According to sports director Fabian Wohlgemuth, the recent highs could also present VfB Stuttgart with a new challenge for the rest of the season.
Everyone is “motivated to continue writing the fantastic story of the first half of the season,” said the 44-year-old, whose club surprisingly wintered in third place in the Bundesliga table. But: “Expectations have increased.”
After the Swabians only just avoided relegation in the last two seasons, this is now an “unusual situation that we want and have to deal with,” explained Wohlgemuth.
The sports director is not afraid that his team could weaken. “When I look at the players’ faces, no one is satisfied with the results we achieved in the first half of the season,” said Wohlgemuth. You want to keep pushing and score points. “We are ambitious,” said the Berlin native.
“It will be important to have a good mindset and not expect everything to continue as before,” said VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß. “We will have to work hard for things again.” He doesn’t see any danger at the moment, but feels “a lot of realism” in the team and in the club.
The Stuttgart team has been training again since Tuesday. They will play their first competitive game of the new year on January 14th against Borussia Mönchengladbach.