Our Get German Football News 2026/27 Bundesliga Tactical Previews series continues with a look at VfB Stuttgart. Oh, Stuttgart. You adorable little red-striped menace. There was a time, not particularly long ago, when the author could approach the VfB section of these previews with a reassuringly familiar collection of questions. Who left? Who needs replacing? How much of Sebastian Hoeneß' latest carefully constructed football machine has the transfer market carried away in several large sacks? Last summer, amid approximately 546,789 Nick Woltemade stories and enough aborted transfer sagas to shorten one's life expectancy, the author eventually concluded that Stuttgart possessed a talented upper-table side but were "plainly NOT ***** le contenders". They responded by finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League again. So much for that.
Perhaps one should simply accept what Stuttgart have become. Hoeneß took over a relegation candidate in 2023 and somehow turned the whole operation into one of German football's most reliably entertaining success stories. The Pokal arrived. European football kept arriving. Champions League qualification has now arrived twice. At some point, the cute little comeback story stopped being cute because it kept happening. Unfortunately for everyone else, the club itself remains rather adorable. It helps that Stuttgart possess Deniz Undav, German football's resident clown prince and a man apparently determined to turn every mixed-zone interview into open-mic night. Keep him forever. Always give him a microphone afterward.
In previous summers, Hoeneß' principal task was figuring out how to replace what success had taken away. This time, most of the good stuff is still sitting right there in front of him. The largest tactical problem currently confronting the coach may simply be explaining to several very good professional footballers why eleven remains the maximum number permitted on the pitch. How terribly sad for him.
The author shall now inspect Hoeneß' overflowing toy box and attempt to work out how all the pieces fit.
The pleasant novelty here is that the personnel section does not begin with an autopsy. Stuttgart have retained the spine, secured Undav, and then spent aggressively to make an already strong squad even deeper. That does not mean the summer has been simple. Nübel's departure creates a goalkeeper succession, Pejcinovic and Sauer immediately alter attacking hierarchies, Prömel places pressure on the captain, and late interest in Demirovic and El Khannouss threatens to complicate what otherwise looks like unusually tidy work. Before Hoeneß can begin solving his luxury problems on the pitch, it is worth establishing exactly how many of them the transfer market has created.
#german #author #transfer
Perhaps one should simply accept what Stuttgart have become. Hoeneß took over a relegation candidate in 2023 and somehow turned the whole operation into one of German football's most reliably entertaining success stories. The Pokal arrived. European football kept arriving. Champions League qualification has now arrived twice. At some point, the cute little comeback story stopped being cute because it kept happening. Unfortunately for everyone else, the club itself remains rather adorable. It helps that Stuttgart possess Deniz Undav, German football's resident clown prince and a man apparently determined to turn every mixed-zone interview into open-mic night. Keep him forever. Always give him a microphone afterward.
In previous summers, Hoeneß' principal task was figuring out how to replace what success had taken away. This time, most of the good stuff is still sitting right there in front of him. The largest tactical problem currently confronting the coach may simply be explaining to several very good professional footballers why eleven remains the maximum number permitted on the pitch. How terribly sad for him.
The author shall now inspect Hoeneß' overflowing toy box and attempt to work out how all the pieces fit.
The pleasant novelty here is that the personnel section does not begin with an autopsy. Stuttgart have retained the spine, secured Undav, and then spent aggressively to make an already strong squad even deeper. That does not mean the summer has been simple. Nübel's departure creates a goalkeeper succession, Pejcinovic and Sauer immediately alter attacking hierarchies, Prömel places pressure on the captain, and late interest in Demirovic and El Khannouss threatens to complicate what otherwise looks like unusually tidy work. Before Hoeneß can begin solving his luxury problems on the pitch, it is worth establishing exactly how many of them the transfer market has created.
#german #author #transfer
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