"Proactive, brave, patient"

Hertha will look to get their first win of 2022 when they take on VfL Bochum on Friday, having gone through shorter but more intense preparations this week. Our head coach knows that his team will need to bring certain qualities with them onto the pitch at the Berliner Olympiastadion when they take on the promoted side. “We have to do the basics well: work hard, be physical and composed. They will be tough to break down but we are well prepared,” Tayfun Korkut outlined his expectations for the fixture at his press conference. The coach will want to see his side be “proactive, brave and patient” as they take on the visitors from the Ruhr Valley.

Tayfun Korkut: Normally I don’t give any indication of who will be in the starting lineup, but I will make an exception this time: Marc Oliver Kempf will start. We are confident in him, that’s why we signed him, and we are sure that he will work well in partnership with Niklas Stark, who will also start on Friday. Stevan Jovetić, who is like a new signing given that he has been out injured, will be in the starting eleven. His first games were successful and he is looking good again in training, so I am sure that he will play well and help us. Apart from that, some players might feel hard done by, but that is part of my job. I will be giving it a lot of thought and will keep in mind our training sessions and the friendly against Posen when I make my decision.

Tayfun Korkut: We are playing against a Bochum side that are playing really well and have adapted to the Bundesliga. VfL play a good brand of football, are good in transition, they do the basics well and work hard off the ball.

Tayfun Korkut: We have to do the basics well: work hard, be physical and composed. They will be tough to break down but we are well prepared. The boys have been focused in training and we have analysed the opposition in detail. We have to trust our way of playing and be brave, proactive and patient. We can take an important step forward on Friday and want to go for the three points together.

Fredi Bobic: We are excited to welcome every individual fan back and that more people will be able to come to the stadium, but I’m not content with just 10,000 spectators – that can only be the beginning. We need to look at this in terms of percentages of the capacity of each stadium, especially when it comes to social distancing between fans. I watched the Old Firm on TV on Wednesday evening, and what I saw was a game full of passion, singing and a full stadium. That kind of quality is only possible at a football match when there are a certain number of supporters in attendance. I even got goosebumps just watching on TV! They are the kind of scenes we want to see again here in Germany.