomes, Gonzalez and Streller can score goals as well." Ranieri discussed with his coaches.

__________________________________________________________
In the meantime......we have some breaking news
___________________________________________________________

Inter Milan dismiss Materazzi interest
matrix1.jpg

Inter Milan have dismissed interest from clubs over their defender Marco Materazzi, stating that the player is not for sale.

"Marco is an important player to us and we will not lose him." said Sporting Director Lele Oriali.

It is believed that German side Stuttgart, now coached by Italian Claudio Ranieri, had tabled a bid of around ?1.5M for the Inter Milan defender.

Manchester United and Juventus have also bid for Materrazzi.
___________________________________________________________

Both Ranieri and Brehme, who were at the training ground, received calls from the Director of Football, Jochen Schneider, who asks them to come meet him in his office.

At Schneider's office:

schneider.jpg

Schneider: "Well the news is that Inter Milan are not ready to sell Materazzi to anyone. But I have got a confidential fax from them stating that they could consider our offer, but we would have increase it to atleast around ?2.3M."

Ranieri: "Request for ?1.8M, and if we get him for ?2M or less I think we should accept."

Brehme: "Any updates on Friedrich?"

Schneider: "No, nothing yet. I think what I'll do, is submit a new bid of ?1.8M to Inter, and at the same time wait on the response from Mainz for Friedrich. Which ever deal turns out to be better, we'll go ahead with that. But then I must warn you that neither of these players can taken for granted, as we do have to reach an agreement with the players themselves after the clubs agree on the fee."

Ranieri: "Yes and that is the tough part. Anyways thank you for the update Mr. Schneider, and lets hope for the best."

Schneider: "Your welcome, Sir. And we will try our level best to get you a good central defender. Just one thing, though this is supposed to be confidential, as Inter do not want the player to get affected."

Ranieri: "Do not worry, we will not tell this to anyone."


So some positives coming out from that. Materazzi might be after all coming to Stuttgart.

Ranieri and Brehme returned to the training ground and continued preparations for the second friendly game, against FC Mendrisio in Switzerland.
 

Bala

International Coach
Joined
May 2, 2005
Location
Chennai, India
Online Cricket Games Owned
I hate the dirty italian. But oh well, Ranieri might just go for his countryman.
 

m_vaughan

Chairman of Selectors
Joined
Apr 10, 2004
Location
United Arab Emirates
Online Cricket Games Owned
Team arrives in Switzerland

Vfb Stuttgart have arrived at Mendrisio, Switzerland where they take on local club side FC Mendrisio in a pre-season friendly.

Bilder%2001.08.2003%20008.jpg


Coach Claudio Ranieri expects his team to put in a more dominant display this time around, and have more possession of the ball than they did against Holstein Kiel.

Mendrisio%20(2).jpg

FC Mendrisio's ground
 

m_vaughan

Chairman of Selectors
Joined
Apr 10, 2004
Location
United Arab Emirates
Online Cricket Games Owned
Strikers deliver

The Match:

Ranieri's second game of the season was against FC Mendrisio of Switzerland. The team has prepared hard since the last game, and will want to make it two out two under Ranieri.

The match was being played at FC Mendrisio's home ground - one of the smallest that I've ever seen.

Here are how the teams lined up at the start:
forma1zi0.png


Subs:
forma1aaj5.png

Well the tinkerman has made some rather weird changes for this game. The most surprising one being playing defensive player Marcel Schuon in midfield. Probably it has something to do with his experimentation with his defence. Other than that Tomasson starts this game alongside Ivan Gonzalez, who scored in the last game. Also both left backs start this game, with Heiko Gerber playing inside Switzerland's Ludovic Magnin.

The Result:
res1lf9.png


Goals:
goals1jt6.png


Stats:
stats1xb4.png


stats2ce9.png


So again not quite dominating in terms of possession, but as you can see Ranieri's team dominated this game much more than they did against Kiel. So credit goes to him for working hard in training, and his rather weird changes did actually work today. Tomasson, Cacau, Zivkovic and Hildebrand played particularly well. Cacau was awesome after being brought on in the second half. His second goal was setup well by Danijel Ljuboja.

So good signs for Stuttgart ahead of the German League Cup quarterfinal against Bayer Leverkusen.
 

m_vaughan

Chairman of Selectors
Joined
Apr 10, 2004
Location
United Arab Emirates
Online Cricket Games Owned
Training and Press Conference

Training
Well Ranieri and Stuttgart face their toughest task yet, against Bayer Leverkusen in the Quarter-finals of the German League Cup.

And for that Ranieri has been constantly trying to get his tactics implemented by the players. He has had the defence practice heading the ball out to safety, from opposition corners, blocking shots at goal, etc. He has also increased the training schedule (workload) for Fernando Meira, given that the Portuguese plays a dual role of defensive midfielder and defender.

magninem3.jpg

Ludovic Magnin heads the ball

Ranieri has also been working out on which formation to play in midfield. He does like having two wingers, but in Carevic and Ljuboja he has two good central midfielders, who can create as well as score goals.

