Actual Games? No Way!

By: Abby | February 1st, 2008

Yes way!

Wow, it feels good to use this category again. It has been far too long. The Bundesliga’s winter break is far too long for my liking, but it’s back now! Instead of just speculating on how the new signings will be, we can actually see them in action. Well, someone can see them in action. Not me. (Unless I find a download later.) Hertha, as is custom, is not on GolTV.

But anyway. It’s as we started except reversed, with a home game against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. The visit in August ended in a 1-0 loss to the Frankfurters (hee). Since it is all about reverses, I’d like that to be reversed, too. (Next week’s visit to Stuttgart can still be a win, though.) A 1-0 win would be great. Or really, any kind of win. Doesn’t have to be 1-0. More goals would be great, too.

Frankfurt are 9th in the table, but only 3 points ahead of us in twelfth. Their form before the break was all right- a win against Duisburg (but only one goal), and 2-2 draws against Stuttgart and Wolfsburg. They also were another team that had a 0-0 draw against Bayern Munich in the first half of the season. Their new additions are 20 year old Czech striker Martin Fenin, Brazilian attacking midfielder Caio, and Greek striker Evangelos Mantzios (who joined on loan). Albert Streit finally went to Schalke 04 and Naohiro Takahara went back to Japan. The player to watch out for is Greek striker Ioannis Amanatidis, club captain. Also, they’ll be playing their second-choice goalkeeper, Oka Nikolov, after an injury to first-choice ‘keeper Markus Proll.

But really, the story for me is about Hertha. Who will start? Who will play at all? Arguez? Kacar? Me? Probably not that.

One person who won’t be playing is captain Arne Friedrich, who’s been struggling with an injury for the past week or so. It was hoped that he would be fit in time, but it looks like he won’t and he’ll have to be replaced by Sofian Chahed.

Midfield is a bit up in the air. Most of the new signings are midfielders (Kacar, Arguez- still without a squad number-, and Skacel- who a Hearts-supporting friend still has very fond memories of), and one or more of them could start on Saturday. The Hertha website suggests Kacar for a start, but I suppose we’ll see tomorrow.

All eyes, though, will be on Raffael. The Brazilian has been chased by Hertha, and specifically by Lucien Favre, since the summer. Now that he’s here, for four-million-some Euro, it’s time to prove what he can do. There’s a lot of pressure on him. To his credit, he’s taking it well, it seems, and saying the right things, including saying nice things about Berlin. The plus of Raffael, in comparison to a lot of Brazilians that have not done too well in the Bundesliga lately (such as our own Andre Lima and Werder Bremen’s Carlos Alberto), is that he’s spent the past few years in snowy Swizterland rather than sunny Brazil. He’s probably seen snow and winter before. Many times, in fact. And Berlin is a pretty awesome city- I can’t compare it to Zurich, having never been to Zurich, but I think it’s hard not to like. This is also a big proving point for Lulu- this is clearly his player, the one he fought for and wanted. If Raffael succeeds, they’re both heroes. If not…

I have faith in Lulu, though. The players signed, while adding up to a bit, all look talented, with a lot of potential. He at least has a vision for the way he wants the team to go and needs the time to do it. I’m generally an optimist, but I do think that signs are pointing to good things. Raffael likes Lulu, after all, and worked hard on coming to Berlin. That has to count for something.

Frankfurt and Hertha are fairly evenly matched on paper- around the same table level, around the same wishes (top half finish), nearly the same amount of points. But Hertha’s the home team here, so I’m predicting a home win. Cross your fingers and knock wood. Or at least wood-like Ikea products like I’ve got.