Pellegrino Matarazzo is absent from the touchline in Stuttgart's game against the Royal Blues. New signing Guirassy should be part of the squad but not the starting XI. VfB does not want to be blinded by the recent Schalke clap against Union in the fight for the first win.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - He still wants to give the team speech on the club premises himself, then Pellegrino Matarazzo will look for a place somewhere in the stadium. Without its suspended head coach, VfB Stuttgart will fight FC Schalke 04 on Saturday (3:30 p.m. / Sky) for the first win of the season in the Bundesliga. The striker Serhou Guirassy, who was only signed on Thursday, should then already be in the Swabian squad, but according to Matarazzo not yet be in the starting XI. The question of who runs up front is tricky. The coach has to improvise again - not only when choosing his seat.
"I've been thinking for a long time about becoming Fritzle for a game," Matarazzo joked on Friday when asked where he would be watching the game from. "Then I would have a good hiding spot and be very close to the team and even in the circle just before the game started." Fritzle is VfB's mascot. But the 44-year-old Matarazzo, who saw yellow-red in the game at 1. FC Köln (0-0) last Sunday because of complaining, also sounded serious.
"I think I've been getting tougher on referees over the past few weeks and months," said Matarazzo. It was therefore "possibly only a matter of time" before something like this happened. Even if emotions are part of football, he might have to "take a little pressure off," explained the coach.
Against Schalke, Matarazzo is not allowed to contact the team from 30 minutes before kick-off and up to 30 minutes after the final whistle. However, he has "complete confidence" that his assistants would "solve the situation excellently", according to the Italian-American, who had already missed two test games in preparation due to a positive corona test. Michael Wimmer is likely to take on the emotional role again, while Michael Kammermeyer is more likely to take on the analytical role.
The Stuttgart coaching team also has to solve the riddle in the storm. Luca Pfeiffer is suspended, goalscorer Sasa Kalajdzic switched to Wolverhampton Wanderers in England during the week. Successor Guirassy, who, according to Matarazzo, has an "excellent header game, is dangerous in the box, can fix balls and also make combinations", probably only has one use as a joker against the royal blue. And even Tiago Tomás "can't walk for 60 minutes" after recovering from tonsillitis, as Matarazzo suspects. The coach therefore listed youngster Lilian Egloff as a possible option for the attack.
One thing is certain: VfB need more attacking power to achieve their first league victory after three draws and one defeat. Matarazzo does not want to be blinded by the fact that Schalke have only collected two points and recently conceded a 1: 6 rejection against Union Berlin. In terms of the result, it was a "swatter", but in terms of performance it was "not a 6-1 game". According to the Stuttgart coach, he expects an opponent to move towards the goal. From where in the stadium he will always watch this.
