American Pellegrino Matarazzo has enjoyed an excellent start to his career as a head coach, taking 13 points from a possible 15 while taking VfB Stuttgart up to second place in the table.
Matarazzo, appointed in December to take over for Tim Walter, got off to a winning start with the Swabians as his side rolled over FC Heidenheim, 3-0. VfB has gone from strength to strength since then, winning three of the next four in the 2. Bundesliga. Matarazzo's only loss at the helm so far came in the narrow 2-1 defeat to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal.
Stuttgart is currently the most in-form team in the division and has kept three consecutive clean sheets in the league. Since Matarazzo took over, the team has only conceded once in the 2.Bundesliga, in a 1-1 draw with St. Pauli. The coach has adopted a back-three system, which has looked rock solid despite the absences of Holger Badstuber and captain Marc-Oliver Kempf. VfB boasts the third-best defense in the division having conceded 25 goals in 23 games.
Much of that recent success is thanks to Atakan Karazor, a central midfielder by trade who has found himself thrust into the heart of defense as the middle centerback in Matarazzo's backline. Karazor's exceptional passing has enabled him to help Stuttgart play out of the back and build quick counterattacks. With a pass-completion rate of 88.3 percent, just 12 players in the division are more efficient in possession, per WhoScored.
"Since I'm good in the development of the game, it suits me very well that I am the middle player of the triple chain," he said in a recent interview. His coach also praised his performances since the move to defense, saying "He is very calm on the ball; ... he's very intelligent and can anticipate well."
The emergence of Wataru Endu in the Stuttgart midfield has also contributed to the side's new-found defensive stability. The Japanese international initially found playing time hard to come by under Walter but has become a crucial presence in the side, protecting the backline and breaking up the opposition's passing moves. With an admittedly smaller sample size, having played only 900 minutes so far this season, only one player who starts consistently averages more interceptions than Endo's 2.2 per game.
Matarazzo has shown he is unafraid to give young players opportunities, which is a central tenet of Stuttgart's club identity. He has already handed debuts to three teenagers since arriving at the club. Darko Churlinov, a 19-year-old winter arrival from FC Cologne, Clinton Mola, an 18-year-old January deadline-day signing from Chelsea, and Lilian Egloff, a 17-year-old from the club's U-19 side, have all made their senior bows since the American took over. He has also given more game time to 19-year-old Roberto Massimo who, having started just once under Walter, has now started the side's last four games.
While Matarazzo's "young savages" have done well, the boss has also been able to rely on the old heads in the squad. Daniel Didavi and Mario Gomez, who both started their careers with Stuttgart and are now enjoying their second spells in Baden-Wurttemberg, have each scored three goals in the Ruckrunde. Gomez, a Bundesliga winner in 2007 with VfB, scored in three consecutive games and clinched a point for the side against St. Pauli.
Stuttgart looks to continue an exceptional start to the second half of the season against struggling Greuther Furth, without a win in its last three games. VfB has won five of its last six in all competitions against the Bavarian side, which has shipped eight goals during its three-game winless spell, and will look to continue that strong run in Saturday's 7 a.m. kickoff.