He has also asked the strikers to play the one-two game more often, and should plan, practice all their tricks and dummies again and again so that during a match, one is aware of what the other is planning to do.

im_training04.jpg

Timo Hildebrand practicing his shot saving skills

Timo Hildebrand has also been practicing, trying to block shots coming at a rapid rate.

The next day the team headed to Munchen.

Official Press Conference
German League Cup 1st QF: Vfb Stuttgart vs Bayer Leverkusen
Allianz-Arena Press Conference Hall

Claudio Ranieri, Andreas Brehme, Jon Dahl Tomasson and Andreas Hinkel are attending this press conference.

Brehme: "We are also looking forward to this game. It is going to be tough, as it is a pre-season event, and players tend to be rusty. But we've trained hard, and played a couple of friendlies, so I am confident that our players are fit and ready to play."

2004-05-05__sports05.jpg

Ranieri talking to the German Press

Ranieri: "Yes, and I like this tournament to be played in pre-season, as it gets you better prepared for the Bundesliga season. It is the ideal "practice" to have for your league season."

DFB Spokesperson(to the press): "You are now permitted to ask questions to VfB Stuttgart."

Jens Rucker, Abendzeitung: "Are you taking this tournament seriously, or just as practice for the Bundesliga?"

Ranieri: "We are here to win this competition. But what I was saying is that is also serves the purpose of pre-season training well."

Lukas Molzein, Das Sonntagsblatt: "Are you having any problems communicating with the players and staff. How good is your German?"

Ranieri: "I am still learning, but as far as communicating with the players is concerned, I have no problem. I have my two very good Italian coaches, who know German very well, and besides Football itself is a universal language. If I want I can even go to Uganda and coach a team there."

Armin Horstmann, BZ: "How do you plan to beat Bayer Leverkusen. Have you ever played them before?"

Ranieri: "No I havent played them before but have seen them play in both in the German domestic competitions and in Europe. They are a solid team with a good defence, and have good strikers as well. I am very impressed by Andriy Voronin, but we have our own tactics to combat him."

Carsten Bonn, NRS: "I would like to know from Jon Dahl Tomasson, how he is feeling playing in Germany, after having played in Italy with AC Milan."

Tomasson: "I am feeling very good. We've got a good team here and a good manager, with a lot of ambition. The other day I scored a goal in Switzerland, and I hope that was only the beginning, because I want to do well for Stuttgart."

Matthias Gebauer, Der Spiegel: "Andreas, denken Sie Ihre Mannschaft sind gut genug, diese Konkurrenz zu gewinnen und Bayern M?nchen f?r das Bundesliga herauszufordern?"
(Andreas, do you think your team is good enough to win this competition and challenge Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga?)

Hinkel: "Ja sind wir eine gute und starke Mannschaft. Wir haben stark im Training gearbeitet, und ja glaube ich, da? wir jede Wahrscheinlichkeit des Gewinnens dieses Turniers und des Bundesliga haben. Wir sind mehr als f?hig."
(Yes we are a good and strong team. We've been working hard in training, and yes I believe we have every chance of winning both this tournament and the Bundesliga. We are more than capable.)

Press Conference ends.

So the manager, his assistant and the players seem very confident ahead of that game and ahead of the season.
 

MWaugh

International Coach
Joined
Feb 2, 2005
Online Cricket Games Owned
i think you can do it. by the way i love the signature sid. really nice
 

m_vaughan

Chairman of Selectors
Joined
Apr 10, 2004
Location
United Arab Emirates
Online Cricket Games Owned
MWaugh said:
i think you can do it. by the way i love the signature sid. really nice
Thanks mate. If you are talking about the userbar below the main sig, then I must say that its done by Usman, who is the absolute king of photoshop!
 

MWaugh

International Coach
Joined
Feb 2, 2005
Online Cricket Games Owned
just the whole signature is good. the stuttgart stadium with logo blended in lightly is awesome.
 

m_vaughan

Chairman of Selectors
Joined
Apr 10, 2004
Location
United Arab Emirates
Online Cricket Games Owned
Preview

Stuttgart and Leverkusen lock horns in Munich
The German League Cup or the Liga-Pokal kicks off today as Vfb Stuttgart take on Bayer Leverkusen in the first quarterfinal. The Allianz Arena in M?nchen will host this game between two sides that have high expectations this season.

Vfb Stuttgart are now under new manager, Claudio Ranieri, who led Chelsea to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2003-04. They have also signed Jon Dahl Tomasson from Italian side AC Milan, although this deal was done prior to Ranieri's arrival.

