This afternoon I went up to the Amateurstadion to watch Hertha U23 play in a Regionalliga Nordost match against VfB Auerbach.  Some well known players were in the team today incluging: Fabian Lustenberger, Christoph Janker, Hany Mukhtar, Valentin Stocker and Marius Gersbeck in goal.  

It was a great match to watch and ended in a cracking 6:0 victory for Hertha.  Here are a few photos from the afternoon -

Saturday the 23rd of August saw the first game of the season at the Olympiastadion as Werder came to Berlin.   There was a decent sized crowd there for the match (59,672) and the atmosphere was, as always, fantastic.  A great little Choreo was performed by the fans in the Ostkurve before the start and I managed to catch a bit near the end on my phone to share -

After just 16 minutes our new striker Julian Schieber placed a header past the keeper and into the net. The crowd loved it! Well apart from a few guys wearing green for some inexplicable reason (perhaps they were colour blind - very sad).  Hertha had pretty good control and, if I remember correctly they had 9 shots to only one from Werder in the first half.


They picked up where they left off in the second half where Schieber picked up a second within two minutes of the start! Briefly we were in heaven, but then it all unravelled.  Hertha lost focus following a disputed refereeing decision and then went on to concede two goals in two minutes.  They came close a few times but couldn't score again.  You know things are not going your way when Sandro Wagner is brought on and sadly, it didn't help and at full time it was 2:2.  A few photos from my phone to give a taste of the afternoon.

One piece of bad news was Genki Haraguchi injured his shoulder and it sounds like he'll be out for at least three weeks. It's a shame as he was doing really well with his debut up until that point.

But hey, a point is a point and certainly better than no points at all.  In the coming months Hertha will need to sort their heads out and not allow themselves to be thrown so badly by decisions they don't agree with or feel were unjust.  It's all part of the game and an important one at times like these when two points were lost by a few minutes loss of focus.  Easier said than done I'm sure but onwards and upwards!

The start of the season is upon us and I have a long drive back to Berlin ahead of me on the Thursday before the first match against Werder Bremen on Saturday.  It is about 750 miles and will take us most of the day to get back with a crossing booked for 09:20.   We might stop off somewhere on route to stretch our legs and take in a few sights.  Osnabruck is one possibility but we have nothing planned. 

All was not lost however.  We stayed in Oberhausen overnight and managed to get to Berlin by train.  We will have to go back to Oberhausen by train next week to collect our car but, we will be in Berlin on Saturday to see the first match of the season!!

Thinking about Saturday I hope the forecast of showers for the match isn't right but I'm sure it'll be great to be there anyway.  Werder have had their problems over the last season as well so they will pose an interesting test for Hertha at home.  I'm hoping for a good start and to get three points at home to kick off the season would be a very good start indeed.  Either way I'm looking forward to being there -  it feels like it's been a very long time since last season and, after our experience just before the game, even longer!!

When wondering whether I am looking forward to the next season I inevitably find myself gazing into that crystal ball again as there are even more unknowns than normal this year.  Hertha have been very busy over the summer and have brought in some new blood so there are some real glimmers of hope this year. The newcomers themselves are not a guarantee of success of course as so much depends on how they integrate into the team and perform in the Bundesliga. Some have come in from other leagues whilst others have had limited game time in last season.

 All of this was promising but at times possession was conceded far too easily in the midfield and some of the old defensive frailties were visible as well.

Do I have grounds for optimism?  Well, in my opinion yes.  I know I am a Hertha fan and may be just a little bit biased by I haven’t thrown reason out of the window completely.  Attempts have been made to address some of the well-founded worries of the end of last season and let’s be honest here; they really needed to be addressed.  Our overdependence on the goal scoring talents of Adrian Ramos has been approached not as a direct replacement (which would have been difficult to finance) but rather by aiming to get goals from a variety of sources.  

