Well here were are, a week after Hertha’s started this years campaign with the first round DFB Pokal game in Braunschweig. Unless you count the World Cup we had been a long time without any football to watch and I for one was starting to develop nervous twitches as a result.
I was well prepared for the game with my new, larger Hertha flag flying off a pole on my garden fence (sorry Jan). I was at least mildly interested to see how some of the new signings would do. We have a lot of young talent in the squad now (the new guys having an average age of 20.6) but we also have experience with the likes Kalou and Ibisevic to help bring them along.
Exciting times and good to see the club looking forward within its budget.
I was well prepared for the game with my new, larger Hertha flag flying off a pole on my garden fence (sorry Jan). I was at least mildly interested to see how some of the new signings would do. We have a lot of young talent in the squad now (the new guys having an average age of 20.6) but we also have experience with the likes Kalou and Ibisevic to help bring them along.
Exciting times and good to see the club looking forward within its budget.
The newcomers (and some not so new)
- Valentino Lazaro (Right Winger) 22 5,850,000EUR
- Pascal Köpke (Centre-Forward). 22. 1,800,000EUR
- Lukas Klünter (Right-Back). 22 1,800,000EUR
- Javairô Dilrosun (Left Winger) 20 Free
- Dennis Jastrzembski (DJ) (Left Winger) 18 Free
- Maurice Covic (Right Winger). 20 Free
- Muhammed Kiprit (Centre-Forward). 18 Free
- Dennis Smarsch (Goalkeeper). 19 Free
- Marius Gersbeck (Goalkeeper). 23 Free
- Marko Grujic 22 Loan
- Derrick Luckassen 23 Loan
In Braunschweig Hertha started with a 3:4:3 formation with three at the back - Torunarigha, Rekik and Stark in front of Rune. Mittlestadt, Ibisevic and Kalou formed the front line. The game started quite slowly at first with Hertha trying to find their feet and gain control of the game but it didn’t take long before Rekik’s outstretched foot was needed to vitally block a goal bound shot. Shortly after this at the other end a cross from Lazaro found the Vedator’s head but he couldn’t keep it down and his header inched over the bar. Hertha kept up the attacking play as a chip over the top from Arne Maier reached Maxi Mittelstadt but he couldn’t keep his shot down and on target. This was a promising phase nonetheless.
Photos courtesy of Nico and Axel Kruse Jugend - thanks!
The breakthrough occurred when Braunschweig conceded a free kick on the right which that was taken by Lazaro who drifted the ball into a crowded box with people queuing up to attach the ball in the air. The Braunschweig keeper beat them all and gave the incoming ball a strong punch well out of the penalty area and he supposed, safety. He was wrong. The punch took the ball straight to Marvin Plattenhardt who struck the ball on the volley straight into the corner of the net giving the hapless keeper no chance. The goal was a thing go beauty and one Marvin will remember fondly to the end of his days I’m sure.
The lads went in at half time with the goal advantage and emerged afterwards without any changes to the lineup. Pal was sticking with what was winning formula for the moment at least. At one point there was a string of corners and near corner throw ins for Hertha. One of the throw-ins found Ibisevic on the near post and he nearly sneaked it in only to be denied by a one handed save.
Things then started to hot up and a shot from Braunschweig was blocked by Touranarigha’s back as he faced towards the goal. I’m not sure what he was looking at back there but his back was certainly in the right place at the right time to block the shot. In the 75th minute Dardai made his first change and it was to turn out later to be an eventful one as the youngster Dennis Jastrzembski (DJ) came on to replace Kalou. This was DJ’s first professional game and one I’m sure he’ll remember for a while (like Marvin Plattenhardt). The change however did nothing to end a nervy period for Hertha as another shot from the second division team was only kept out by the post. Things went a little pear shaped in the 81st minute when a pass from the half way line found Mergim Fejullahu who danced around four Hertha layers turned and shot beating Jarstein in the process.
It would have been easy for Hertha to have the wind taken out of their sails at this point but they showed good character and rallied straight away. A chip over the top from Duda in midfield found the fresh legs of DJ running into the box. In his first professional game finding himself in this position many players would have just swung their leg at it but DJ was disciplined in his approach and clinical in his delivery. He put the ball across the goal in front of Vedad Ibisevic who was already sliding in and the Vedator studded the ball into the open net.
An impressive display especially for the Dennis Jastrzembski and marvelous Marvin put Hertha into the second round of the Pokal to play away in Darmstadt in late October.
The lads went in at half time with the goal advantage and emerged afterwards without any changes to the lineup. Pal was sticking with what was winning formula for the moment at least. At one point there was a string of corners and near corner throw ins for Hertha. One of the throw-ins found Ibisevic on the near post and he nearly sneaked it in only to be denied by a one handed save.
