Teams | August 18, 2013 at 06:28 PM
Carry on in Nürnberg
Carry on in Nürnberg
Bundesliga matchday 2 sees Hertha BSC visit Nürnberg on Sunday (18.08.13).
Berlin - Carry on lads! A week after thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt 6-1 in the first game of the new season at the Olympic stadium in Berlin, the capital city side are on their travels for the first time, as they travel south to lock horns with 1. FC Nürnberg on Sunday (18.08.13) at the Grundig Stadion. Sunday's hosts bounced back to draw 2-2 at Hoffenheim last weekend after being two goals down. Berlin boss Jos Luhukay is without full backs Marcel Ndjeng and Johannes van den Bergh, as well as Hany Mukhtar, who picked up an injury while on international duty. Ben Sahar, Roman Hubnik and Levan Kobiashvili failed to make the squad.
Luhukay was his usual calm and collected self at the pre-match press conference on Friday. The 50 year old Dutchman spoke of what had been a complicated week after a stunning opening display, and that the omissions of Johannes van den Bergh and Marcel Ndjeng are very bitter. On the day of the second last training session ahead of the game in Nürnberg, Sami Allagui and Änis Ben-Hatira were the final duo to return from international duty. John Brooks and Peter Pekarik, both in action for their national teams only took part in a shortened training session. Luhukay: "In truth we are quite lucky to be playing on Sunday, because I only had the whole group back together on Saturday. I hope we will be able to focus and concentrate on Sunday."
Mutual respect
1. FC Nürnberg is a team Luhukay has a lot of respect for. The Hertha coach: "Nürnberg are a side who have been doing excellent work for years. The whole club is well structured and strong. They make the most of what is available to them and have established themselves in the Bundesliga, even though they are not one of the clubs with a huge budget. That commands praise and respect." In Emanuel Pogatetz and Daniel Ginczek Luhukay says that Nürnberg have made to very good signings. Pogatetz is a man with a wealth of experience while Ginczek is: "a superb young very talented player."
Nürnberg coach Michael Wiesinger sees Hertha's strengths in : "Being well organised with the ability to switch to attack in a heart beat." Ramos, Allagui, Baumjohann and Ben-Hatira are very variable attacking options and his side must be "wide awake from the opening whistle, allow them little room to operate in and get forward." The 40 year old coach is well aware of his side's own weaknesses and says: "We have to be tighter at the back. We have worked intensively on that aspect this week and plan to put it into practise on Sunday." Wiesinger reckons that after hammering Frankfurt 6-1 last weekend that Hertha will travel to Nürnberg “euphoric”. The young coach prefers to concentrate on his won team and sees the fact that Nürnberg are at home as an advantage. Reflecting on the recent past he said: "We proved last season that we can be a force at home."
Organised at the back – tempo and quality up front
Luhukay sees Nürnberg as: "a team which always functions well", and pointed out in particular the individual strengths of his own player Hajime Hosogai's Japanese international team mate Hiroshi Kiyotake: "Kiyotake is a good provider who is ever-dangerous with his quick dribbling. He is responsible for all of Nürnberg's set pieces." Looking to Nürnberg's defence the Hertha coach describes them as: “uncomfortable to play against and well organised." Up front, Nürnberg have players with tempo and individual quality.
Luhukay senses how keen Nürnberg are ahead of Sunday's clash. He added: I think they will be ready and highly motivated to beat us on Sunday." The Hertha boss as usual was giving nothing away with regard to team selection: "I am currently considering who to play down the left. I have various players with differing qualities." Those players are probably Fabian Holland and Nico Schulz. The trick is to keep the player's and fan's feet firmly on the ground. Manager Michael Preetz explained this week: "We have got three points and a five-goal plus from one game. That is good and everything else is irrelevant at this stage of the season."
Luhukay was his usual calm and collected self at the pre-match press conference on Friday. The 50 year old Dutchman spoke of what had been a complicated week after a stunning opening display, and that the omissions of Johannes van den Bergh and Marcel Ndjeng are very bitter. On the day of the second last training session ahead of the game in Nürnberg, Sami Allagui and Änis Ben-Hatira were the final duo to return from international duty. John Brooks and Peter Pekarik, both in action for their national teams only took part in a shortened training session. Luhukay: "In truth we are quite lucky to be playing on Sunday, because I only had the whole group back together on Saturday. I hope we will be able to focus and concentrate on Sunday."
Mutual respect
1. FC Nürnberg is a team Luhukay has a lot of respect for. The Hertha coach: "Nürnberg are a side who have been doing excellent work for years. The whole club is well structured and strong. They make the most of what is available to them and have established themselves in the Bundesliga, even though they are not one of the clubs with a huge budget. That commands praise and respect." In Emanuel Pogatetz and Daniel Ginczek Luhukay says that Nürnberg have made to very good signings. Pogatetz is a man with a wealth of experience while Ginczek is: "a superb young very talented player."
Nürnberg coach Michael Wiesinger sees Hertha's strengths in : "Being well organised with the ability to switch to attack in a heart beat." Ramos, Allagui, Baumjohann and Ben-Hatira are very variable attacking options and his side must be "wide awake from the opening whistle, allow them little room to operate in and get forward." The 40 year old coach is well aware of his side's own weaknesses and says: "We have to be tighter at the back. We have worked intensively on that aspect this week and plan to put it into practise on Sunday." Wiesinger reckons that after hammering Frankfurt 6-1 last weekend that Hertha will travel to Nürnberg “euphoric”. The young coach prefers to concentrate on his won team and sees the fact that Nürnberg are at home as an advantage. Reflecting on the recent past he said: "We proved last season that we can be a force at home."
Organised at the back – tempo and quality up front
Luhukay sees Nürnberg as: "a team which always functions well", and pointed out in particular the individual strengths of his own player Hajime Hosogai's Japanese international team mate Hiroshi Kiyotake: "Kiyotake is a good provider who is ever-dangerous with his quick dribbling. He is responsible for all of Nürnberg's set pieces." Looking to Nürnberg's defence the Hertha coach describes them as: “uncomfortable to play against and well organised." Up front, Nürnberg have players with tempo and individual quality.
Luhukay senses how keen Nürnberg are ahead of Sunday's clash. He added: I think they will be ready and highly motivated to beat us on Sunday." The Hertha boss as usual was giving nothing away with regard to team selection: "I am currently considering who to play down the left. I have various players with differing qualities." Those players are probably Fabian Holland and Nico Schulz. The trick is to keep the player's and fan's feet firmly on the ground. Manager Michael Preetz explained this week: "We have got three points and a five-goal plus from one game. That is good and everything else is irrelevant at this stage of the season."
Possible line-ups
Nürnberg: Schäfer - Feulner, Nilsson/Dabanli, Pogatetz, Pinola - Balitsch - Stark, Kiyotake, Frantz, Mak - Ginczek
Hertha BSC: Kraft - Pekarik, Langkamp, Brooks, Schulz/Holland - Lustenberger, Hosogai - Allagui, Baumjohann, Ben-Hatira - Ramos