War it defiance, ignorance or just tactics? In any case, coach Bruno Labbadia didn’t want to deal with the fight to stay in class after the repeated setback with Hertha BSC. When asked whether this had started with the 0: 1 after a poor performance at promoted Arminia Bielefeld, Labbadia answered in any case: “Above all, we missed the great opportunity to make the connection forward.”
Nine points and six places are the coveted European Cup ranks for the Berliners now – the upcoming opponent 1. FC Köln on the relegation place, however, only a mere five. At the latest, a defeat at FC should also bring Labbadia into severe need of explanation. But speaking of the struggle for survival does not fit in with the new hubris of the “Big City Club”.
Because of the lost duels in the crucial moments “we can really bite our asses”, said the coach, who nevertheless only wanted to look ahead. “We deliberately chose the approach that we have to develop the desire to win and be less afraid of losing.” The problem: His players showed absolutely no desire to win on Sunday evening. Niklas Stark and Maximilian Mittelstädt then criticized their team’s lack of will. On the one hand commendably honest, on the other hand somehow as if they weren’t part of it.
“We didn’t accept the fight like that. That mustn’t happen, ”said Mittelstädt. And Stark complained: “It’s not just about playing beautifully. You have to hold back. ”Labbadia reacted to these words with a slight cynicism. “When Niklas says that,” said the 54-year-old: “He’s a player and was on the pitch.”
But Stark’s criticism starts at the right point. Because the team seems too weak in terms of mentality, which is increasingly moving manager Michael Preetz into the focus of criticism. And the individual quality is not so great that the lack of the best footballer Matheus Cunha could be compensated for. “He’s a player who can bring something special,” said Labbadia: “We should have absorbed that as a team. But we didn’t do that. “
But although Hertha now lost half of their 16 competitive games this season at eight, Labbadia tried to sell the bankruptcy in Bielefeld as a slip on the way up. “Especially in the last few weeks we had the feeling that we were on the right track,” said Labbadia and recalled the 3-0 win against Schalke, who were bottom of the table at the time: “And we really thought we could take the next step. We have now ruined that. “
The fact is: In the next three games against the 16th Cologne, the 14th Hoffenheim and the 13th Bremen, the twelfth of the table from Berlin first has to get rid of the competitors behind them. Before he even quietly begins dreaming again.
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