It feels like an eternity ago but thirteen years ago I first came to Berlin on a city break. Straight away we fell in love with the city but more importantly, we went to our first Hertha game in the amazing Olympic Stadium. This visit to the Olympiastadion was a turning point in our lives, we were hooked!.
At first, I travelled to Berlin every two months and each time, my wife and I went to more Hertha games. The number of games we attended increased for a couple of years and for the last seven seasons, prior to Covid, my wife and I have had season tickets. We go to 15 out of 17 home matches every season. In doing all this I’m aware of the environmental consequences of so much travelling, and I’m not virtue signalling here (more feeling guilty), but I have used carbon offsets to minimise our environmental impact as far as I can.
With these regular trips to Berlin we spend over a quarter of our time in the German capital. Over the years we have brought many family members and friends to see Hertha play including my son and his soon to be wife. In this time Hertha and Berlin have become totally integrated into our lives and an essential part of it.
Through Twitter and Hertha we have made many wonderful friends both here in the city of Berlin but also from other countries such as: Canada, Sweden and Ireland who share our love of the Old Lady. Locally in Berlin we are members of the Axel Kruse Jugend fan club and we meet members before and after the games to discuss the highs and lows of Hertha’s progress over a beer or Gluhwein.
Sadly the coronavirus has made 2020/21 a difficult year for all football fans but has been pretty catastrophic for us. Our lives were punctuated by going to Berlin, football but also going to gigs and festivals in the UK but also on mainland Europe. Because of the pandemic we can no longer go to games and meet with our friends. There are people we haven’t seen for nearly a year now which is gut wrenching. Although I acknowledge that I have been very lucky to be able to spend so much time in Berlin, it makes it all the harder when it is ripped away. All the more so as events and friends drift further away with time.
Unfortunately I have underlying medical conditions that normally have no impact on my life but during the Pandemic they have meant that I have had to shield/quarantine for seven of the last eleven months and will have to continue until April 2021. Finding myself being: stuck at home, not allowed to work, not able go anywhere and not seeing any real people has been a bit of a departure. I like so many people desperately miss in the simple things of even being allowed to go into a shop, let alone a pub or a football game. The endless round of “Groundhog Days” tend to grind you down after a while. Naturally we keep in contact as best we can via Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp and the rest but, as I’m sure everyone must agree, it is very much not the same. I am moaning on here when everyone is in a boat, if not the same boat. But it’s OK because nobody will read this!
Sadly the coronavirus has made 2020/21 a difficult year for all football fans but has been pretty catastrophic for us. Our lives were punctuated by going to Berlin, football but also going to gigs and festivals in the UK but also on mainland Europe. Because of the pandemic we can no longer go to games and meet with our friends. There are people we haven’t seen for nearly a year now which is gut wrenching. Although I acknowledge that I have been very lucky to be able to spend so much time in Berlin, it makes it all the harder when it is ripped away. All the more so as events and friends drift further away with time.
Unfortunately I have underlying medical conditions that normally have no impact on my life but during the Pandemic they have meant that I have had to shield/quarantine for seven of the last eleven months and will have to continue until April 2021. Finding myself being: stuck at home, not allowed to work, not able go anywhere and not seeing any real people has been a bit of a departure. I like so many people desperately miss in the simple things of even being allowed to go into a shop, let alone a pub or a football game. The endless round of “Groundhog Days” tend to grind you down after a while. Naturally we keep in contact as best we can via Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp and the rest but, as I’m sure everyone must agree, it is very much not the same. I am moaning on here when everyone is in a boat, if not the same boat. But it’s OK because nobody will read this!
That brings me on to the joys of following The Old Lady. Obviously, I still follow Hertha via the Internet and TV and I have continued my English language podcast about Hertha with other international fans. Needless to say, having to record over Zoom / Zencastr and watch games on TV is not exactly ideal. The last few months of watching Hertha in empty stadia on the TV have done little to raise flagging spirits
The departure of both Michael Preetz and Bruno Labbadia was almost inevitable given the results in the last few weeks of their reign. Personally I have little attachment to Bruno although I bear him no ill will. Michal Preetz however has been a long-term servant of the club stretching back over twenty five years and that alone is rare these days deserves respect. Keeping his job in football through two relegations alone is an extraordinary feat. In the past he has made some excellent purchases for the team but clearly the Preetz/Labbadia combination had run its course and something had to change. Enter stage left everyone’s favourite Pal Dardai.
