Following the sacking of Pellegrino Matarazzo as coach of VfB Stuttgart, his former assistant Michael Wimmer has taken interim control. Reports claim that the Swabians have Alfred Schreuder and Jess Thorup on their shortlist to succeed Matarazzo, but could Michael Wimmer be a wildcard?
The name of Alfred Schreuder will come as a surprise to some but there is some logic in the thinking. Currently coach of Dutch giants Ajax, you would think Schreuder would be loathe to leave the job with the Amsterdam club for a relegation scrap with Stuttgart. However, he has come under heavy criticism for his side’s Champions League displays even the Eredivisie form is good.
He would be an expensive option for VfB as his contract runs until 2024 having succeeded Eric ten Hag in the summer. Bild reports that Ajax will only release Schreuder for a minimum fee of €1.5 million. He has Bundesliga experience having been in charge at Hoffenheim in the 2019-20 season. He has also had spells at Barcelona as Ronald Koeman’s assistant and Club Brugge.
Jess Thorup is the second name reportedly under consideration and is free after he was sacked as FC Copenhagen coach midway through September after a poor start to the league campaign. He has however won the Danish Superliga twice with Midtjylland (2017-18) and FC Copenhagen (2021-22). He also had a spell as the Danish U-21 coach as well as positions in Belgium with both Gent and Genk. He does offer the cheaper option with money not exactly easy to come by at Stuttgart.
However, having won his first Bundesliga match last week with a 4-1 win over Bochum and hen overseen a 6-0 DFB Pokal won over Arminia Bielefeld in midweek, temporary trainer Michael Wimmer could be giving those in charge at the Mercedes Benz Arena something to think about- i.e. his candidacy for the post full-time.
Wimmer is well respected at the club and more importantly amongst the players and they have certainly responded in the perfect manner thus far. Should Stuttgart get a positive result at the Signal Iduna Park this weekend, his case for consideration will only be strengthened.
