The Hertha BSC players stood on the pitch five or six meters from the goal line, hands on hips, and they seemed almost a little intimidated by the situation. They didn’t seem to get the whole thing right.
Derby defeats are serious business. Hertha’s footballers have known this since spring at the latest, when they lost 4-1 to 1. FC Union, their hometown rivals, in their own stadium. When saying goodbye to their fans, they were met with hatred, and some players even had to take off their jerseys at the behest of the Ultras.
On Saturday, this time in the Alte Försterei in Köpenick, it was just as frustrating for the blue and whites from the west of the city as it was in the Olympic Stadium in spring. “We weren’t there today,” said Hertha’s goalkeeper Oliver Christensen after the 3-1 defeat, in which the guests proved to be inferior to 1. FC Union in every respect.
And yet a lot was different after the final whistle. Hertha’s players lined up in front of their fans. In their back, on the forest side, as in the three previous derbies, the city champion was celebrated in red and white. But a few meters in front of them there was also singing and cheering.
Coach Sandro Schwarz thought the reaction of the fans to an uninspiring and even less thrilling performance by his team was “sensational”. “How they reacted after a game like that. It’s a really big sport.”
The day after the defeat, Schwarz was asked how he currently felt about the mood around Hertha. “Very good question,” he replied. Presumably because this question, although the results suggest otherwise, is not that easy to answer.
The situation for Hertha is difficult, again. But it’s different than it was in the spring, when the club was on the verge of relegation and a lot of other things until everything at Hertha was questioned.
For Schwarz, who was not yet working as a coach for the club, this history is irrelevant. “I’m not the type to dwell on the past and let negative core thoughts get you down,” he said. Apparently that also applies to many organized fans in the stadium – even if it may be difficult.
“It was sobering yesterday because we couldn’t keep up with Union’s uncompromisingness,” said sporting director Fredi Bobic on Sunday’s Doppelpass show. “And when you look at the results, it’s difficult to say: Something really big is growing there.”
In the cup, the team lost in the first round to Eintracht Braunschweig, the penultimate team in the second division, and they started the new Bundesliga season with a defeat in the derby.
“We’re not disappointed, we’re upset,” said coach Schwarz the day after. “It still hurts, of course. Especially the way we played in the first half.”
Hertha only seemed to have no idea how Union’s usual compact defensive should have been used. In reality, the team was unable to implement their coach’s idea. “We indicated spaces that we need to run, that we have to sprint on,” explained Schwarz. “We didn’t do it internally.”
So Hertha’s appearance – extremely bad for a derby – seemed completely harmless and strangely bloodless. It took an hour for the guests to get their first shot on goal out of the game through substitute Wilfried Kanga. And the 1: 3 by Dodi Lukebakio fell five minutes before the end, too late to awaken the spirit of resistance again. Lukebakio was asked what Hertha needs to improve in the future. “A little bit of everything,” he replied. “Offensive. Defensive.”
According to his own statement, trainer Schwarz had at least seen enough things that he can now work on. And have to. “Mutual help, mutual support when mistakes happen – that’s the big issue we have,” he said. “As a group, we simply need a better charisma.”
Nevertheless, Schwarz vehemently resists aligning the current problems with the problems of the past two years. “Friends, now you have to be careful,” he said when he was repeatedly confronted with this view of things. “I understand the question, I can understand that. But we won’t let the general mood depend on how it was last year or two years ago. We have to deal with what is currently going on.”
Many doubt that much will happen in the short term. The team is still in the identification phase, further changes in personnel are likely, but may not be forthcoming until shortly before the end of the transfer period. And the next tasks are quite demanding. For Hertha it is now against Frankfurt, Gladbach and Dortmund. “Yes, we are happy,” said Marvin Plattenhardt, the new captain.
