Close combat with consequences: Herthas Kempf (l.) saw red, the fouled Nkunku from Leipzig converted the following penalty.
Foto: imago images/Picture Point
Generally, the quality of seeing the good in the bad is considered a positive one. Sometimes there is no other way to avoid giving up prematurely. It can become dangerous when this positive way of thinking becomes an end in itself. Both apply to Hertha BSC. This describes the sporting situation of the Berlin Bundesliga club, which is in acute danger of relegation as fourth from last. At least as stressful for the club is its overall situation. Hertha’s 375 million investor took the escalation between him and the football club to a new, threatening level last week.
1: 6 – the result of the Berlin footballers on Sunday evening against RasenBallsport Leipzig is the third heaviest home defeat in Hertha’s Bundesliga history and can therefore be rated as a low point at least in fact. Of course, those responsible try to create a performance-enhancing atmosphere in the relegation battle. Above all coach Tayfun Korkut. “It’s not good for us, but it won’t knock us out,” he said after the game late on Sunday evening. And with public praise, he wanted to give his players a dose of self-confidence in their disappointed heads and bodies: “We did a lot of things right up to the 62nd minute.”
The statistics justify Korkut’s view of things. It was 1-1 up to this »game-changing scene«. Benjamin Henrichs took the lead after 20 minutes and Steven Jovetic equalized three minutes after the start of the second half. And the scorer even missed the opportunity to turn the game around shortly afterwards. Then came the 62nd minute: Hertha’s Marc Oliver Kempf knocked down Christopher Nkunku in the penalty area. The central defender saw the red card for this, the fouled converted the penalty himself. The other goals from Leipzig came with far less resistance from Nkunku, Dani Olmo, Amadou Haidara and Yussuf Poulsen.
The self-abandonment of the team alone is an alarming sign. But there is also something wrong with Korkut’s argument. The defensive behavior was bad against Leipzig from the start. Because the Berliners wanted to disrupt the build-up game with a front row of three, a precise pass in the depths was often enough for the opponent to have enough space to play football there. That’s how the opening goal came when Henrichs was completely free to take two shots in the penalty area. There were a few scenes like this, in which the ball almost effortlessly got in front of the Berlin goal and a free-standing Leipzig player. “We should have made it 2-0,” coach Domenico Tedesco later rightly said.
Hertha’s greatest weakness is no secret: With 51 goals conceded from 23 games, the Berliners form the second-worst defensive line in the league. Another certainty could also be observed against Leipzig: that Hertha, who is weak in play, can hold their own better against stronger teams. That was proven, for example, by the win against Dortmund in December. But that was also shown by the defeat last weekend at Greuther Fürth, bottom of the table. Or the meager draw in the previous home game against Bochum. These two negative experiences weigh much more heavily in the relegation battle and say more about the team’s performance than the 1:6 against Leipzig.
Talking about a team better than they play is certainly part of a coach’s job in some situations. But resistance is the least Tayfun Korkut can expect from his players. Maybe that’s what he meant when he said his team “did a lot of things right.” As Korkut puts himself in front of his team, sports director Fredi Bobic strengthened the coach on Monday. “He does it the way you would imagine it to be in the situation,” he said.
Bobic’s overriding task is to radiate calm both internally and externally. And so he immediately praised Korkut as a trainer with a “clear plan”. Does he believe in it? You really can’t see the good in the bad. The fact is: The hoped-for turnaround did not occur with the change of coach at the end of November. Korkut have only nine points from ten games so far, have a worse points average than predecessor Pal Dardai and have slipped further down the table. And so one could understand Bobic’s words as a justification for one’s own cause. Because he not only got the coach, his work on the player market with departures and new signings has not been very convincing so far.
With a view to upcoming opponents like Freiburg, Frankfurt, Mönchengladbach, Hoffenheim and Leverkusen, the hope for improvement does not increase. Korkut put it this way: “If you stay close together, you can get a little more and still not fall over so quickly.” But Hertha is a long way from strengthening cohesion. Because Lars Windhorst now describes his investment of 375 million euros in the club as a “mistake”. The threatening scenario of an uncertain financial future does not have a beneficial effect, even in the difficult present. Windhorst’s allegations make it clear how bad the working atmosphere is. He had told the business magazine Capital that “maintaining power and being crooked” are the driving force behind people acting in the association. An ugly power struggle is looming. So you can knock yourself out: Nobody has forced Hertha BSC into a partnership with a questionable investor.
