VfB Stuttgart Americana – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Whoa ... what a week!

Ted and Travis chat the loss at Real and the win versus BVB.

And, yes, a win versus some former VfB players as well.

Ahem.

The international break is over and we know what you need!

US!

Or a big VfB win on the road!

Or both.

But mostly the win!

Matt, Ted, and Travis are back to give some Shout Outs to the Frauen, VfBII, and the sweet, sweet, new Champions League kits!

Part Two breaks down the win on the road with special attention given to the tale of two halves, the play of Deniz and Demi, the improving play of Anrie and Jeff, the impact of the bench, and a bit of applause to old friend* Dr. Brych for making history.

News & Q's in Part Three is Champions League heavy as the guys look at the schedule, the money, and the roster rules of the most elite tournament in all of football and ends, of course, by pandering to a potential sponsor. As you'd expect!

Episode 131 wraps up with a look at the week ahead, a "let's have fun" match versus legendary Real Madrid and then what will no doubt be an emotional roller coaster versus a certain club from Dortmund.

All that and talk about how much a Maxi Middle-Sized State kit might cost!

Due to some uploading issues we've had we are re-uploading episode 123 back up into the interweb as two parts. If you were able to listen to this episode already, there's nothing new here but we're attempting to upload this in two parts to get it back on good 'ol Spotify! Anyway ... Part One includes Shout Outs while Part Two breaks down the VfBBMG match!

In this episode Rob joins us as we review the results of our VfB Holiday Hinrunde Review and preview the Rückrunde!   In Part One, we summarize our Hinrunde Report cards and see where the club ranks (at least in the eyes of super knowledgable* Americans).  In Part Two, we take a look at some of the big player news heading into the second half of the season, talk about old friend Gonzalo Castro, question how Augsburg is the new "it" club, and wonder if tennis pro Jonas Björkman is really going to the difference maker for Hertha. Then we take a look look at the upcoming matches month by agonizing month, and finally break down Saturday's big big match at Fürth before predicting each and every Bundesliga match this weekend - and then accidently deleting said predictions!  Yay technology!   Finally we wrap up with "what we learned" about report cards and how Rob was one of the smartest kids, percentage-wise anyway, around.

It's the second segment of our VfB Stuttgart American Holiday Hinrunde Review!  In segment one we chatted with Ted, Doug, and Daniel while in segment two we talk with Joe, Matt, Rob, and Robin!  In Part Four, we travel to Maryland and talk with Joe, a frequent contributor to the podcast, who started his VfB fandom after his FIFA career started off by being loaned from Barcelona to Stuttgart.  In Part Five, we head back to Michigian where friend of the show Matt explains how as long as the team can control Covid, they'll be okay.  But before Matt can finish his sentence, Rob from Wisconsin pops in to provide some much needed positivity!  In Part 6, Robin from Norway sends in a written response to our questions, explaining how he travelled with Sven from Arsenal to VfB.  Like Part One-Three, Joe, Matt, Rob, and Robin will all give VfB a report card, name team MVPs, and predict the future of the club's success heading into 2022! 

Enjoy (as much as you can enjoy an unedited and terribly produced podcast with horrific sound quality!)

Part 1 - Joe - 1:39-32:49

Part 2 - Matt & Rob - 32:59-1:04:18

Part 3 - Robin - 1:04:28-end

Welcome to our first ever VfB Stuttgart American Holiday Hinrunde Review!  In the next few episodes we'll chat with local(ish) American-based VfB supporters to get their thoughts on the first half of the season.  We'll give VfB a report card for their performance, name team MVPs, and predict the future of the club's success heading into 2022.  To get started, in Part One of Episode 31, we stay local and look to the southern part of our area (O-H-I-O!) and  talk with Ted, Cincinnati's own VfB supporter to learn he's been a fan for almost the entirety of the 21st century!  In Part Two we go east to Youngstown's top VfB fan, Doug, who is brand new to the "fun" of the typical VfB season!  In Part Three, we wrap up this segment by crossing the state border and heading to neighboring Michigan to get a written review from Danny, who actually hailed from Stuttgart! 

