Babbel's overhaul still has some crucial flaws.Former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel Markus Babbel (born September 8 1972 in Munich) is a former German international footballer who played as a defender. Starting out in the German Bundesliga, his first club was Bayern Munich, for whom he played initially from the youth squad, forging to the first team and surely could not have expected such a dramatic impact in first-team coaching. Babbel was appointed Stuttgart coach last November with the team in 11th place in the Bundesliga and by the time the campaign was over they were in a Champions League place. They duly beat Romanian outfit Timisoara in the final round of qualifiers to at least prove they can prosper without striker Mario Gomez
Mario Gomez García (born July 10, 1985 in Riedlingen) is a professional German football player who currently plays for VfB Stuttgart. His father is Spanish and his mother Christel is German. , whose exit was a huge setback. Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak Pavel Pogrebnyak (Russian: Павел Погребняк) (born November 8, 1983 in Moscow) is a Russian international footballer. is Gomez's direct replacement, while Alex Hleb has also returned to add some more attacking input. There is lots of international quality in defence - Khalid Boulahrouz, Serdar Tasci and Arthur Boka - while the familiar face of Jens Lehmann stands tall behind the lot of them. The midfield looks less authoritative and Babbel also has the problem of finding a team and sticking with it because he has a reputation as a tinkerer. CAPTION(S): Pavel Pogrebnyak |
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