Hertha BSC has won another match in the Bundesliga. The success at Eintracht Frankfurt made those involved correspondingly happy. Above all, they were convinced by the way they played.
“It’s not about the coach or his job,” Hertha coach Pal Dardai said directly on the “Sky” microphone after the 2-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt. The success was important, of course – but “for the boys, because I see how they work every week”. The much-discussed coach from Hungary did not talk about himself at all. That was done by others.
“It was also for him, definitely. “
HERTHA’S MARCO RICHTER ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SUCCESS FOR COACH PAL DARDAI
“We did a lot of things well, it was also for him, definitely,” said Marco Richter, for example, who promptly made it 1-0 with Berlin’s first shot on goal in Frankfurt. His first goal of the season was to be a groundbreaking one. Afterwards, Hertha BSC played some impressive football. Coach Dardai declared the first half “perfect”.
Dardai declares first half “perfect “
The reason was the strong defensive performance of his team. Offensively, they also managed quite a bit, but after the 1:0 out of nothing, the capitals often lacked efficiency. In the end, however, the visitors won 2-1 in Frankfurt despite an “unnecessary penalty” (Dardai) against them, partly because the coach had the right instinct and brought in wild card Jurgen Ekkelenkamp. Only two minutes after his substitution, the young Dutchman scored to finish off a great counterattack, shortly after the end of the first hour – and in the middle of a pressing phase of the hosts. Therefore, Dardai spoke of an equally great second half, “because we stayed calm”. In the eyes of the coach, the 2:0 was just as deserved as the 1:0, as his team broke free from Eintracht’s pressure phase with a beautiful short passing game.
Similarly, Niklas Stark stated: “Our focus was on compactness. When we play so compactly, the game is much more fun.” At the same time, other games did not seem to have been approached any differently. Richter even praised his coach’s “weekly pushes”. Before the matchday eight encounter, the tenor among the players was therefore that “it starts from the first second” and attributes such as “standing compactly, giving full throttle, taking on the duels and then scoring the goals” simply have to be implemented for once.
Players and coaches full of praise
Famously, this finally worked after two Bundesliga defeats in a row. On top of that, Frankfurt were beaten again by Hertha BSC in a direct duel after five games (0/2/3) without a successful result and overtook them in the table. “That’s nice, because I don’t have to tell you again how great and well the boys are training,” said a delighted Dardai, who added: “They played well today. Systematically, tactically, and also with discipline against the ball.” Therefore, the satisfied Hungarian said when asked: “When the boys develop like this, it’s always fun. “
