Stuttgart's Bundesliga season has taken a worrying turn. Seven games in, the Swabians have collected just six points and sit 15th in the table, a position that reflects a side struggling badly for consistency and cutting edge in domestic competition. The latest blow came in a 2-3 home defeat to bottom-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach, a result that Lothar Matthäus described as "the next setback" for a club that expected far more from the early weeks of the campaign.

Much of the scrutiny has fallen on captain Deniz Undav, who has managed only one goal across eleven competitive appearances this season and remains without a Bundesliga strike in seven outings. Matthäus suggested the captaincy itself may be weighing on the 30-year-old, saying Undav "has no lightness anymore" and appears to be overthinking his game. Matthias Sammer had already raised questions about whether Undav was the right profile for the armband, though both pundits acknowledged his importance to the squad.

Coach Sebastian Hoeneß has responded by tightening the screws in training, with longer and more intense sessions, public criticism of individual errors, and a clear message that no starting spot is guaranteed. The club has also banned players from arriving at the training ground in private luxury cars, a symbolic measure aimed at sharpening focus.

Stuttgart travel to Paderborn in the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday before a difficult Bundesliga trip to Bayer Leverkusen. Results there will say a great deal about whether this squad can arrest a slide that is beginning to look serious.