A lot of fuss has been made over the empty seats in the Olympiastadion over the years as I have written about before in the past. You do need to put this into context however and spare a thought for the long suffering Hertha fan and the trauma they have been put through over the years. Even in my mere ten years I as Herthaner I feel I have endured most kinds of disappointments in the Olympiastadion and yet I am a comparative newcomer to this self inflicted torture. Some have had a lifetime of pain and aguish with just enough respite to keep them on the hook. A medieval torture master could hardly manage the pain delivery more effectively.
What it is to be a Hertha fan can be perhaps put in a nutshell by the experience of the last two weeks with “The Old Lady” playing Champions league contenders Leverkusen and then bottom dwellers Mainz. It’s not even the first time this season. Beating fizzy pop Leipzig away and then losing to Stuttgart!
The game against Mainz was pretty dire. Most people were thinking the points against them were almost in the bag at least through the veil of short term optimism that many Hertha fans approach each home game. All appeared to be going fairly well until Vedad Ibisevic broke his nose after about fifteen minutes and then the plan went to pot really. There appeared to be lots of: pass, pass pass and then lose the ball. For one of the two goals conceded Robin Quaison took on the whole defence by himself to then nutmeg both Pekarik and Torunarigha with a shot that bulged the back of the net. I’m fairly sure that wasn’t part of our plan.
One positive thing to come out from the process was the level of support from the “hard core” fans who did trouble to turn up on a cold Friday night in February. Near the end some gave up and chatted amongst themselves rather than put themselves through any further unnecessary pain by watching. Some others did leave with five minutes or so to go but the core of the Ostkurve kept singing through the all to familiar waves of disappointment. It’s part of our club somehow - “Hertha ist Hertha” is one of my favourite sayings
What it is to be a Hertha fan can be perhaps put in a nutshell by the experience of the last two weeks with “The Old Lady” playing Champions league contenders Leverkusen and then bottom dwellers Mainz. It’s not even the first time this season. Beating fizzy pop Leipzig away and then losing to Stuttgart!
The game against Mainz was pretty dire. Most people were thinking the points against them were almost in the bag at least through the veil of short term optimism that many Hertha fans approach each home game. All appeared to be going fairly well until Vedad Ibisevic broke his nose after about fifteen minutes and then the plan went to pot really. There appeared to be lots of: pass, pass pass and then lose the ball. For one of the two goals conceded Robin Quaison took on the whole defence by himself to then nutmeg both Pekarik and Torunarigha with a shot that bulged the back of the net. I’m fairly sure that wasn’t part of our plan.
One positive thing to come out from the process was the level of support from the “hard core” fans who did trouble to turn up on a cold Friday night in February. Near the end some gave up and chatted amongst themselves rather than put themselves through any further unnecessary pain by watching. Some others did leave with five minutes or so to go but the core of the Ostkurve kept singing through the all to familiar waves of disappointment. It’s part of our club somehow - “Hertha ist Hertha” is one of my favourite sayings
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