Every club has its traditions and many have distinctive style. Some play in a dynamic pressings style others have a solid defence, difficult to break down but scoring on the counter. It sometimes feels that Hertha’s distinctive styles to fall apart in the Rückrunde.
Things were looking fairly grim at one point before the winter break but things had started to look up with the home win against Hannover ’96. Three vital points were very welcome after a poor run in form in cups and league. This was to be followed by a trip down the A9 to Leipzig and an appointment with a fizzy pop company.
I don’t really think anyone to expect to bring anything back from the newly arrived and very successful business in Leipzig. Although the last game had worked out well the form prior to that had been a little hit and miss. Our lads went out there and proved the doubters wrong none more so than Davie Selke upon his return to Leipzig.
Hertha came out fighting and in the 6th minute a pass from Esswein was picked up by Selke and bang, Hertha were a goal up in just a few minutes! Most, with the exception of the Leipzig customers were thinking this is alright - more of this please! Then, just minute later Timo Werner appeared to hook his leg in front of Torunarigha just as he was about to kick the ball away and then clattered to the floor. The referee in his wisdom gave Torunarigha a straight red and the visitors were down to ten men for most of the match.
It times gone past perhaps Hertha may have folded at this stage but not on this day. Just after the half an hour mark Lazaro I think put a cross in and little Kalou out jumped two Leipzig defenders to crash a header into the back of the net. Pretty awful defending but do I care? Thank you very much, 2:0 up going into half time.
Just a few minutes after the break another cross came in and Davie Selke on his return to Leipzig stuck a leg out to knock it into the net to make it three. Dream time for Hertha fans with celebrations all around unless you were a Leipzig customer of course. I spotted my Friend Inis in the crowd on the TV and she appeared to be enjoying herself!
The Old lady could have scared more to be honest but it didn’t go that way. In fact the home side got two goals back before the end but it still left Hertha with three away points against a strong franchise. A nice Christmas present for loyal Hertha fans.
Things were looking fairly grim at one point before the winter break but things had started to look up with the home win against Hannover ’96. Three vital points were very welcome after a poor run in form in cups and league. This was to be followed by a trip down the A9 to Leipzig and an appointment with a fizzy pop company.
I don’t really think anyone to expect to bring anything back from the newly arrived and very successful business in Leipzig. Although the last game had worked out well the form prior to that had been a little hit and miss. Our lads went out there and proved the doubters wrong none more so than Davie Selke upon his return to Leipzig.
Hertha came out fighting and in the 6th minute a pass from Esswein was picked up by Selke and bang, Hertha were a goal up in just a few minutes! Most, with the exception of the Leipzig customers were thinking this is alright - more of this please! Then, just minute later Timo Werner appeared to hook his leg in front of Torunarigha just as he was about to kick the ball away and then clattered to the floor. The referee in his wisdom gave Torunarigha a straight red and the visitors were down to ten men for most of the match.
It times gone past perhaps Hertha may have folded at this stage but not on this day. Just after the half an hour mark Lazaro I think put a cross in and little Kalou out jumped two Leipzig defenders to crash a header into the back of the net. Pretty awful defending but do I care? Thank you very much, 2:0 up going into half time.
Just a few minutes after the break another cross came in and Davie Selke on his return to Leipzig stuck a leg out to knock it into the net to make it three. Dream time for Hertha fans with celebrations all around unless you were a Leipzig customer of course. I spotted my Friend Inis in the crowd on the TV and she appeared to be enjoying herself!
The Old lady could have scared more to be honest but it didn’t go that way. In fact the home side got two goals back before the end but it still left Hertha with three away points against a strong franchise. A nice Christmas present for loyal Hertha fans.
After the Winter Break
After all of the mince pies and chocolates Hertha were going to face VfB Stuttgart away. A team with only thirteen goals so far in the season but had Mario Gomez returning after an absence of eight years. With the form we had before Christmas you would think Hertha would be in with a real chance here but the curse of the Rückrunde had other ideas.