Things then started to hot up and a shot from Braunschweig was blocked by Touranarigha’s back as he faced towards the goal. I’m not sure what he was looking at back there but his back was certainly in the right place at the right time to block the shot. In the 75th minute Dardai made his first change and it was to turn out later to be an eventful one as the youngster Dennis Jastrzembski (DJ) came on to replace Kalou. This was DJ’s first professional game and one I’m sure he’ll remember for a while (like Marvin Plattenhardt). The change however did nothing to end a nervy period for Hertha as another shot from the second division team was only kept out by the post. Things went a little pear shaped in the 81st minute when a pass from the half way line found Mergim Fejullahu who danced around four Hertha layers turned and shot beating Jarstein in the process.
It would have been easy for Hertha to have the wind taken out of their sails at this point but they showed good character and rallied straight away. A chip over the top from Duda in midfield found the fresh legs of DJ running into the box. In his first professional game finding himself in this position many players would have just swung their leg at it but DJ was disciplined in his approach and clinical in his delivery. He put the ball across the goal in front of Vedad Ibisevic who was already sliding in and the Vedator studded the ball into the open net.
An impressive display especially for the Dennis Jastrzembski and marvelous Marvin put Hertha into the second round of the Pokal to play away in Darmstadt in late October.
Five days later came the opening match of the Bundesliga season against FC Nurnberg. I think I read somewhere that 55 years earlier Hertha faced FC Nürnberg in their very first Bundesliga game when the league was first created. Putting history aside in some ways the game was overshadowed by a massive fan relationship gaff that I’ll go into after I jot a few things down about the game itself.
Hertha started with the same 3:4:3 formation that Pal Dardai used in the cup game earlier in the week - “if it ain’t broke - don’t fix it” the saying goes. The opening half hour saw some early half chances for Hertha with a corner from Plattenhardt nearly finding Torunarigha but Jordan couldn’t quite get hold of it. Then came a sight fairly high on the bizarre scale as Stark took out the Nurnberg manager with a sliding tackle. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before - another Hertha first!
Nürnberg did come back a few times but never really created any serious threats and shots on target were easily taken by Jarstein. The breakthrough in this game came in the 27th minute and again involved Lazaro who is proving such a key player. In this instance Kalou passed the ball to Lazaro who proceeded to skip and turn his way past his covering defender and get away a killer pass to an unmarked Ibisevic who promptly tapped in his second goal of the season. There was a claim by a Nürnberg player that Ibisevic trips him in the midfield prior to the goal and it was taken to VAR but he’d just tripped over his own feet and the goal was given.
Hertha went in at half time, like the cup game a goal up but you can never feel secure with just one goal. There were a few more chances for Hertha to finish it off including a pass from Plattenhardt to Stark to headed it towards the goal only to be beaten by a fine save from a full stretch goal keeper. At the other end Jarstein blocked another shot on his near post to keep the one goal lead. One notable substitution was made as Dennis Jastrzembski became the first player born in this century to play for Hertha in the Bundesliga! (Makes you feel old doesn’t it?). He has also been named in the U19 Germany squad to play against Switzerland and Slovenia - quite a week for the lad!
Then a controversial call to award a penalty to Nürnberg was made. Allegedly Rekik handled the ball when it was stuck towards him in the box but it wasn’t a penalty for me.
The second great drama, arguably the third, was Rune Jarstein facing his fellow Scandinavian Mikael Ishak on the penalty spot. Perhaps it wasn’t the best penalty in the world but it was hit hard and strong. Not strong enough and Rune saved it and I nearly burst my lungs roaring my delight!
Hertha started with the same 3:4:3 formation that Pal Dardai used in the cup game earlier in the week - “if it ain’t broke - don’t fix it” the saying goes. The opening half hour saw some early half chances for Hertha with a corner from Plattenhardt nearly finding Torunarigha but Jordan couldn’t quite get hold of it. Then came a sight fairly high on the bizarre scale as Stark took out the Nurnberg manager with a sliding tackle. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before - another Hertha first!
Nürnberg did come back a few times but never really created any serious threats and shots on target were easily taken by Jarstein. The breakthrough in this game came in the 27th minute and again involved Lazaro who is proving such a key player. In this instance Kalou passed the ball to Lazaro who proceeded to skip and turn his way past his covering defender and get away a killer pass to an unmarked Ibisevic who promptly tapped in his second goal of the season. There was a claim by a Nürnberg player that Ibisevic trips him in the midfield prior to the goal and it was taken to VAR but he’d just tripped over his own feet and the goal was given.
Hertha went in at half time, like the cup game a goal up but you can never feel secure with just one goal. There were a few more chances for Hertha to finish it off including a pass from Plattenhardt to Stark to headed it towards the goal only to be beaten by a fine save from a full stretch goal keeper. At the other end Jarstein blocked another shot on his near post to keep the one goal lead. One notable substitution was made as Dennis Jastrzembski became the first player born in this century to play for Hertha in the Bundesliga! (Makes you feel old doesn’t it?). He has also been named in the U19 Germany squad to play against Switzerland and Slovenia - quite a week for the lad!