Part 1 - Ted - 1:39-32:49

Part 2 - Doug - 32:59-1:04:18

Part 3 - Daniel - 1:04:28-end

In this episode Matt joins us to celebrate VfB ending the hinrunde in the playoffs!  Which, as it turns out, is nothing to celebrate.  Be that as it may, in part one we break down the last minute loss to Effzeh, compare the threatening crosses of the home team to the toothless dribbling of VfB, discuss the same 'ol same 'ol, ask some uninformed questions about substitution patters, and tip our Baumgart-like cap to Cologne's overall domination of the last match of the first half of the season.  In part two we answer a listener question regarding where we'd like to see VfB play and then in part three we play some good old fashioned true or false regarding Florian, Marc, and old friend Gonzalo.  Finally we wrap up this podcast by congratulating co-hosts Jeff and Austin on their prediction prowess before predicting the biggest American football match of the year, Green Bay versus Cleveland!

In this episode we briefly break down match day 16 before spending as much time as possible on the final match of 2021!  And as a special treat, California's resident Hennes supporter Jeff joins us FOR THE ENTIRE EPISODE!  In part one we talk about the loss to Bayern as little as possible before moving on the part two and listener questions, discussing our views on a particular defensive player's impending move to Hertha Berlin and its impact on the squad.  In part three we do a deep dive on the VfB:FOE match, breaking down each position group before controversially challenging the status of Hennes as the greatest mascot in the Bundesliga.  Finally we give our predictions and our final wager in what is a huge match not only for VfB and FC Koln, but for Travis and Jeff's friendship as well!

In episode 28 we are joined by Matt as we break down the 0:2 win at Wolfsburg!  In part one we discuss everything we know about this much needed win (which is different than everything there IS to know), including how Matt knew VfB would win (The Rule of Florian), Dino's power goal, our combined love of Philipp Förster, the maddeningly positive chaos of Coulibaly, and that cheeky fella on loan from Wolfsburg, Omar Marmoush.  Along the way we compare Marsch v. Matarazzo, whether it's better to be lucky than good, and whether Silas is the VfB lucky charm.  In part two we somehow bring up Sascha Mölders from 1860 Munich as we attempt to answer listener questions before we dive into part three and preview the upcoming matches versus Bayern and Effzeh that will wrap up the first half of the season.  In part four we talk about what we learned from former VfBer Timo Baumgartl's cameo on a German soap opera.

Intrigued?!  Give it a listen!

In part one of episode 27 we break down the 2:2 draw versus Hertha Berlin with special guest Ed @edzelaski from @bearcast1892!  Not only is Ed an official Hertha supporter, but he's also from Cleveland, meaning this podcast goes out of it's way to be Cleveland-centric as we force you to listen to our thoughts on the impact of FIFA2000, AFC Cleveland, and the greatness of local soccer legend Vinny Bell.  We eventually get back to the Bundesliga and chat about the match, VAR, the return of Korkut, and the future of both our clubs.  In part two Austin joins us in his new belligerent segment "R u reffing kidding me?!" as he breaks down all the weekend's officiating controversies.  Part three sees us attempt to answer a record five - FIVE! - listener questions that include all of our favorite things - Daniel Didavi, Philip Forster, and of course TippKick.  Jeff joins us in part four - from his car - to talk "Random Thoughts with Jeff with Jeff" as we cover the letter "V" before Austin and Travis wrap up this episode with part six's predictions of the upcoming VfB match as well as all of the upcoming Bundesliga matches as well.  Finally - and thankfully - we conclude with what we learned about Omar Marmoush's ... socks.  

Part 1 with Hertha Ed - 0:00-38:25

Part 2 "R u reffing kidding me" and Part 3 Listener Questions with Aus - 38:35-53:29

Part 4 "RTWJWJ" and the Letter V - 53:39-1:07:58

Part 5 VfL:VfB Predictions and Part 6 Bundesliga Predictions - 1:08:08-1:28:36