Hertha BSC - The Heart of Germany

(22/07/13)

Luhukay walks out on Hertha

Head coach Jos Luhukay has stepped down from his position due to a fall out with the Hertha board.

Luhukay took over at Hertha in the summer of 2012 and took the then recently relegated team to the 2. Bundesliga title and back to the top division. The next season he helped the team to keep their top division status with the help from an in-form Adrian Ramos.

During this summer Adrian Ramos had left to join Borussia Dortmund to try and help them fit the gap that top striker Robert Lewondowski has left.
Sources suggest that his departure could be due to a fall out with the Hertha board over wage issues. We are told that Luhukay and the Hertha board have been locked all summer and the latest rejection by the board had been the last straw for Luhukay.

It is unsure what direction Hertha will be taking in their appointment of Luhukay's replacement. Two names have been suggested more than most, them two being ex-Manchester United manager David Moyes, and ex-VFB Stuttgart head coach Bruno Labbadia.

Good luck!

Solid start, good luck!

(27/06/13)


Hertha BSC have today announced that Bruno Labbadia has been appointed as Jos Luhukay's succeser at the Olympiastadion.

The ex-Stuttgart head coach had been in the race for the job and was favourite ever since Luhukay's resignation and the Hertha faithful will be looking forward to what sort of game Labbadia will bring to the club.

Labbadia started his managerial career at his home club SV Darmstadt 98 in 2003, where he managed to clinch the 2004 Hessenliga title. He left in 2006 to join Greater Furth and went on to manage Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburger SV before being sacked in 2010 by HSV after poor results. VfB Stuttgart gave Labbadia a new chance and done well before a losing-streak of 3 games at the start of last season lost him his job.

He has stated "I hope I can help Hertha climb slowly up the table. I know it's not going to be easy and there will be ups and downs and I hope that my supporters and I can take this journey together. I have spoke with a few potential signings and we are working to finalise them. There are obvious holes in the team and I want to fill them as quick as I can."

Labbadia will need a new striker after Colombian striker Adrian Ramos, who netted 16 times last campaign, left to join Borussia Dortmund this summer. However, he will have the privilege to already have signings such as Dutch defender John Heitinga and Swiss winger Valentin Stocker.

(30/06/13)


Bryan Ruiz will join Hertha BSC after he has completed a move from relegated Fulham after a fee was agreed between the two clubs.

Ruiz will join Hertha as soon as the transfer window opens on the 1st of July. A move that has cost approximately £3.2m has been agreed that will see the Costa Rican winger move to the capital's main club.

Ruiz has revealed his happiness at the move. "Hertha are a great club moving in a positive direction under a good new manager. I am looking forward to playing for them more than I was looking forward to playing in the Championship. I hope that I can impress my new fans and show my new manager why he was right to sign me."

Ruiz is the first new signing under Labbadia's reign and fans are optimistic that the new Head Coach will bring in more faces as exciting as Ruiz. Rumours are circulating that Labbadia has been spotted in Buenos Aires with top Argentinian agent Federico Gimenez who is responsible for Racing Club's Ricardo Centurion, Velez Sarsfield's Lucas Romero and Lanus' Cristian Chavez amongst others.

Good signing hope he does well for you

A good signing!

(18/07/13)


Bruno Labbadia has today announced two more signings to join Hertha BSC. Spanish hit man Jonathan Soriano has signed from top Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg for a fee worth £2m. Secondly, Atlético Madrid's Rubén Pérez has joined on loan until the end of the season.

Hertha have been on the look out for a replacement to fill Adrian Ramos' gap and Bruno Labbadia has today revealed his joy in capturing Jonathan Soriano. Soriano started off at Espanyol and spent 7 years at the club, only managing to break through to the first team 34 times and going out on loan three times to second division clubs Almeria, Poli Ejido and Albacate.

Soriano never managed to secure a place in the Espanyol first team and so left to join the Barcelona B team. Soriano spent three seasons there scoring 44 goals in 79 games before impressing enough to earn a 650k move to Red Bull Salzburg. His first season at Salzburg ended in disappointment after only managing to score 3 goals in a mere 11 games. Last season, however, Jonathon Soriano suddenly came a light and managed to net 26 times in 33 games. Soriano has also played 4 times for the Spanish U-21 side and has scored 8 goals.

"Soriano is a great player. He doesn't need to graft for opportunities, they fall to him. He has the ability to do well at Hertha, we have seen glimpses of his ability and I hope that he can bring his finishing touch to help us progress as a club. He done incredibly well last season and I can only hope that he has the ability to continue his form as he plays for us."

Rubén Pérez has also signed as Hertha look to solidify the Midfield positions. Pérez has only managed to break into the Atlético first team once, however he spent the last three years in La Liga playing for Deportivo, Getafe and Real Betis. Rubén Pérez has 5 caps for the Spanish U-21 side and helped them win the UEFA U-21 Championship in 2011.

