Stuttgart Could Struggle This Season Without Hleb And Khedira.

Stuttgart coach Christian Gross will be looking at the upcoming season with improvement being the main objective. After a 6th-placed finish last season in the Bundesliga, Stuttgart managed little more than a Europa League third-placed playoff round, due to the fact that both DFB Pokal finalists were qualified for the Champions League. Gross should be looking to push for those coveted top three spots this year, although in the end it may be too much to ask from Stuttgart.

Key Players

Zdravko Kuzmanovic’s battling presence in Stuttgart’s midfield will be a key to any success they experience this season. After a poor World Cup performance with Serbia, Kuzmanovic will be looking to impress with his club side and reclaim some of his reputation. Kuzmanovic can pick a pass from deep positions and also smash a few long-range shots that will taste any Bundesliga goalkeeper. His solidity in the midifeld, especially after the loss of Sami Khedira to Real Madrid, will be more vital now than ever before.

Germany striker Cacau can kill off an opposition side in an instant. His remarkable speed and strength, as well as his aerial ability and poacher qualities make him an absolutely deadly Bundesliga striker. He will run onto through-balls, battle for headers and dribble through opposition defeders. He will certainly be a contender for the Bundesliga Golden Boot this season.

Newcomers

While Stuttgart have not made many moves this summer, the thing Stuttgart fans will be most impressed with is the club’s ability to constantly churn out promising young players, and develop them into world-beating household names. The latest up-and-comer is 20-year old Patrick Funk. In Sami Khedira’s absence, Funk could be the man to impress this season and begin to secure a place in Stuttgart’s XI. His versatility mirrors that of another Stuttgart man, Christian Traesch. His main task this season will be to develop his game with the help of Traesch, Kuzmanovic and others, and then look to impress coach Gross and challenge for a first-team place.

Other than that, Stuttgart are relatively the same side they were last season, although of course they have lost both Aliaksandr Hleb and Sami Khedira, which is not at all a good thing.

Expectations

Stuttgart’s 6th-placed finish last season will be seen as a disappointment to many Stuttgart fans, who would hope that the club could return to winning ways sooner rather than later after winning the Bundesliga in 2006. It does seem as if Stuttgart will get worse, though, before they get any better. While other clubs have made plenty of moves to strengthen their squads this summer, Stuttgart seemed to have stagnated slightly. It will be an uphill struggle for them to break into a top five position this year.