Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - Former national soccer player Dennis Aogo trusts coach Bruno Labbadia to save VfB Stuttgart from relegation to the Bundesliga. "I've known him for many years and he's proven several times that he's able to turn things around in such a situation," the former VfB professional told the BW24 news portal on Wednesday. "He's very experienced, has a lot of football knowledge. He was a very good player himself."
The former defender and midfielder Aogo played for Hamburger SV under Labbadia in the 2009/2010 season and also played for VfB from 2017 to 2019. The new coach is the successor to Pellegrino Matarazzo, from whom the Stuttgart parted in mid-October. In addition, shortly before Labbadia signed, they replaced sports director Sven Mislintat with Fabian Wohlgemuth, who came from second division club SC Paderborn.
Aogo can understand the decisions of the top management. "CEO Alexander Wehrle is consistent in his actions," said the native of Karlsruhe. "Those responsible have reviewed the last two and a half years and it came out that the bottom line is that VfB is not where we would like it to be. That's why the decisions were made."