In the long term this is a wise approach in my opinion in the it takes away that single point of failure that we were frighteningly exposed to in the 2013/14 season.  A drop of form or a long term injury to that one player leaves you in a dark place indeed.  With Hertha’s approach of buying a number of players, all of which can score goals and, hopefully feed off each other, builds in a resilience for the long season ahead.  Various combinations of Schieber, Haraguchi, Beerens and Stocker will  give Jos Luhukay options when his first choice stalls in a game.  It mustn’t be forgotten that Sami Allagui put nine in the back of the net last season so on his day he can be a handful as well.

In the defence we have built up the squad.  Johnny Heitinga I think has been a fine addition to the back line. He has a wealth of experience and although perhaps he could have done more to close down Wunderlich for his goal the the first dfb Pokal match he also made some key clearances against Viktoria Köln.

Clearly Jos Luhukay has got some work to do as the season goes on in getting some of the interplay more fluid (and not gifting possession) but through the fog in my crystal ball I am hoping it is a Hertha finish higher up the table that I am seeing in May.  Come what may, I am still looking forward to the new season and will be there to cheer on the “Blue and Whites” against Werder Bremen on that first day of the season.

For any of you who wondered what the "Championship" (second tier football) in England is like, here is a little snapshot for you. It was new to me as well to be honest but it was a great day out.  With still two weeks before the Bundesliga kicks off my wife and I went to watch Brighton and Hove Albion play the first match if the 2014/15 season in the Amex Stadium.

Okay, the atomoshphere wasn't quite like the Olympiastadion but that wouldn't be a fair comparison. Both sets of fans were in good humour for the most part and there was a healthy contingent of away fans in the south stand. There was some singing of the standard songs in the stands "Hey Jude" and "Sussex by the sea". I tried to film some of it with my phone but the microphone picked up a disproportionate volutes from the PA which doesn't really do it justice but hey, it's justva phone so I can't complain to much!

They faced Sheffield Wednesday, a team they had drawn against in most if their recent encounters but long term, they had struggled against.

Although Sheffield had slightly more of the possession Brighton (the Seagulls) were the better team for most of the match I felt. Thus was perhaps summarised by the shots. Brighton had 11 shots with 5 on target whilst Sheffied had three shots, one on target but scored from it! Brighton had their chances (albeit not that many) but part of the difference was them not taking them. The other part was Andrew Croft getting red carded early in the second half - that really didn't help!

The match ended 0:1 and we enjoyed our rare taste of English football and found the "Championship was . . not bad at all!!

Here are a few photos from our visit to give you a small taste of what it was like at The Amex.

The summer will undoubtably bring a number of changes in terms of Hertha's squad. As has been discussed in previous posts, it has to. As early as May 8th and before the end of the 2013/14 season, the first of those changes hit the newsstands. I intend to keep this a flexible piece that I will update as and when news of what must be frantic activity at Hertha breaks surface.  The last one that was officially announced was on Friday the 11th of June with the anouncement of the three year contract signed by Roy Beerens.

Signing number one.
The first if these changes saw Hertha announce, on the May 8th the signing of the flexible midfielder Jens Hegeler from Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The 26-year-old, had a contract with Leverkusen until 30 June 2017and the new contract with the old lady mirrors that.

Hegeler suffered a tear in his ankle ligaments back in March during Leverkusen’s away match at Hanover 96.  This prematurely brought this season to an end for Jens and he is currently in rehabilitation.  However, the 1.93 m (6ft3”) midfielder should start the 52nd Bundesliga season fully fit.

Signing number two.
On May 16th it came to light that it appears Valentin Stocker (25) will be joining Hertha. At this early stage, in mid May, Hertha are looking like the king of the transfer season this summer! According to a Swiss newspaper and widely reported now in the German press, including the Berlin locals, the top scorer from FC Basel, says he will be playing in the Olympiastadion in Berlin. It is also reported he has already had his medical in Berlin. He comes after a season where he scored 13 goals and created 8 assists for Basel..

The Berliner Morgenpost report that Valentine's services have been acquired on a four year contract for an estimated five million Euro fee. If correct this this the highest transfer fee in Berlin since Raphael back in 2008. The Swiss winger will join his countryman Fabian Lustenberger Who I understand he knew from childhood days in Lucerne as well as the Swiss national team.  Hopefully his goal scoring talents will go some way to replacing those of Adrian Ramos next season. Änis Ben Hatira and Nico Schulz however, with this years inconsistent for, will feel some real pressure for their places next season.

