Luck and Fairness
By: Abby | May 14th, 2008Just a quick one before I head off to watch Showgirls, with commentary…
The Bundesliga had their name pulled out of the hat and gained an extra UEFA Cup place for the fairest of teams. And, with one game to play, that fairest team is…Hertha. (As I said to Jan- I don’t know how a team with Josip “three yellow cards” Simunic became the team with the fairest play, but good job to us.) So despite lying ninth, and losing to Wuppertaler SV in the DFB-Pokal, we very may well, barring a spate of cards and disturbances against already-crowned champions Bayern Munich over the weekend, we’ll be playing in the UEFA Cup next season.
As I’ve said before, I’m not convinced I want Hertha to be playing in Europe. Don’t get me wrong- I like the UEFA Cup a lot. I like seeing all the different teams competing and think it’s a great, fun competition. I’d love to have someone to cheer for next year. But after watching Nuremburg and Bolton crash and burn (although Bolton- to my dismay- got themselves out of it) despite a good run in Europe, it’s not necessarily a good thing for a building team. The current squad isn’t very deep and often falls apart when Marko Pantelic isn’t playing. The strain of having to compete in both Europe and the Bundesliga may take a toll. Either because the players are tired or jaded, it can be a problem for teams that aren’t ready for the competition.
On the other hand, any sort of European money is good. And as we’re attempting to transform the squad, having both the money to spend on new players and the chance to play in Europe to attract them is a good thing.
So as it stands, I’m neutral. Which is a step up from before. If we actually do get a UEFA Cup space, I’ll probably go all for it.
Category: europe
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Comments
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I know its a mixed bag for a building team, but you should enjoy a little European football for your club. It’ll be fun, and the club will make a tiny bit of extra cash.
Posted from
United States
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Yeah. I’m coming around to it. I found the possibility worrying for a while (the Nuremburg situation), but now I’m actually a bit excited. (Which means that someone’s going to get himself sent off on Saturday and it’ll go to Frankfurt.)
Posted from
United States -
Nah ya, based on past experiences we’ll collapse either at the first or second hurdle and with only about 15,000 coming out to watch it at the olympic stadium it aint exactly - wow cool European football, kinda atmosphere. Even when we were in the group stage stage last time, no one turned up to watch.
Posted from
Germany -
Well, how about Hertha fans get a bit excited about their club for a change? It seems that - just because it’s Berlin - they expect no less than Champions League football.
Though, if I paint a “worst case” scenario, then all five Bundesliga sides make it to the group stage. The DFL just brokered a deal with TV stations that they can have a third Sunday game to accommodate the UEFA Cup. Spreading out four teams over three games might still be manageable, but with five you might again end up with situations, where teams have to play on Thursday and Saturday. And then it’s really going to test squad depth.
Posted from
United States -
Yeah. That’s what I’m worried about, Jan. These guys get tired.
But we have just signed a new defender and it looks like there will be more where that came from, so.
Posted from
United States
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