16083.jpg

Mario Carevic has been impressive in the friendly matches

Claudio Ranieri played a dangerous game with the fans when he decided to sell Zvonimir Soldo and Horst Heldt, both extremely popular with the Stuttgart faithful. But the Italian's view of building a side with youngsters has worked well so far having won two games out of two. Mario Carevic, Cacau and Danjiel Ljbujoa have been in prime form in the friendlies, and Fernando Meira has also impressed playing as a defensive midfielder-cum-defender. But the defence is still a concern.

But this will be the first real test for him, as Leverkusen themselves have some quality players in their ranks. Most notably Ukraine's Andriy Voronin who has attracted interest from some of the best clubs in the world. Brazilian defender Juan and German midfielder Schneider add steel and grit to the side, while in Hans-Jorg Butt, they have one of the best keepers in the world.

VoroninA.jpg

Andriy Voronin can take advantage of Stuttgart's weak defence

All in all, the match is poised to be an absolute cracker, which will be the perfect manner to kick start the new German football season.
 

Bala

International Coach
Joined
May 2, 2005
Location
Chennai, India
Online Cricket Games Owned
I just dont know what could be runninf in Gronk's mind after being ignored by his former manager - again. But a good start for the Tinkerman though!
 

m_vaughan

Chairman of Selectors
Joined
Apr 10, 2004
Location
United Arab Emirates
Online Cricket Games Owned
Bala said:
I just dont know what could be runninf in Gronk's mind after being ignored by his former manager - again. But a good start for the Tinkerman though!
The Gronk is building match fitness with the reserves.
 

m_vaughan

Chairman of Selectors
Joined
Apr 10, 2004
Location
United Arab Emirates
Online Cricket Games Owned
Stuttgart vs Leverkusen

premiere_ligapokal.gif

DFB Liga-Pokal - 1st Quarterfinal
VfB Stuttgart vs Bayer Leverkusen
Allianz-Arena, M?nchen

The Match:
The first competitive match of the season for both these clubs. M?nchen's magnificent Allianz-Arena was the venue for the game.

Claudio Ranieri's Stuttgart have won both their friendlies, and in comprehensive fashion. Bayer Leverkusen havent been as impressive in their pre-season games, winning just one, and drawing two games. Coach Klaus Augentheler is still confident of winning this game.

Here are how the teams lined up:
forma1wd5.png


Subs:
forma1ahz9.png


So as you can see Ranieri is playing the same 4-3-1-2 formation that has done well for him in the two friendlies. Upfront he does go with what is believed to be his preferred combination, Cacau and Tomasson. Mario Ceravic is playing the role of a attacking midfielder, while Thomas Hitzlsperger, Christian Tiffert and Fernando Meira support him from behind. In defence he continues to play both left backs, but once again has Heiko Gerber playing centre of defence. Timo Hildebrand is the obvious choice for keeping goal.

Leverkusen on the other hand have gone for 4-4-2 formation, and Augentheler does not start Andriy Voronin which is a suprise. Instead he goes with Berbatov and Lazovic. The captain Ramelow forms the midfield along with Schneider, Rolfes and Krzynowek. The Brazilian internation Juan is their star defender, and will play along side Athirson, Madouni from Algeria, and Holland's Andre Ooijer. They too have a fantastic goalkeeper in Hans-Jorg Butt, who played in the 2002 Champions League final.

The Result:
res1kw2.png


Goals:
goals1vu1.png


Stats:
stats1qx0.png


stats2if2.png


So even though the scoreline reveals a narrow win, but a look at the stats will clearly show you that Ranieri's team dominated the game. Infact during the game Ranieri had this to say to his assistant Andreas Brehme.

Ranieri: "If they play like this throught the season, we will definately be playing in the Champions League next season. We've been ruling over Leverkusen since the very beginning of the match."

Brehme smiled and replied: "Yes indeed Claudio, however I think we should work a little more on our crosses."

Ranieri smiled back and nodded his head in agreement.

Although Ranieri did also agree that the goal had a little bit of luck involved. But then Ranieri said: "In Football you need luck."

What was surprising to see is Andriy Voronin not being used at all by Leverkusen. Probably he is suffering from some injury and Augentheler does not want to risk playing him.

For us, Christian Tiffert, Ludovic Magnin and Andreas Hinkel all played very well. Leverkusen's Algerian defender Madouni was their star performer.

So with that win, not only have Leverkusen started off their season well, but also qualify for the semi-finals where they will be playing last season's beaten finalists of the German Cup, FC Schalke, and will be meeting a familiar face in Kevin Kuranyi.
 

sid_19840

International Coach
Joined
Jun 28, 2005
Location
Kolkata,India
Online Cricket Games Owned
Good start.Its good to see you giving some of your players a chance.Excellent presentation,nice image hunting to get all those pics.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top