VfB Stuttgart has reacted to its winning streak and parted ways with coach Pellegrino Matarazzo after almost three years. The 44-year-old, whose contract ran until 2024, was released on Monday, according to a statement from the Swabians.
Pellegrino Matarazzo must have had a faint premonition of what was about to happen. “I’m very optimistic that the team can win the game,” said the 44-year-old with a view to VfB Stuttgart’s upcoming basement duel against league bottom VfL Bochum and pushed meaningfully afterwards: “Regardless of who sits on the bench”. .
He himself no longer seemed to believe in his chance. On Monday, this premonition became a certainty, Matarazzo is no longer the Swabian coach. One day after the 0: 1 (0: 0) against Union Berlin, VfB announced the dismissal of the native American. A successor has not yet been named.
“After an in-depth analysis of last season, when, as we know, we were only able to secure relegation at the last minute, we started the new season with high hopes. Unfortunately, the results so far have not lived up to these hopes. We have now reached a point where where we are convinced that the separation from Rino is inevitable,” said sporting director Sven Mislintat.
The decision did not come as a surprise after the historically poor start to the season with nine games without a win in a row. Although Mislintat emphasized his affection for Matarazzo after the Union game, he avoided a job guarantee for Matarazzo, which he had sold more often in the past: “You know, I love ‘Rino’, but in the end we have to deliver too.” .
VfB Stuttgart: Adi Hütter and Sebastian Hoeneß traded
And so the appealing performance against the league leaders from Berlin was obviously not enough to convince the VfB bosses that the former promotion coach should stay. Matarazzo, who had led VfB into the Bundesliga in 2020 after only four months in office, said goodbye to his players after the home bankruptcy. “It’s not about me,” he emphasized: “The most important thing for me is that this team is successful. I wish them all the best from the bottom of my heart.” On Monday, Matarazzo emphasized that he was always “very happy to come to work” and would be “eternally grateful” for the chance with the Swabians.
Matarazzo was one of the longest-serving coaches in the Bundesliga until the separation. He was on the sidelines in Stuttgart for over 1000 days, only Christian Streich (SC Freiburg) and Urs Fischer (Union Berlin) were in office longer.
There are several candidates for the successor. Among other things, Adi Hütter and Sebastian Hoeneß, who were released from their respective clubs in the summer, are traded.
