Something’s Gone Wrong Again

By: Abby | March 8th, 2010

You could say that we were unlucky against Hamburg, and you probably should, but that doesn’t much help now. The 1-0 loss in the Hanseatic means that we’re now two losses in two, with no goals scored. Against a Hamburg side who didn’t play particularly well – as they often don’t against us – we still couldn’t manage it. Last year we did have luck, this year we have none.

The other results of the weekend demonstrate that fully. Most of my hope for survival has been pinned on the equally poor form of Hanover and Nurnberg. Over the weekend, they went and won. Both of them. Hanover got their first since October by going to Freiburg and winning (we also won there, remember). Even more shockingly, Nurnberg took on unbeaten league leaders Bayer Leverkusen and ended up with a 3-2 win. It took them out of the drop zone entirely, with Freiburg taking up their place, five points away from us on 20.

This makes the next game even more crucial, and it was already crucial. The next opponents are indeed Nurnberg, who will be full of confidence after their win. But more on that later.

Pal Dardai, Hertha’s longest-serving player, says that we’re missing the fight, that the players are far too nice and don’t have the proper attitude for the league.

Friedhelm Funkel, the man responsible for instilling attitude and fight into the players, received the always-appreciated vote of confidence before the Hamburg game. He was supposed to be the firefighter, but the blaze is still going. I’m bitter that we never even got a new manager bump out of him.

As it starts to look bleaker and bleaker in Berlin the vultures start to circle. Jaroslav Drobny has already stated he won’t stay if we’re relegated, and as much as it pains me I can’t blame him. I adore him to pieces but he doesn’t deserve the 2. Bundesliga. Wild-ish child Patrick Ebert also has a few admirers, namely Benfica and Hoffenheim. The Academy product would cost about €4 million.

Yes, it’s not done yet. We could be Grenoble of Ligue 1, 12 points away from safety. But six is still a lot for a team with as few wins as Hertha.

I can only say that we’ll see.