Sebastian Hoeneß

But I think overall, the hunger was back from Stuttgart.

Obviously, that great pressing game that we've seen in the Hoeneß era, that hunger, that attacking football, it just seemed like it was back for the whole of this game.

You could see it right from the beginning, Rory.

it didn't surprise me that they got they filled the boots a little bit because this is what we've been used to really for pretty much the entire earnest era this high octane football great pressing you know winning the ball back deep in the area like good passes in intricate areas and that's exactly what we saw from the vfb in this game and um Yeah, it seems as though he's finally, for the first time this season, it seems like he's stumbled across a system that works as well.

But they were really well organised defensively and they were a clinical front.

And head coach Sebastian Hoeneß would, I think, be well within his right to describe this as an almost perfect away performance.

The Swabians flew into a 2-0 lead against the run of player, thanks to Emre Din Demirovic and Jim Leverling, who both displayed rapid reactions, really good reflexes in the box to pounce on rebounds in the first half.

even if Leverkusen's marking defensively did leave a lot to be desired.

He was a good pivot, a good target up front, and also scored a really impressive header, a good towering leap and a header to get his goal.

But ultimately, two goals wasn't enough because of...

the defensive lapses I think with more clinical finishing and fewer lapses of concentration defensively I think Leverkusen could have got something more out of this game because we know what sort of problems Stuttgart have had in the league this season but take nothing away ultimately from Sebastian Hoeneß and from Fabrik Stuttgart who yeah who after a 4-2 win have only their third Bundesliga win of the season and It's come at the right time.

And it was, I think, on balance, really, really well deserved.

It felt like they were going to run away.

with the match and they should have run away with the match against Borussia Mönchengladbach and yet sat back and allowed Gladbach to completely overrun them as noted by Sebastian Hoeneß in the post-game press conference and particularly allowed Veil Moyer to run over them the 17 year old youngster from Gladbach's youth system who was absolutely fantastic in that game and would have won my player of the week if I'd been able to do the podcast earlier this week he was absolutely fantastic but Stuttgart were bad and were completely just out-dueled by a British and Montreal backside who seemed to want it more.

I don't know what is happening to Stuttgart.

I don't know why they've been so bad this season.

And that has partially explained how they've not only done so well, but how they've been able to adapt after losing those big names, particularly, you know, the likes of Sarah Gavassi and Nick Voltemarder.

And now he's not having to do that and he's sort of finding it more challenging.

I believe that Stuttgart absolutely should stick with Sebastian Hoeneß.

He has earned that sort of stay of execution.

So all said and done, I think Stuttgart need a performance, and I think they are going to deliver an improved performance.

We don't really see Hoeneß's team put really long runs of poor form together.

And even though they're not doing well, obviously they got that win over Paderborn.

For the second time, they got a scrappy win at Paderborn this season.

I think for me, I thought it was one of the more surefire opportunities Stuttgart at home against Gladbach was one of the more surefire results of the weekend, but it turns out Gladbach were really, really good and deserved to win.

Sebastian Hoeneß said afterwards, this isn't a case of us being unlucky.

We've got no one to blame.

We deserve to lose today.

But your job is, you're a professional.

Your job is to be motivated for that and to understand that this is, you know, a three points against club back at home is as valuable as a three points away against Bayern.

You know, that's the, in terms of getting where you want to go on the table so that's that's your job as a player but it's also Sebastian Hoeneß's job to fire up his team and he wasn't looking for skate courts or anything like that but yeah I think it is a It's going to be a really interesting time at Stuttgart.

I felt like going into the season, I couldn't exactly work out which of the kind of five contenders would miss out on the top four this year.

I'm glad you mentioned Stuttgart, actually, because it's been a real learning curve for them because a couple of seasons ago, they didn't manage to progress.

And Sebastian Hoeneß, I rate so highly as a coach.

He's had to go away, rethink things.

They've also changed the team a little bit.

You know, it's been only ups for them, you know.

But this four defeats in six is the first real blip for me in the Hoeneß era.

And I think the problem is it's not only the results, it's the performances, Rory.

The front line that's been so good to Stuttgart for the last three years is just not performing at all at the minute.

If you didn't watch the match, the Stuttgart supporters were crazy loud in this one.

joshua was on fire the whole match he was the man of the match didn't even score a goal but that's how well he played dennis got off the snide with a classic dennis goal reminded me of the dortmund uh kind of uh hat trick he had a year or two ago the passes are still a bit yikes uh A lot of chances created, like Sebastian said, but not a lot of converting, which is going to be a bit of a theme.

I thought Pazinovic and Grisha were kind of invisible, but Bilal was active.

Jeff shut down another striker.

So that's all been quite interesting.

The other point that I'd kind of picked out, which you have mentioned was about Leo, Leo Sawyer getting, getting minutes in Bratislava, which was lovely, a nice touch going home and being a bit of a, you know, a star star man from a Slovakian point of view.

But, I think Sebastian needs to make a decision on what we're doing with him.

Uh, because, you know, I get he's 20 years old and I get that it's, you know, players need to be nurtured into teams and he's got players in front of him like Furik, El Canoose, labeling, et cetera.

VfB Stuttgart delivered a textbook European away performance to dismantle Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava 3-0 at the Tehelne Pole in match day two of the UEFA Champions League league phase.

Sebastian Hoeneß's side controlled every facet of the contest from the opening whistle, combining fluid positional rotations with ruthless high pressing to stifle the hosts, dictate the rhythm of the game, and secure a comprehensive and thoroughly deserved three points on the road.

The Bundesliga outfit asserted their tactical authority very early in the first half, pinning Slovan Bratislava deep within their own defensive third and completely cutting off their primary transition routes.

Grainger knows if you're a procurement manager at an industrial manufacturing facility, you're balancing inventory and budget while sourcing critical supplies across the operation.

Slovan Bratislava attempted to generate a structural response after the interval, relying on quick direct counterattacks and vertical balls into the channels.

But Stuttgart's defensive structure, anchored by Jeff Chabot and Maximilian Mittelstädt proved utterly impenetrable.

Sebastian Hoeneß orchestrated his side's possession game masterfully, ensuring that the visitors starved Slovan of any meaningful momentum.

French midfielder Enzo Millot capped off an exceptional individual and team display in the 68th minute, drifting intelligently into space between the lines before calmly finishing into the bottom corner to make it 3-0 and put the game completely out of reach.