"I am looking forward to how Pérez does at Hertha, he is a very solid player and I hope he can serve well in our midfield. I have been looking for one more player to help deepen my midfield and I am very happy that I have Rubén here today."

Pre-Season 2013

Hertha BSC 3-0 Hertha BSC II

Roy Beerens (7)
Sandro Wagner (27, 63)
Roy Beerens

We undeniably battered our second team. With 18 shots to their 5 we powered over them and got pre-season off to a good start, obviously we were always going to win but it was good to get off to a positive start.

Hertha BSC 2-0 FC Basel

Alexander Baumjohann (13)
Ben Sahar (33)
Alexander Baumjohann

We done well to beat Basel. They are a good team and I view them as on a similar level to where we are now. Having just signed Stocker off them it was a good way on showing our new winger that he made a good choice. However, the game was more even than the scoreline shows. It was actually a very even game but we were a lot more clinical with our chances which is always good.

Hertha BSC 1-3 Dinamo Moscow

Kevin Kuaranyi (10, 25)
Sami Allagui (19)
Andriy Voronin (89)
Kevin Kuaranyi

Our first defeat. We were chasing Dinamo ever since kick-off and their 60% possession. We managed to get a few shots away and got a goal, however it was not enough as Dinamo cruised past us.

Hertha BSC 2-2 AZ Alkmaar

Dirk Marcellis (2)
Sebastian Langkamp (17)
Bryan Ruiz (pen 39)
Kees Kamara (80)
Dirk Marcellis

We played a lot better in this game against a good AZ team. We performed well to keep them at a draw but part of me thinks that we should have won this game, we may have been beaten possession-wise but we had slightly more shots to then. New signing Bryan Ruiz showed us his composure as he scored from the spot.

Hertha BSC 0-3 Sochaux

Florin Berenguer-Bohrer (41)
Lamarana Diallo (68)
Julian Faussurier (73)
Lamarana Diallo

We were dreadful this game. Sochaux aren't the best of teams by a long shot but they managed to dominate us in almost every aspect of the game. As soon as this game finished I wanted to focus on the next game, hopefully games like this don't happen competitively.

Hertha BSC 3-1 Mlada Boleslav

Vaclav Kalivoda (4)
Bryan Ruiz (17, 36)
Sami Allagui (43)
Bryan Ruiz

We got back to winning ways against top Czech side Boleslav. We dominated them shots-wise and I was really happy to see Ruiz bang in two goals. I can see him being a big part to our season.

Hertha BSC 2-0 sc Heerenveen

Michael Jongepier (og 3)
Anis Ben-Hatira (19)
Sebastian Langkamp

I don't know what happened to us in this game but we were really lucky. Heerenveen dominated us in possession and shots, however we managed to keep them out AND score 2 goals. Football is a cruel game and this just shows the importance of being clinical and taking your chances.

Novi Pazar 2-4 Hertha BSC

Valentin Stocker (8, 86)
Andrija Raca (22)
Roy Beerens (25, 39)
Dejan Martac (70)
Valentin Stocker

A great game for Hertha as we powered past Pazar with the help of a clutch performance by Valentin Stocker. We completely dominated Pazar the whole game and the scoreline shows that. However, I am a little but disappointed at conceding 2 but hopefully the defence will tighten up a bit more when they are more fit.

Vozdovac 2-1 Hertha BSC

Dobrivoje Petrovic (57)
Valentin Stocker (74)
Milan Sovtic (75)
Dragan Njaradi

This was appalling. Even worse than the Sochaux game. Vozdovac aren't even a top Serbian team but they managed to beat us and beat us well. The only positive I can take out of this game is that Stocker scored again.

Aversa Normanna 1-3 Hertha BSC

Antonio Nanni (6)
Nico Shulz (29)
Christoph Janker (50)
Faton Ademi (75)
Anis Ben-Hatira

We marched back from that defeat to dominate Aversa Normanna. It was a similar game to the Pazar game as we beat them in every aspect, hopefully we will show more of this side of the team in competitive matches.

Hertha BSC 1-1 Levante

Andreas Ivanschvitz (38)
Jonathan Soriano (61)
Jonathan Soriano

A draw with Levante I am happy with, they have a decent enough squad. Maybe we could of snatched a win as we were slightly the better team but I'm happy with a draw against a good Spanish team to end pre-season, especially with new striker Soriano getting on the score-sheet and claiming man of the match.

In a few days Hertha BSC will play away at Saarbrucken in a DFB-Pokal first round match. This will be Labbadia's first competitive match as Head Coach and he will be certainly wanting to get off to a good start. They will want to take the positives straight out of pre-season and use them to coast in to the second round. Hertha will then line up against at the Olympiastadion ready to face visitors FC Augsburg to kick-off the Bundesliga campaign.

