Thanks, Stuttgart!
By: Abby | October 20th, 2008
And Hertha have now won at home.
It would be against Stuttgart, of course, because Hertha has an increasingly odd hold over the 2007 Bundesliga champions, beating them on a regular basis. There’s not a particularly good reason why we should keep beating them, other than that we do, and as much as I generally like Stuttgart (they have Jens Lehmann, after all) I’m pleased of this continuing trend. Even if we perhaps should not have won. They’re our three points, damn it. Ours.
And, not only was this Hertha’s first home win of the season, it was a win without Marko Pantelic, something that hasn’t happened in a long time. The power struggle between Pante and Lulu goes on, this time resulting in the Serbian striker being suspended for the weekend’s game. The reason? In coming back from international duty, Pante went straight to Hertha’s physio and didn’t report to Thursday afternoon’s training, neither of which were cleared with Lulu. The manager responded by suspending him for the weekend’s game, banishing him to the stands in a measure of reasserting his authority over the squad. A brave move, considering that Hertha hadn’t won without Pante since…ever. I think since he signed for Hertha.
And, thanks to Stuttgart and the odd hold we have over them, Lulu won this round and Hertha won the game.
It was also the new signings that should be thanked- the goals came from Maximillian Nicu (after a brilliant pass from Arne Friedrich, and good work from Raffael), and yet another from Gojko Kacar (after an assist from Nicu). Gojko came off the bench to score the winner, and continues to impress. With rumors continuing to swirl around Pante’s future, it’s clear that we won’t be without a Serbian star in the lineup.
With the win we’re now up to fourth, three points behind leaders Hamburg (and above Schalke, Werder Bremen, and Bayern Munich, although by not very much), and the traditional Hertha good start to the season is still on. Normally we don’t continue it very long, but I like enjoying the good times as long as they last.
More good news is that Lucio has returned to training. After shattering his knee last September, there was talk of it being a career-ender for the 29-year-old. But his recovery is happening, and there’s talk he could even return to playing before the new year. I wish him the best of luck and hope that’s true, for his and Hertha’s sake.
Category: Team News
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Comments
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I finally got to see Hertha pick up 3 points at the Olympiastadion this season! About time too, particularly given some of the previous somewhat disappointing results.
Despite being under severe pressure from Stuttgart at times, the team played very well; Raffael in particular had an outstanding game.
Pantelic is a quality player, but it’s good that Favre is asserting his authority. Hopefully he’ll fall in line sooner rather than later, as I’d hate to see him sold.
Posted from
United Kingdom
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I agree about enjoying the good times while they are here. That’s what keeps me warm in March by which time we have collapsed and I’m sitting in the stadium, it’s 10 degrees and we are playing woefully. At least we got the traditional home loss to Cottbus out of the way early this season!
Look for Pante to be sold in Winter, it’s our last chance to get some really good money for him and then Lulu can really say he has the team he wants, the old guard will be basically swept out. (excluding our defensive masters)
BTW – UEFA Cup games – I think we have a real chance against Lisbon on Thursday.Posted from
Germany -
Exactly, a good start means we can survive the later collapse…
I’m hoping good things against Benfica- we do tend to do well against teams we can counter-attack against.
I also like seeing Favre assert his authority. A coach has to do that to succeed, and I really want him to succeed. I don’t really want to see Pante go, but he’s not getting any younger and if we can start winning without him, maybe we can buy a younger, less-divaish replacement? Not that I know who, but that’s what they pay the scouts for.
Posted from
United States
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