Ever-presents, tacklers, supersubs

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14 June 2023, 18:14 yayınlandı

There was a huge sense of relief at VfB Stuttgart at the end of a long season in which the side ensured their Bundesliga survival thanks to a play-off triumph over Hamburger SV, a welcome reward for all the hard work the young squad put in. We shine the spotlight on the key facts and figures of the 2022/23 campaign. Data correct up to and including Matchday 34.

Youngest team
In total, 30 players took to the pitch for VfB throughout the season. That tally was matched by Borussia Dortmund, and only beaten by Hoffenheim (31), Hertha (32), Augsburg (34) and Schalke (35). With an average age of 24.7 years, VfB once again had the youngest team in the Bundesliga, as has been the case for the past two years, with VfL Wolfsburg second in that category (24.9 years).

Tough tackling
3,549 – the number of tackles VfB won in 2022/23, according to official Bundesliga statistics. That puts the team in third place overall, behind 1. FSV Mainz 05 (3,683) and Bayern Munich (3,841).

Wataru Endo was once again among the leading players in the Bundesliga for tackles, ending up in fourth place with 439. Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham led the way with 482.

Ever-present
Whenever VfB played, so did Waldemar Anton – or almost always, at least. The 26-year-old appeared in all 34 of the team’s Bundesliga games and featured for 2,933 of 3,060 possible minutes. Matthias Ginter was the only outfield player in the league to play more than Anton: the Freiburg defender did not miss a single minute.

Tireless runners
Anton and Endo always lead the way in terms of commitment whenever they take to the pitch, contributing both in defence and in attack. As such, they cover a great deal of ground: Anton ran 357.8 kilometres last season, just ahead of Endo on 356 kilometres, putting them fifth and seventh respectively in the overall Bundesliga ranking.

Furthermore, Anton finished second in the ‘intensive runs’ category with 2,567, behind only Eintracht Frankfurt’s Mario Götze (3,035).

Mr. Assist
Borna Sosa delivered more crosses than any other Bundesliga player last season with 123. The Croatia international was also VfB’s top assist provider once again with seven, putting him 14^th overall.

The marksman
Whether it be with his head, feet, from open play or from the penalty spot, Serhou Guirassy demonstrated his ruthless finishing time after time, scoring a number of vital goals for the team. The Guinea international struck 11 goals in 22 Bundesliga appearances and added another in the promotion/relegation play-off.

Trigger happy
VfB were fourth overall in the DFL’s (Deutsche Fußball Liga) shooting statistics. The team’s total tally of 461 was beaten only by the top three teams: Bayern (634), Dortmund (562) and Leipzig (509).

Supersubs
Players coming off the bench had a major impact for VfB, especially in the season finale. The Cannstatt Boys posted 11 goals from substitutes in 2022/23, four of which were scored by Tanguy Coulibaly, while Silas was also on target as a supersub in the promotion/relegation play-off. Only Dortmund (14) and Wolfsburg (13) registered more goals from subs all season.

Never give up
VfB refused to let their heads hang after suffering setbacks, as shown by the number of points the team won despite falling behind in games: 14. Across the Bundesliga, only Frankfurt and Köln picked up more points (16) from losing positions.