So far this season, Dennis Aogo has been on the pitch for 546 of the 630 minutes played by VfB in the Bundesliga. Aside from his priority task of preventing the opponents from scoring, he has also got in on the scoring for the Cannstatt Boys twice. For the most recent away game at Eintracht Frankfurt, Dennis Aogo led out the side in the shirts with the infamous red hoop as captain. "That was something very special. But I know my place and it is very clear to me that that won’t happen again that quickly when Simon Terodde and hopefully also Christian Gentner are back on the pitch soon," stated the 30-year-old on Monday.
Whether as captain or not, the left-footer, who has notched up some 220 games in Germany’s top-flight, is one of the almost ever-presents in the VfB team this season and has helped the side in stabilising the defence. "The basis is there," remarked Dennis Aogo on his first two months at VfB, continuing: "So far as working against the ball and creating chances is concerned, I do see potential for improvement. I also consider myself to be part of a process and I want to play my part in helping to create chances on goal."
"Improve our home run"
The plan is indeed for those improvements to come into effect at Friday’s home game against 1. FC Köln (kick-off 20:30 CET). It’s a game which Dennis Aogo sees as "dangerous". "Considering the situation in the table, everyone thinks we should beat Cologne. To do that, we need to disengage ourselves as a team. Our opponents are playing internationally and have far more quality in the team than their current situation would imply," commented VfB’s number 3. The side from the banks of the Rhine, who are back playing in Europe for the first time in 25 years, have made a poor start to the season, taking just one point from their first seven games. So far as Dennis Aogo and his team mates are concerned, there will hopefully be no further points on the board for the Cologne club by this Friday night. "We want to extend our home run," concluded the 30-year-old.