Winds of change at Schenckendorffplatz

Tayfun Korkut starts work with Hertha! One day after being presented as new head coach of the Blue-Whites, the 47-year-old started work on Tuesday. Together with his assistant Ilija Aračić and the rest of the team, our new head coach stepped out onto the training pitch at 14:14 in awful weather. The trainer was engaged throughout the 74-minute session, communicating a lot and showing a thirst for action. “My initial time with the players did a lot of good. Now we need to use every second to make sure the players and staff get to know each other better,” the clearly happy Korkut summarised after his first session.

Tempo and energy

After a short talk on the field, the team went through an extensive warm-up with fitness trainer Henrik Kuchno, two groups started with passing exercises. After that, they focused on patterns of play on different sizes of pitch. Korkut was very close to the team, constantly looking to talk to them to make corrections and offer suggestions on things to improve. The Stuttgart native required his team to use the width of the pitch, look to receive the ball and do everything at a high tempo. This was clear to see: Niklas Stark, Davie Selke and co. didn’t give each other an inch and went into challenges with intensity. “There was real pace and energy,” Korkut was pleased to say. Assistant coach Aračić took on the role of silent observer and watched over things from the sidelines alongside attacking coach Vedad Ibišević.

Darida back, Dárdai misses out – three training individually

For their first session, the new coaching staff were without Márton Dárdai, who will sit out of training and matches for now with a glute injury sustained in the warm-up to the derby, whilst Rune Jarstein, Lukas Klünter and Linus Gechter trained individually. Vladimír Darida took part fully again and is available for the away fixture against VfB Stuttgart after his injury, as is Dedryck Boyata, following his red card against Hoffenheim.

The fact that his first game as Hertha coach comes against one of his former employers does not factor into Korkut’s plans – quite the opposite in fact. “Of course, this is a special fixture for me, but more importantly it’s an extremely important game for the club – not for Tayfun Korkut,” emphasised the coach. Ahead of Sunday’s trip to Baden-Württemberg, Korkut has scheduled several sessions in the coming days to further implement his changes. “We’re getting an impression of every player, and then will compare those with what we’ve seen in the past as outsiders looking in. We will then make our decision on the way we want to play,” said the former Turkey international, giving an insight into his to-do list. Whatever way he and his team decide to play on Sunday, we will all hope that Korkut’s first game in charge sees some points brought back to Berlin – Tuesday afternoon was the start of the process.