relegation battle
Between explosion and disillusionment: Hertha close to the abyss
Hertha’s coach Pal Dardai and his team are facing relegation.. Photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
Was that it for Hertha BSC? Coach Dardai makes a tough judgment after the gossip in Cologne. He doesn’t spare himself any criticism either. When the members meet on Sunday, there is a great risk of trouble.
Pal Dardai still had a great need to communicate the day after the gossip in Cologne. The Hertha BSC coach talked to the players gathered in a circle on the training ground for almost ten minutes. The blue sky over the Olympic grounds and the beautiful May sun didn’t want to go with the mood, which oscillated between explosion and disillusionment among Berliners.
The 2: 5 the night before at 1. FC Köln had not only ended Dardai’s four-game-four-win plan quite rabidly at the second stop. After the pitiful performance, the head coach was no longer able to protect his players.
After Saturday’s practice session, Dardai wanted to sit back and wait for the results of the competition. He didn’t have any more. Bochum’s 3-2 win against FC Augsburg didn’t bring any joy, but at least it brought some mathematical clarity. Only with two wins against the Ruhrpott-Club next Saturday and a week later at VfL Wolfsburg can Hertha still manage to stay in the class.
Exciting general meeting
The mood on the training ground was already fatalistic before the next result setback. The few fans almost had to laugh at their comments about the tired players sneaking past (“Fight boys” and “Don’t give up”). At the long-scheduled general meeting on Sunday in the Berlin exhibition center, the atmosphere is likely to be rougher.
It honored Dardai that he was not in the mood for implausible perseverance slogans. The coach’s remarks in Cologne were nothing less than a first Bundesliga farewell speech. Dardai denied his team the quality across the board. Too little speed, even too little mentality – that’s not how the class can be maintained. “The team was bought that way,” said the Hungarian resignedly.
Just pointing the finger at others who, before his third rescue mission in the management of Berlin, have been making mistakes for years is not Dardais’ way. He also acknowledged a crucial omission himself. Namely, to have apparently overestimated the team. “I look for the mistake in myself,” said the 47-year-old: “Maybe I talked too much about attacking football. I had the feeling that the defensive stability was there. But when Cologne went up tempo, we had a huge Deficit.”
“Huge mentality problem”
Quality is one thing, but accusations of lack of attitude were even worse. “We have a huge mentality problem,” said the coach: “I’ll probably have to be strict.”
When he looked at the statistics, he kept shaking his head. The Cologne team, who scored one goal together in five home games before, not only conceded five goals like before Dardai’s return in the 5-2 draw at FC Schalke 04. With two more hits against the post, 31 shots on target and a strong performance from Hertha keeper Oliver Christensen, it could have been a memorable debacle.
That’s why Dardai would have felt silly to speak of relegation after this appearance of the bottom of the table. “We’re not allowed to talk or talk,” he said: “We just have to keep our mouths shut and see what happens at the weekend. Then we’ll do an analysis on Monday. And if we still have a chance, we have to prepare for Bochum .”
Financial problems
The mood at the capital club could worsen further on Sunday at the general meeting. Hertha is not only up to its neck in sport, but also financially. The license – also for the 2nd Bundesliga – has not yet been confirmed. “We are in a restructuring process. We have to fundamentally reduce personnel costs,” said sports director Benjamin Weber.
It should be turbulent in the Berlin exhibition hall. A motion to vote out the entire Executive Committee from a member comes more from the category of clubbing and cabaret. But after the noisy resignation of long-term management member Ingmar Pering, heated debates – including about the role of President Kay Bernstein – are programmed. Perseverance slogans will not be of any use to the club boss, who is actually popular with the fans.