It’s pretty hard to believe that, less than a decade ago, VfB Stuttgart were one of the top teams in the Bundesliga, battling it out for Champions League spots. In fact, in 2007 they actually won the league title – Something nigh on unthinkable today.

But since then the Swabians have been trapped in a downward spiral, constantly battling the drop for the past couple of seasons while changing managers as often as some of us change our shoes. In fact, even title-winning hero Armin Veh was brought back to the Mercedes-Benz Arena for another stint in 2014-15, with hugely underwhelming results.

It's been a poor spell for all concerned

Thus, in hindsight, it’s quite clear that Alexander Zorniger was destined to fail from the very start. The former RB Leizig coach had no prior Bundesliga experience, and inherited a squad full of creaking gears with no oil in sight. A mere 13 games into the job, Zorniger was dismissed after another typically flat 4-0 defeat to FC Augsburg, who themselves had been experiencing a tough season and were by no means in anything close to resembling good form.

One cannot help but feel that the Swabians’ problems run deeper than just the coach, but he did not help himself either. The insistence on trying to defend through pressing up top, even though it clearly wasn’t working, leaving a Stuttgart defence that lost its best player in the summer extremely vulnerable, backfired spectacularly.

On numerous occasions a potential one-goal loss quickly disintegrated into a hammering, leading to fansing out at half-time as was the case against Augsburg or staying to sarcastically cheer on their hapless team.

31 Goals conceded in 13 games did not make for pretty reading at all, and some signs of desperation were creeping into Zorniger’s decision making, such as the call to substitute Toni Sunjic in the 27th minute of a game to desperately try and make a change, any change, that could somehow improve the team. The fact of the matter is that the players had long since quit buying into their coach’s ideas, and such things are clear to see on the pitch.

“The way we were beaten [Against Augsburg] in particular really worried us,” club President Bernd Wahler stated. “We have analysed the performances of the team and the work done by the technical staff and have made the decision to part ways.” And so the next candidate of the Stuttgart managerial merry-go-round stepped up in the interim, U23 coach Jürgen Kramny, only to see his first game in charge ending in a 4-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund - Clearly, an Andre Schubert-type rise is already quite unlikely.

“The way we were beaten [Against Augsburg] in particular really worried us. We have analysed the performances of the team and the work done by the technical staff and have made the decision to part ways.” - Club President Bernd Wahler on Alexander Zorniger's sacking to the Stuttgart club website

Zorniger can't take all the blame

However, as touched on briefly earlier, the players are largely responsible for Stuttgart’s struggles. Dressing-room leaders like Christian Gentner and Martin Harnik have struggled to inspire their teammates, while a general sense of listlessness creates an atmosphere that is far from conducive for playing good football. The defence is nervous and brittle, while the full-backs bomb forward with reckless abandon with little to no positional awareness.

In midfield there seems to be absolutely no chemistry or cohesion, while the forwards are frustrated and badly out of form due to a lack of quality service. Take Timo Werner, for example – The young striker is one of the biggest talents in German football, but finds himself struggling badly due to a combination of being played out of position on the wing due to the lack of impact made by other possible options, and a lack of chances being created by the players in behind. The common denominator in the failures of coaches such as Veh, Huub Stevens and, after some promise, Bruno Labbadia, is the players available. This, of course, hints to shortcomings higher up at the club.

The common denominator in the failures of coaches are the players available. This, of course, hints to shortcomings higher up at the club

In 2014, Stuttgart fans held a number of protests, including hoisting banners during games, calling for then-Sporting Director Fredi Bobic to be sacked.  Bobic, according to supporters, had not been successful in his transfer dealings, and left the team full of players who were either not good enough or not motivated enough to take the Swabian club forward.

Where are the club heading?

As the prospect of relegation was very real, an intense movement from the stands convinced the Stuttgart board to cut Bobic loose and re-evaluate the club’s transfer strategy. Subsequently, in came Robin Dutt, the former SC Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen coach, rather than an experienced Sporting Director with adequate experience and successes in the job.

Unsurprisingly, nothing really has changed, with Stuttgart still struggling with a squad that many feel are ill-equipped to take the team forward. The lack of quality brought in to replace Antonio Rüdiger after his move to AS Roma has been probably the most visible and clear indication of how flawed the transfer policy has been, and still continues to be. Even though Dutt says all the right things at Board meetings, there remains a suspicion from observers that he is not assertive enough in his dealings and lacks the charisma to get things done.

So, what lies on the horizon for this historic German club? The first task at hand will be to get to the Winterpause without too many more setbacks, and then make additions to the squad in order to give Kramny at least half a chance to keep Stuttgart up, before looking to land a proven manager to take the team forward long-term.

However, it could be that relegation would be the best possible thing that could happen to the club, for it would force the powers-that-be to re-evaluate the entire structure and strategy of the club. Whatever the case, one has to feel for a fan-base who has to suffer through a seemingly never ending cycle of disappointment, a glimmer of hope and then crushing realization that it’s back to the same old story.

At the moment, you have to use a lot of imagination to see the Swabians improving anytime soon. But even if they run into a patch of form and end the season safe from relegation, there are a lot of problems at the club that need to be sorted out before we will see true progress rather than just a furious running to stand still.

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About the author
Marco Conradie
Fußball, Football or Soccer, call it what you want, I love it. A thinker of thoughts and writer of words, I dabble in the obscure recesses of German football history at times simply out of pure fascination. The Bundesliga is my passion, and there is nothing better than the beautiful game.