It wasn’t a pretty game to be honest. We could have scored but we didn’t. Lazaro hit the post but it wasn’t his day. Unfortunately, during a penalty area scramble involving the returning Gomez, the ball came off Stark’s boot, looped over the Jarstein into our own net. So, we scored, but not quite in the way we had hoped.
I doubt I was alone in buying my head in my hands thinking its not going to be like this in 2018 is it? Best leave this game at that. The less said the better.
Now . . . back home . . .
After all of the mince pies and chocolates Hertha were going to face VfB Stuttgart away. A team with only thirteen goals so far in the season but had Mario Gomez returning after an absence of eight years. With the form we had before Christmas you would think Hertha would be in with a real chance here but the curse of the Rückrunde had other ideas.
It wasn’t a pretty game to be honest. We could have scored but we didn’t. Lazaro hit the post but it wasn’t his day. Unfortunately, during a penalty area scramble involving the returning Gomez, the ball came off Stark’s boot, looped over the Jarstein into our own net. So, we scored, but not quite in the way we had hoped.
I doubt I was alone in buying my head in my hands thinking its not going to be like this in 2018 is it? Best leave this game at that. The less said the better.
Now . . . back home . . .
Lastly, on a cool January night in Berlin Hertha hosted Borussia Dortmund and their swarms of fans. I guess nobody really expected to get from this match but, as always they hoped we might just do so. As it turned out it was a pretty good match to watch with thrills , and spills, throughout. Both sides would have grounds to say we could have, perhaps should have won that one. At times it was end to end stuff, exciting but also nerve wracking. Certainly entertaining but one cannot help thing Berliners were happier with the point than Dortmund would be.
There were some positive things to take from this match and some stand out performances from some players in my eyes at least. It’s hard not to pick out the beast that is Davie Selke who broke the deadlock in the 46th minute after a cross from Lazaro.
There were some positive things to take from this match and some stand out performances from some players in my eyes at least. It’s hard not to pick out the beast that is Davie Selke who broke the deadlock in the 46th minute after a cross from Lazaro.
The Dortmund fans in the guest block were so busy playing with Pyros they probably didn’t see the back of their own net bulge.
For a big lad Davie’s remarkably and almost inexplicably fast when you look at his running style. I’m not sure how he does it but I’m very glad he does. What a buy he was at the start of the season!
For a big lad Davie’s remarkably and almost inexplicably fast when you look at his running style. I’m not sure how he does it but I’m very glad he does. What a buy he was at the start of the season!
My next pick would be Fabian Lustenberger who put in some fabulous blocks and tackles in defence. The old guard Herthaner put in a shift and a half getting in Dortmund’s way at every turn. There was a claim for a penalty made against in late in the second half not no, not in my eyes, the Yellow and Black fell over far to easily on the gentlest of touches.
Lastly we were saved on more than one occasion by the talents of Thomas Kraft who was standing in for an injured Rune Jarstein. The stand out save from Thomas involved a finger tip save pushing the ball over the bar. We are truly blessed to have two such quality keepers in our squad.
It was a strange game in some ways. End to end stuff at times and for much of the game it felt like Hertha should have won it. At no time more so than when Duda tapped in Kalou’s shot from an offside position. Near the end however we were hanging on and reliant on counters so perhaps a draw was a fair result.
The clip below shows a snapshot of the evening . . .
Lastly we were saved on more than one occasion by the talents of Thomas Kraft who was standing in for an injured Rune Jarstein. The stand out save from Thomas involved a finger tip save pushing the ball over the bar. We are truly blessed to have two such quality keepers in our squad.
It was a strange game in some ways. End to end stuff at times and for much of the game it felt like Hertha should have won it. At no time more so than when Duda tapped in Kalou’s shot from an offside position. Near the end however we were hanging on and reliant on counters so perhaps a draw was a fair result.
The clip below shows a snapshot of the evening . . .
So, on the return to the Rückrunde this year I guess the jury is still out.
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