Then a controversial call to award a penalty to Nürnberg was made. Allegedly Rekik handled the ball when it was stuck towards him in the box but it wasn’t a penalty for me.
The second great drama, arguably the third, was Rune Jarstein facing his fellow Scandinavian Mikael Ishak on the penalty spot. Perhaps it wasn’t the best penalty in the world but it was hit hard and strong. Not strong enough and Rune saved it and I nearly burst my lungs roaring my delight!
It stayed 1:0 and Hertha’s first three points in the bag for this season I was able to come home a happy fan, well, mostly. The spanner in the works was aforementioned fan relationship gaff from the powers that be at the club. It all came to light, on the night before the game against FC Nürnberg and fans had a little bit of a shock. It appears unnamed individuals from Hertha informed the umbrella organisation for the Ostkurve (Förderkreis-Ostkurve) that they were going to change the format of the pre-kickoff build up. Instead of finishing with everyone singing the traditional “Nur nach Hause” before the kick off they would blast out a track by Seeed over the PA system. It would appear that there was no consultation with the fan groups about this. The change was just passed on to members as one small paragraph in the new season e-mail the night before the first game and, over the phone to the Ultra groups.
So, before the Nürnberg game but well before the kick off, Frank Zander stood front of the Ostkurve and led the singing of the traditional Hertha song “Nur nach Hause”. This was all very fine and dandy with the fans enthusiastically singing along. All was as it should be. Then before kick off the PA system kicked in blasting out “Dickes B” by Seeed. Needless to say the fans carried on singing their anthem - “Nur nach Hause”. In my opinion at least, it all sounded pretty awful. To be fair, I hate the PA system at the best of times but when it’s trying to drown out our own fans?
Sure “Dickes B” is about Berlin but you can’t just dump that on a few tens of thousand football fans without any real notice (let alone consultation) and expect them to like it. That, was never going to happen. I can’t say “Nur nach Hause” is exactly my all time favourite as a song but hey, like it or not, it is the Hertha anthem and, to be fair it is pretty easy to sing along to. If they wanted to play the Speed track fine, just finish off with the traditional anthem.
On the face of it this appears a strange way to run a club. It felt like the powers that be feel the need to do something really stupid to really annoy the fans every year. When the club is trying all sorts of things to fill seats in the Olympiastadion antagonising it’s existing fanbase in this way only serves to shoot themselves in the foot with a giant blunderbuss. So far we have only heard one side of the story of course but the heavy handed way in which it appeared to have been done has only made it worse. I really don’t understand what’s got into their tiny little brains - absolutely crazy in my opinion.
A couple of days later Hertha announced that they’ll be working closely with Frank Zander and we’ll be singing the traditional anthem. Was it all just a really annoying publicity stunt? Who knows. Whatever the rational it is clear, this season, the Old Lady s going to provide the usual roller coaster ride of: thrills, spills, disappointments and in terms of our reactions to the actions of the “powers that be” in the club, disbelief. So, here we are Hertha fans and - here we go again!
So, before the Nürnberg game but well before the kick off, Frank Zander stood front of the Ostkurve and led the singing of the traditional Hertha song “Nur nach Hause”. This was all very fine and dandy with the fans enthusiastically singing along. All was as it should be. Then before kick off the PA system kicked in blasting out “Dickes B” by Seeed. Needless to say the fans carried on singing their anthem - “Nur nach Hause”. In my opinion at least, it all sounded pretty awful. To be fair, I hate the PA system at the best of times but when it’s trying to drown out our own fans?
Sure “Dickes B” is about Berlin but you can’t just dump that on a few tens of thousand football fans without any real notice (let alone consultation) and expect them to like it. That, was never going to happen. I can’t say “Nur nach Hause” is exactly my all time favourite as a song but hey, like it or not, it is the Hertha anthem and, to be fair it is pretty easy to sing along to. If they wanted to play the Speed track fine, just finish off with the traditional anthem.
On the face of it this appears a strange way to run a club. It felt like the powers that be feel the need to do something really stupid to really annoy the fans every year. When the club is trying all sorts of things to fill seats in the Olympiastadion antagonising it’s existing fanbase in this way only serves to shoot themselves in the foot with a giant blunderbuss. So far we have only heard one side of the story of course but the heavy handed way in which it appeared to have been done has only made it worse. I really don’t understand what’s got into their tiny little brains - absolutely crazy in my opinion.
A couple of days later Hertha announced that they’ll be working closely with Frank Zander and we’ll be singing the traditional anthem. Was it all just a really annoying publicity stunt? Who knows. Whatever the rational it is clear, this season, the Old Lady s going to provide the usual roller coaster ride of: thrills, spills, disappointments and in terms of our reactions to the actions of the “powers that be” in the club, disbelief. So, here we are Hertha fans and - here we go again!
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