"We need to be strong in all areas"
After our boys in blue and white played the final game of the last Bundesliga matchday, they will be raising the curtain for the next. The first home victory of the season was long overdue, but now another difficult away task stands before Hertha this Friday (28th October, 20:30 CEST). “We’re expecting a brilliant atmosphere and a hard-fought game under the floodlights. We need to be strong in all areas, and we’re working towards that,” explained Sandro Schwarz, who isn’t worried that his team could rest on their laurels following their win against Schalke: “I haven’t noticed any drop in intensity which is good. The boys were right back to being focused and concentrated in training,” the coach said. Schwarz will only be without the services of Kélian Nsona in Bremen. The right-winger underwent a successful knee operation on Thursday and won’t be available for the foreseeable future. herthabsc.com has summarised all of the important answers from Wednesday’s press conference – as Schwarz and sporting director Fredi Bobic discussed…
… the upcoming game against Werder:
Sandro Schwarz: We’re expecting a brilliant atmosphere and a hard-fought game under the floodlights this Friday evening, which we’re looking forward to. Werder play with a similar philosophy to Schalke – they defend aggressively man-to-man, but they can also play well on the ball. They are composed, have good plans both in and out of possession, play with a lot of structure and always have threat in front of goal. They’ve done very well as a promoted side. For us, it’s about working on all of those things and our ideas, as well as bringing intensity to the pitch.
…how Hertha could line-up:
Sandro Schwarz: Agustín Rogel has adjusted very well to his new squad and league. He’s also integrated very well into the tactical set-up. We accordingly played very well against Schalke defensively for long stretches. It’s great that we can play with various different seasons. Wilfried Kanga and Stevan Jovetić have done very well up top – their chemistry was demonstrated in our second goal. We know what qualities we have on the counter-attack. In our positional game last time out, we didn’t optimally implement that creativity we have. But we’re not just dangerous in those situations – we need to be strong in all areas come Friday, and we’re working towards that. We will see on Friday how the puzzle pieces fit together.
… the emotions following the victory against Schalke:
Sandro Schwarz: I haven’t noticed any drop in intensity which is good. But on Monday we were of course pleased to have got three more points on the board. The boys were right back to being focused and concentrated in training.”
… the long period without matches starting mid-November:
Fredi Bobic: We will take a step back after the four games left this year, and then we can review what's gone well and what hasn't. Thanks to the World Cup, we will have plenty of time to do that. Until then, we still want to get a few more points.