Marked for Pascal Stenzel
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VfB Stuttgart this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Finn Jeltsch gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad19 Oct 2026
VfB Stuttgart are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at VfB Stuttgart training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dan-Axel Zagadou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Hamburger SV leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
78 days out for Jamie Leweling after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. VfB Stuttgart will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
VfB Stuttgart asked and Napoli said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
VfB Stuttgart offered $12.0M; Borussia Mönchengladbach said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what VfB Stuttgart can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VfB Stuttgart this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at VfB Stuttgart training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Atakan Karazor is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matthias Heinrich commits to VfB Stuttgart for another 3 years.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Ralf Groß asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
VfB Stuttgart asked and Tottenham said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market17 Aug 2026
Bayern Munich paid $29.5M and VfB Stuttgart took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
No deal for Tim Lemperle at that price
VfB Stuttgart offered $16.7M; TSG Hoffenheim said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Maximilian Mittelstädt has gone, the accounts have $29.5M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Jamie Leweling was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Angelo Stiller, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
No place for Grischa Prömel in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation VfB Stuttgart are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.