Hertha are back up and running!
At 11:03 this morning, the Blue-Whites officially began their preparations for the second half of the Bundesliga season as Tayfun Korkut welcomed the boys back to Schenckendorffplatz on Wednesday. “We haven’t had much time off, but it’s still done us all some good in terms of recharging the batteries,” said the Hertha head coach following around 80 minutes of work in winter temperatures, one of four training sessions planned ahead of the new year. “Every day is important. The lads aren’t starting from scratch – they’ve had individual training plans over the break,” said Korkut, adding: “We want to keep on improving. It’s about finding some stability by being courageous in possession and enjoying our football. We need to work on some things defensively too to improve our chances of winning games.”
The lads have already set about doing that on the training pitches at the Olympiastadion. After a warm-up with fitness coach Markus Hödl and the traditional rondos, the coaching team had the boys working on various exercises, with Korkut & Co. occasionally interjecting to give instructions. “We all have the potential to improve,” said the boss, who was able to call on Lukas Klünter once again. “It’s great to have him back on board. It gives me the chance to get a better look at him,” said the 47-year-old. The right-back was in good spirits as he works his way back following months on the sidelines. “I’m obviously delighted that the timeline has worked out and I’m back working with the lads. Now I will give my all I can so that I can help out the team again as soon as possible.”
Returning pair, individual sessions and colds
Suat Serdar and Prince Boateng, who were absent for the winning end to 2021 against Dortmund, were back training alongside their teammates on Wednesday. However, Rune Jarstein (knee) and Lucas Tousart (personal reasons) were missing, as were Davie Selke and Deyovaisio Zeefuik due to colds. Dedryck Boyata tested positive for Covid-19 before his return to Berlin and is currently self-isolating. Stevan Jovetić (calf) and Peter Pekarik (thigh) did some individual work, partly out on the pitch and partly indoors. “We will keep it like this for the first few days. We’re confident that they will be able to resume training early next week though,” said an optimistic Korkut. New signing Fredrik Bjørkan still has to remain patient for his first team training session as a Blue-White. “Frederik had a heel injury, so we’re building him up on an individual basis,” said Korkut, who is excited for the new left-back to get to work, but knows that patience is key. “He had a very, very good season in Norway and is an explosive player that likes to get forward. It’s important now that he settles in here and familiarises himself with everything. We’re taking a relaxed approach.”
Things will be less relaxed on Thursday following on from today’s opening session. Tayfun Korkut’s charges will train twice tomorrow, before a session on Friday sees out the year. The Herthaner have the weekend off and will then return for the first session of 2022 on Monday, 3rd January. “We will need a competitive element in training, so we will do some eleven against eleven practice,” said the coach, looking ahead to the Bundesliga restart at the end of next week, when Hertha welcome 1. FC Köln to the capital (Sunday, 9th January, 15:30 CET).