In pre-season Hertha have looked very direct. Possesion play doesn't seem like Labbadia's plan under Hertha as he usually elects to play a direct, attacking 4-2-3-1 system. Bryan Ruiz is most likely to be the main play-maker off the team playing just behind main-striker Jonathan Soriano. Ruiz will also have the pleasure off looking towards distrbuting balls wide to wingers such as
Valentin Stocker, Roy Beerens, Anis Ben-Hatira or Alexander Baumjohann.

Deeper down the field Labbadia has made sure there will be depth. Ruben Perez and Jens Hegeler will be competition towards each other at who will be the deeper play-maker. Tolga Cigerci or Hajime Hosagai will play beside them. Hertha's defence looks pretty solid too, with players such as John Heitinga, Johnathan Brooks and Peter Pekarik. Thomas Kraft will most probably be Hertha's main goalkeeper.

Hertha finished 11 last season and, even though they lost their man goal threat, they look like a team that can push on and under a very positive manager they will be looking to do just that. "I am happy with the team. My goal this season is to get Hertha into Europe." Labbadia stated. "That might be a long shot but I am an optimistic manager, I believe there is no other way to do this job."

Not only having a solid squad, but a solid youth set up. Hertha and Labbadia will be looking towards the future with players such as Hany Mukhtar and Anthony Shyre both looking to take Hertha forward into the future. "Hertha have good youth prospects and I certainly have to keep an eye and their development." Labbadia added. "I have a 7 year plan and in 7 years time I want Hertha to be the best team in the world. You may laugh but you come back with this quote in 7 years time and it won't look so ridiculous I promise you that."

Labbadia certainly seems very confident now but will some pre-season defeats foreshadow what sort of season Hertha have or will they turn some of the good pre-season performances into positive league displays. In 10 games time will Labbadia have the same optimism as he does now, we'l just have to wait and see.

Hertha kicked off their season at the Ludwigsparkstadion to face 3rd tier team Saarbrucken in the DFB-Pokal first round. This was to be Bruno Labbadia's debut at the club and the new Head Coach new how much it meant to get off to a good start and he was able to do just that.

The game started off slowly with Hertha keeping hold off possession very comfortably and easily. They had a few shots at goal but nothing troubling. It took until the twenty-first minute for Hertha to gain the advantage. Winger Anis Ben-Hatira threw himself into the wider areas of the Saarbrucken penalty area to clinch onto a through ball from full-back Plattenhardt. He then whipped a ball into the back post and Saarbrucken defender Juri Judt managed to put the ball into his own net to put Hertha in front 1-0.

Two minutes later and Hertha had doubled their advantage. A corner from Anis Ben-Hatira found new-boy Heitinga at the front post who leaped up to turn the ball into the near top-corner. Hertha had dominated Saarbrucken and finally were managing to show their superiority.

At the thirtieth minute mark it was the time for Soriano to step up. Another ball from Plattenhardt found Anis Ben-Hatira inside the box. And once again Ben-Hatira put a ball across the box into the path of Soriano who calmly placed the ball into the bottom corner. Soriano ran straight to the Hertha fan-base with his right hand in the air in celebration. Hertha were leading 3-0.

However, just before half-time there was to be a twist in the game. Saarbrucken managed to break away with Resinger from a Hertha free-kick. Reisinger ran to the half-way line before finding Hoffmann on the far left of the pitch. Hoffmann ran to the box taking on his man before crossing the ball into an on-rushing Reisinger who smashed the ball past Thomas Kraft to give Saarbrucken a glimpse of hope.

At half-time Labbadia made a huge decision. Hertha were dominating down the left, with all three goals coming from Ben-Hatira crosses, however, Labbadia decided that Anis had his time and so brought him off to be replaced by Alexander Baumjohann.

On the hour mark we saw the substitution pay off. Baumjahann used his fresh legs to get past his marker on the left-wing and ran to the edge of the box. He then flung a cross into the middle of the box where Jonathan Soriano was to head the ball over the keeper and into the net to give him two goals on his competitive debut and to finish off the game.

At the full-time whistle Labbadia watched his players pat each other on the back and start to walk back to the tunnel. Labbadia rushed onto the pitch and told the players to walk over to the travelling supporters and thank them for their support. At the sight of this the Hertha fans started cheering the new manager's name as him and his new team gave the supporters an applause for their effort to follow them.

At the press-conference Labbadia was full of praise towards the team, especially to new signing Soriano. "We were excellent today, and fully ruthless. They had one goal in which they had to work for, we didn't sit back. The team look ready to take on the Bundesliga next week and I am looking forward to it. We look a strong squad and I am liking Soriano's work efforts. He trains hard and gives it all on the pitch and for that I am happy."