VfB Stuttgart defied their injury crisis and earned a hard-fought but well-deserved 2–0 victory over Bochum. The team demonstrated that it has a certain level of depth in quality—but also revealed that this quality was brought to the field more through individual effort than collective performance.
Chris Führich ran. And passed. And ran. And passed. And when he finally took a shot—because all the passing lanes were closed and Maxi Mittelstädt wasn’t available on the wing—he curled the ball into Bochum’s net with an unimaginable arc. A moment that encapsulated much of the game against the league’s bottom team, a match VfB had to start without three strikers and their midfield playmaker. They faced a Bochum side that was cornered at the bottom of the table and eager to take points not only off the reigning champion but also off the runner-up.
Against a Bochum team sitting deep in defense, VfB managed to create attacks but struggled to generate truly dangerous chances. This was partly due to individual mistakes, as with Josha Vagnoman, and partly because the team wearing the chest ring failed to make effective use of the few passing lanes the league’s bottom team left open. Time and again, the players made the wrong decisions when it came to driving the ball forward or laying it off. As a result, Ermedin Demirović often found himself isolated, and seasoned VfB fans were essentially just waiting for Bochum—who grew stronger midway through the game—to sneak in an awkward, scrappy goal.
Clinical Quality
In the end, however, VfB’s quality prevailed. First, through a brilliant diagonal ball from returning player Leo Stergiou to the aforementioned Chris Führich, and then through the very first touches of substitutes Fabian Rieder and Justin Diehl. Both goals, incidentally, were ultimately initiated by goal kicks from Alexander Nübel, which says a lot about Bochum’s defensive struggles. VfB’s ruthlessness in crushing the visitors’ hopes for an away point was evident not only in Diehl’s ice-cold finish for his debut goal but also in the fact that Bochum had a golden opportunity to take the lead just before Führich’s opener, following a poorly cleared ball into the center.
A glimmer of light, then, at the end of the somewhat gloomy tunnel of this international break, which had been overshadowed by the loss to Frankfurt and the long-term injuries to Undav and El Bilal. VfB has shown that they can secure the wins they are expected to and head into the final stretch before Christmas on a positive note. The team demonstrates individual quality in depth, even if the overall coordination is still lacking—or perhaps precisely because of the injuries. Currently, Chris Führich is also a key factor. As was the case last season, other players are stepping up at just the right time to fill the gaps left by injuries, suspensions, or absences.
Patiently Piecing It Together
More patience will be required in the coming weeks, even though, for instance, Angelo Stiller was able to contribute 30 minutes at the end of the match, slightly easing the injury concerns. Offensively, the right flank with Stergiou and Vagnoman has yet to deliver the desired impact, but Millot is likely to return to the more dangerous attacking midfield position in Belgrade—especially as Woltemade is ineligible to play in the Champions League. The limited personnel continues to make rotation a challenge. But as with any puzzle, patience is key.
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