Starting in an Unrecognizable Fashion

By: Abby | August 18th, 2008

That is, with a win, and also being rather capable in Europe.

There have been two away games since I wrote last. Both have been won. For a team that’s known for not traveling very well, it’s a good sign.

The first game was the UEFA Cup qualifier against NK Interblock Ljubljana. They’d just sacked their coach, but it didn’t do them very well against us. Marko Pantelic scored a goal in each half. New boy Armine Chermiti got his first start, and had a goal ruled off for offside. Injuries made it so that Lulu had to play Lukasz Piszczek, the young Polish striker, in the back four, but that didn’t stop us from keeping a clean sheet in Slovenia.

This puts Hertha in excellent position to make the UEFA Cup proper, with two away goals and a home leg to play. Europe isn’t always our specialty- we’ve been knocked out by renowned teams such as Dyskobolia Grodzisk Wielkopolski and a Lulu-lead Servette- and it’s too early to really say that the trend won’t continue, but it’s nice to see us be comfortable in an away win, anywhere.

The more surprising away win, though, was the one from Sunday. The opening game of the Bundesliga season, away to Eintracht Frankfurt, who’d finished last season a place ahead of us in ninth. They’re a solid team, although injury-hit at the moment, and had drawn with Real Madrid earlier in the week. And we had a 2-0 win that can be described as comfortable.

Let’s put this in context. Hertha hasn’t won an opening game in this millennium- the last opening win came in 1999. Hertha’s away record isn’t great to begin with, and combined with the opening-day stats…well, let’s just say that I’m very pleased to see this kind of turnaround. Not only was it a nice away win against a solid Bundesliga team, but it was done in quite a lot of style- quick passing, good defending, strong counter-attacks. Frankfurt’s coach called the win ‘fully warranted’, praising our skill and class.

This time, the goals were scored by Raffael and Patrick Ebert, both from Pantelic assists. It’s nice to see scorers other than Pante, although this wasn’t entirely a Pante-less win. The long-haired Serb was integral, as always- I dread the thought of replacing him, although I do have some hope for Chermiti (and Bild is irritatingly getting my hopes up). But the whole team impressed in Frankfurt.

The manner of the victory was as notable as the fact. This was Lulu’s first year with a full pre-season, and a whole summer (and winter) to scout and implement transfers. The team is now shaping itself to his specifications- the style of play he wants, his vaunted ability with youth (7 starters under 25 against Frankfurt), the hope and confidence that he wants in players and fans. Arne Friedrich is now saying that “people feel that this is a team with which they can identify.” Slowly, Hertha is turning into a team that people may actually want to see.

Part of this has to be from some of the young players. Lulu was always known as someone who was good with the youth team, able to discover young players and pluck the best out of the academy. There are signs he’s done that this season. Four local boys- Sascha Bigalke, Florian Riedel, Lennart Hartmann, and Shervin Radjabali-Fardi- were given professional contracts this season after impressing very much in the pre-season. Hartmann became the youngest player ever for Hertha when he replaced Gojko Kacar (back from China, and not exactly old himself at 21) in the 67th minute of Sunday’s game.

It’s a risky experiment. Lulu, and the club, are extremely ambitious. Lulu famously wants to challenge for a title in 2010. It’s hard to say if you can do that with kids and cheap transfers. The club wants to see improvement over two 10th-place finishes, and the press insists that Lulu is under a lot of pressure to improve. They’re also skeptical of whether that can be done- Goal.com previews the upcoming season and predicts a 14th-place finish.

Can Hertha go forwards? Is Lulu on the right path?

It’s too early to say, especially on the back of one (admittedly impressive) league game and a few good wins against unknown Eastern European sides. But confidence is high at the moment, and I’m an optimist. Why can’t we surprise a few people?

After all, what use is a new season without hope?