Signing number three.
On May the 20th Hertha announced the signing of the left-back Marvin Plattenhardt from 1 FC Nürnberg on a three-year contract until June 2017. The 22-year-old actually had a contract with Nürnberg until 2017 but, as a result of their decent into the 2. Bundesliga, he was released from that commitment for a reported fee of €500,000.

Marvin was born in Filderstadt, played a total of 61 Bundesliga games for 1.FC Nürnberg and he has also been through the German youth national teams. He is currently playing in the national U21 team.

For Hertha this is the third transfer within ten days and gives a useful injection of quality into the Hertha squad. Now the search is on for a striker!

Signing number four.
May 24th - Genki Haraguchi (原口元気)

Well, perhaps the search for a striker has come up with something as it has been widely reported late on Saturday the 24th that Hertha intend to sign the Japanese striker Genki Haraguchi on a four year deal and it was officially announced on Sunday the 25th. 

The 23-year-old is the second Japanse at the club following on from Hajime Hosogai who arrived two years ago.  Genki is coming from the Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds where he played with Hajime Hosogai in the past. Hajime, who has already been in Germany since 2011, pretty well knows the ropes by now. When Genki does come to Berlin, Hajime will be a great help to him with settling in and adjusting to the German culture and language. Jos Luhukay has said he is prepared to be patient with the young Japanese and will give him time to adjust.

Genki plays mostly as a pacey "back up striker" but he can play on the left wing as well. He has scored 36 goals in 189 matches for Urawa and in 2013 he scored 13 times in 41 matches with 11 assists. These are useful figures but a much depends on how he makes the transition to playing in the Bundesliga over the coming seasons.

I think this should be a fantastic step forward for the Old lady and adds commanding presence to the back line. His 87 caps for the Dutch team and periods at a number of top clubs, including Ajax, Atletico Madrid and Everton give him vast experience that he brings to Hertha.  He will have taken a big pay cut from the €2m he was earning in England but how could he not be tempted by a spell in the German capital?

Signing number six.
Following contined reports in the press of Hertha's interest in Julian Schieber (25) from Dortmund he joined the club, as predicted on Thursday the 3rd of Kuly after his medical. It was reported on the July 1st that the deal includes a fee of some €2M with "bonuses" that could bring BVB a total of €3M. This adds to the strike force and fills the space left b are you all important now you can't do it

The Dutchman scored five goals in thirty three appearances for AZ Alkmaar last season and has picked up two caps for Holland so far.

This makes Beerens the seventh new player for the new season after: Jens Hegeler (26/Leverkusen), Valentin Stocker (25/Basel), Marvin Plattenhardt (22/Nürnberg) Genki Haraguchi, (23/Urawa), Johnny Heitinga (30) and Julian Scheiber (25).

This is quite a haul in such a short period of time!  The Bundesliga site was talking a while back about a new attacking quadriga - Hertha to share the burden without Ramos

it appears Lasogga will not be extending his contract and wants to stay at HSV. On June 30th the Bild, the BZ and the Berliner Morgenpost have reported Lasogga going to HSV for a fee of between €8 to 10 million depending on which paper you want to believe.

As always, time will tell. If half the talk in the press comes to fruition the Old Lady will have a whole new team in August!

Speculation in the press
on the 27th of May news starting to break in the BZ about a possible alternative to Lasogga if he is lured away by an EPL club. Not the most reliable source of information perhaps but it did appear in Bild two days later.  They report that Hoffenheim's Anthony Modeste is top of Hertha's not so secret wish list.  Jos Luhukay is allegedly enthusiastic about the 26 year old striker who scored 12 goals and made four assists. Having said this I had not seen anything about this until signs appeared over two months later on August 8th saying the deal is almost done. Time will tell . .

I'm sure Michael Preetz and Jos Luhukay are preparing for all eventualities!