The first three games under Pal’s guidance could have gone better I guess but it takes time to settle into “new” ways of doing things. The three one score against Frankfurt perhaps makes it look worse than it was. We held our own for the first hour before Piątek put us in front much to everyone’s delight. The joy was short-lived however as Silva pulled one back for the home side almost immediately. Again Hertha held their own until the last five minutes when two were put past us with the last being in the ninetieth minute. This left Hertha with just two wins out of their last 12 Bundesliga matches.
Then Bayern came calling in the cold Berlin snow. Traditionally we have always played quite well against Bayern even if we end up loosing. This game was no exception. WE had an equal number of shots on target as it turns out although the visitors had their snow-boots on and held more of the possession. The points were lost due to a lucky goal by Kingsley Conman who’s shot deflected wildly off Niklas Stark bypassing Rune Jarstein and went in with the further assistance of the crossbar. I at least, felt this was an honourable defeat.
Then Bayern came calling in the cold Berlin snow. Traditionally we have always played quite well against Bayern even if we end up loosing. This game was no exception. WE had an equal number of shots on target as it turns out although the visitors had their snow-boots on and held more of the possession. The points were lost due to a lucky goal by Kingsley Conman who’s shot deflected wildly off Niklas Stark bypassing Rune Jarstein and went in with the further assistance of the crossbar. I at least, felt this was an honourable defeat.
Lastly, we come to another snowy encounter, this time in Stuttgart. Although we had a brief glimpse of hope in the first few minutes when Cuhna passed the ball through to Dodi on the left driving towards the goal but he was forced out to the left and ended up shooting wide
After this Rune Jarstein was a busy lad and had to keep his wits about him throughout the first half. There were a string of shots against our goalincluding: hitting the side netting, wide, a diving one handed save by Jarstein, over the bar, wide again and finally the ball went in but, it was offside. Then it wasn’t according to VAR.
After this Rune Jarstein was a busy lad and had to keep his wits about him throughout the first half. There were a string of shots against our goalincluding: hitting the side netting, wide, a diving one handed save by Jarstein, over the bar, wide again and finally the ball went in but, it was offside. Then it wasn’t according to VAR.
Somehow, they decided that Piątek’s foot extended half a metre further out and his knee dislocated to leave Kalajdžić onside.
That’s far simpler that it being Kalajdžić’s black glove, it's pretty obvious really.
The second half started in a similar vein but things started to change a little with Hertha substitutions at about sixty minutes in. Dardain put on Sami Kehdira and Nemanja Radonjic for the last thirty minutes for Sami’s 100th Bundesliga appearance. Shortly afterwards Cuhna successfully lobbed the keeper only to see it cleared off the line.
Then, with just eleven minutes to play Luca Netz came on for Maxi Mittelstädt and Mathew Leckie came on for Peter Pekarík. The introduction of Luca was a key change as it turned out as just three minutes later he scored to become Hertha's youngest Bundesliga scorer and the youngest defender to ever score a Bundesliga goal! Sure, he was lucky in that when the ball came over to him he mis-controlled it / had a lucky bounce that stranded the defenders and put him through on goal. Having said this, when it came to it he finished it, cool as you like, with a neat side foot into the goal.
Then, with just eleven minutes to play Luca Netz came on for Maxi Mittelstädt and Mathew Leckie came on for Peter Pekarík. The introduction of Luca was a key change as it turned out as just three minutes later he scored to become Hertha's youngest Bundesliga scorer and the youngest defender to ever score a Bundesliga goal! Sure, he was lucky in that when the ball came over to him he mis-controlled it / had a lucky bounce that stranded the defenders and put him through on goal. Having said this, when it came to it he finished it, cool as you like, with a neat side foot into the goal.
The next game sees us greeting L€ipzig at home and we’ll see if we can save something from this Covid cursed season. Looking further ahead we can only hope that live sport will eventually return and we will be able to watch Hertha in the stadium through all the many highs and lows. I for one look forward to once again meeting wonderful, supportive, Hertha fans both old and new. Perhaps we will then wave goodbye to the Covid blues.
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