Fürth (AP) – After his comeback, Sasa Kalajdzic got cold feet. The two-meter striker, who was sorely missed at VfB Stuttgart, completed his winter interview course in Schlappen and was then looking forward to going into the warmth.
“I’m done,” admitted the Austrian international after the sobering start to the second half of the season in the Bundesliga at SpVgg Greuther Fürth. “After 60 minutes the coach asked me if I could still do it and I said yes. I wanted to and I was able somehow. I’ve tried everything, but now I can feel my whole body.” And also the feet that have gotten cold.
Kalajdzic: “We have to create more opportunities”
The Stuttgarters, badly affected by so many failures, were relieved to see their model attacker make a comeback after 141 days. Kalajdzic had previously worn the VfB jersey for the last time on August 20 in a 4-0 draw against RB Leipzig before a shoulder injury slowed him down.
At that time – even if it was only the 2nd match day – the Swabians were in tenth place in the table. After the goalless draw in Franconia, Stuttgart are now 15th, level on points with FC Augsburg, who are relegated. “That is not enough for what we set out to do,” complained Kalajdzic after the unsuccessful restart at the bottom of the table. “We have to create more opportunities with the quality we have.”
Last season’s 16-goal striker took a few minutes to recover. Then the 24-year-old had noticeable moments. Especially in the final phase, which was more actively designed by VfB, Kalajdzic indicated his danger with two headers (76th / 77th). But he had his best scene in the 26th minute, when he couldn’t bring enough pressure after a cross from Borna Sosa from six meters behind an overhead kick.
The storm giant is important as a target player
Kalajdzic can occupy a defense on his own – when he is back in rhythm. “It’s difficult, you can’t do it alone. You need the whole team to defend it,” said Fürth’s defense chief Nick Viergever. “He’s almost six or eight inches taller than me, so you can’t win every duel.”
Stuttgart coach Pellegrino Matarazzo was happy about Kalajdzic’s comeback. “He did our game well on the offensive,” he said and even let the storm giant play through. “You could tell that Sasa still had grains. It wasn’t the most intense game for him, he didn’t go a few ways, so he was able to survive the 90 minutes.”
Kalajdzic was the bright spot. “You could see how important he is for us as a target player,” said sporting director Sven Mislintat and praised the Viennese’s qualities in asserting the ball. He did not want to over-dramatize the exhaustion factor: “Certainly afterwards it was more broken than usual after 90 minutes, but that is nothing that we cannot fix in the week now.”
Mislintat is now hoping for more comebacks. “We had the disadvantage that 14 players were out in the first half of the season. We feel like we have newcomers here every week,” he explained. “Next week, Silas should join them. That’s enough newcomers.”
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