Gross eyes dream Stuttgart start
Reuters - Tuesday 08 December 2009, 02:00
BERLIN - Newly-appointed VfB Stuttgart
coach Christian Gross is hoping to hit the ground running when
his team take on Romania's Unirea Urziceni on Wednesday for a
spot in the Champions League knockout stage.
Gross was named as the new coach 18 minutes after Stuttgart
sacked Markus Babbel on Sunday and, with the club under fire for
a dismal Bundesliga season, the 55-year-old Swiss has his work
cut out.
"On Wednesday I want to win. That is where the focus lies. I
want to make an early impression," Gross told reporters late on
Sunday, before going for an evening training session with his
new players, minutes after taking over.
"I want that we battle for every centimetre in every match.
That is what I demand from my team."
Stuttgart, on six points from five matches in Group G, will
book a knockout-stage spot with a win over the Romanians, who
have eight points. A defeat or draw would send them to the
Europa League.
Stuttgart, while doing well in the Champions League, are
locked in a Bundesliga relegation battle, lying in 16th place
after 15 matches with only two league wins to their credit.
Playmaker Thomas Hitzlsperger was stripped of his captaincy
days ago while the team let a precious win against VfL Bochum
slip through their fingers on Saturday when the visitors
equalised a minute from time.
Fans blocked the team bus before the match and police were
called in to disperse an angry crowd of several hundred after
the draw with Bochum.
"(On Wednesday) I want the players to bring out their best
so that the fans are again satisfied with them," said Gross. "I
want courageous players and players who will pay back their
fans."
The Romanians are wary of Stuttgart's change of coach,
saying it will give the German side's players extra motivation.
"Everything happening there is against us. It will be twice
as hard for us to accomplish our goal," team official Mihai
Stoica said. "In the first game with a new coach, all the
players get more motivated."
Urziceni will be without suspended key central defender
Vasile Maftei.
Teams (probable):
VfB Stuttgart: 1-Jens Lehmann; 3-Ricardo Osorio, 6-Georg
Niedermeier, 17-Matthieu Delpierre, 15-Arthur Boka; 11-Thomas
Hitzlsperger, 35-Christian Traesch, 23-Aleksandr Hleb,
32-Zdravko Kuzmanovic; 18-Cacau, 29-Pavel Pogrebnyak.
Unirea Urziceni: 1-Giedrius Arlauskis; 23-Valeriu Bordeanu,
4-Ersin Mehmedovic, 6-George Galamaz, 19-Pablo Brandan, 22-Bruno
Fernandes; 30-Sorin Frunza, 18-Ricardo Vilana, 32-Iulian
Apostol, 9-Serban Dacian Varga; 7-Marius Ioan Bilasco.