When Hertha BSC had reached the bottom again, Pal Dardai demonstratively defended his zero-goal team. “If you’re only on the losing side for four years, it’s difficult. Unfortunately, we’re still on the losing side,” said the Berlin coach after the bitter 0-1 (0-0) home defeat against newly promoted SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The “fifth upheaval in five years”, emphasized Dardai on the Sky microphone, is not that easy to cope with.
Nevertheless, the whistles in the Olympic Stadium could not be ignored. “I can understand the frustration of the fans in the end,” said captain Marco Richter. After all, the numbers are clear: two games, zero points, zero goals – Hertha is continuing in the second division where it left off before the summer. At least on Friday evening that meant last place in the table.
Hertha was the better team, but didn’t use any of their 21 shots on goal. “We haven’t had that much possession of the ball in the opposing half for what feels like 20 years,” said Dardai. Wehen, on the other hand, scored the decisive goal in injury time through substitute Lasse Günther (90+2) – that was enough to delight the few fans who had traveled with them in the first competitive game between the two clubs.
Dardai relies on time
Dardai emphasized that his newly assembled team “still has to find itself”. But the task doesn’t get any easier. After the cup game at the regional league club Carl Zeiss Jena, the away game against Hamburger SV awaits in the league. “We have to step it up a notch, of course,” said Richter: “Whether players have left or there is unrest, you have to hide that in the 90 minutes.”
After all: Hertha has found a new shirt sponsor. A big B for a betting provider (CrazyBuzzer) could be seen on the bare chest at the 0:1 in Düsseldorf on Friday. That brings around two million euros a year, but many fans still see the deal critically. When the big advertising banner of the new partner was presented shortly before the start of the game, a few whistles sounded.
Sebastian Stier, Berlin Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 3 Bernd Schwickerath, Düsseldorf Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 1 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3
Not easy times for Dardai, who mainly relies on the time factor. “The passion is there. At the end of the year we win these games in the last minute,” said the Hertha coach, adding that he still had full confidence. “At the end of the year you have your bill,” says Dardai: “And we have to work to ensure that this bill looks reasonable.”
