Labbadia backs Müller in goal despite mistake
VfB Stuttgart trainer Bruno Labbadia made clear that he would start keeper Florian Müller in tomorrow's Pokal match despite his error in last Friday night's fixture against Leipzig.
| Florian Müller. | Photo: Jeollo, Vfb-exklusiv.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Leipzig's Hungarian specialist made no mistake. Müller, despite the fact that he wasn't screened, clumsily failed to track the ball. Such an error commonly costs starting keepers their jobs. Former VfB Stuttgart trainer Pellegrino Matarazzo would have been most displeased. Furthermore, Matarazzo wouldn't have considered starting Müller in the Pokal anyway. Fabian Bredlow remained the "cup keeper" of the American head-coach.
New VfB trainer Labbadia operates differently.
"I've never been that type of coach," Labbadia said of league-cup keeper switching during a press conference on Monday, "I haven't done that ever in my career. There is no reason for me to think about it. Players are allowed to make mistakes with me. That's part of football. We have to accept that. Especially in the goalkeeper position, I'm not one to change anything immediately if mistakes happen."
For Labbadia, it's not a matter of being always perfect. As the head-coach made clear, it's far more important that matters remain set.
"It's a matter of strengthening players in certain situations," Labbadia added, "Just because something does not work immediately doesn't mean that we should change. It's a matter of keeping a steady hand and seeing what is required. Flo is the #1 and that remains so for now."
Stuttgart Frevel to Paderborn - the former club of current club sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth - for a round-of-16 Pokal tie tomorrow.
