Teams | January 25, 2014 at 08:34 PM
At long last!
At long last!
In the first game since the winter break, Hertha are away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday evening.
Berlin - Hertha play their first game since the winter break on Saturday evening (25.01.14, 5.30 pm), as they travel to the Commerzbank-Arena, where they take on Eintracht Frankfurt on Bundesliga matchday 18. The visitors are hoping to carry on the good work shown before the winter break which saw them finish in sixth place - a great result for a newly-promoted side. Both teams attended winter training camps during the break, with Frankfurt in Abu Dhabi and the capital city side in Belek - Turkey. Now the time for preparation is over and it is time for the action to start again.
Hertha will be accompanied by around 2,200 fans on their trip to Frankfurt. Berlin boss Jos Luhukay's is not to be envied with regard to team selection: The Dutchman is still without long term injured Alexander Baumjohann and Änis Ben-Hatira, both of whom are undergoing muscle-building training at the moment. The former is expected to be out of action for much longer after shattering cruciate ligaments last year. Two players certain to miss out John Anthony Brooks and Tolga Cigerci. At the pre-match press conference Luhukay would not confirm the participation of midfield motor Cigerci, preferring to mention other alternatives at his disposal. Keeper Thomas Kraft returns between the Hertha posts after recovering from a knee injury. His understudy will be new signing Rune Almenning Jarstein, who is now officially Hertha's number 2 stopper. Fellow keepers Marius Gersbeck and Sascha Burchert are undergoing light training as they recover from injury.
"We have earned respect"
After a gruelling training camp Luhukay is glad the real action is about to start again. He has not set any targets of where he wants to finish in the table after the second half of the season. What is important to him is that the team rekindle the sparkling form shown before the winter break. The coach: "We will no longer be underestimated after the winter break, because we have earned the respect of other teams during the opening half of the season."
Frankfurt have a point to prove on Saturday evening. As the teams met on the opening day of the season in Berlin, Hertha thrashed them 6-1. That day is still in the mind of Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp who said this week: "It will be a full house and we are keen to grab our first home win of the season. We also want to make up for the heavy defeat in Berlin." Frankfurt's season has been average so far, having only taken 15 points from 17 games. Now they face a strong away side Hertha before travelling to treble winners Bayern Munich the following Sunday. Frankfurt signed former Hertha defender Alex Madlung and loaned Tobias Weis from Hoffenheim during the winter break. Both players are known to go in where it hurts, so Saturday's encounter could be a bruiser.
Fitting in new signings the key
The new signings will not change the playing system of Frankfurt boss Armin Veh. On the contrary, they will be built into the 4-2-3-1 system which worked well for them at times before the break. Eintracht beat Bayer Leverkusen, and drew against a strong Augsburg side using the system. Apart from that they are still in the Europa League. Veh's side face Portuguese giants FC Porto next in the knock out stages. Frankfurt are also still in the DFB Cup. They take on Borussia Dortmund in February. So not everything was bad from their first half of the season.
Veh is without injured key defensive duo Sefano Celozzi and Bastian Oczipka, as well as midfielder Johannes Flum who is suspended. Home keeper Trapp expects a real battle and found words of praise for Saturday’s newly-promoted opponents: "Hertha have a good team with a lot of quality. They have surprised some people but are not sixth in the table for nothing." Luhukay reckons that Frankfurt have not forgotten the drubbing they took in Berlin earlier in the season. He said: "Eintracht Frankfurt will be highly motivated and will try to make good that defeat." Which is exactly what Eintracht captain Pirmin Schwegler wants from his team. He told us: "We have something to make good, because we didn't look good in Berlin last year. That is why we are on a mission at home and want to win our first home game of the season."
Possible line-ups:
Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp - Jung, Zambrano, Russ, Djakpa - Schwegler, Rode - Aigner, Meier, Inui - Rosenthal
Hertha BSC: Kraft - Pekarik, Lustenberger, Langkamp, van den Bergh - Hosogai, Niemeyer - Allagui, Skjelbred, Schulz - Ramos
Hertha will be accompanied by around 2,200 fans on their trip to Frankfurt. Berlin boss Jos Luhukay's is not to be envied with regard to team selection: The Dutchman is still without long term injured Alexander Baumjohann and Änis Ben-Hatira, both of whom are undergoing muscle-building training at the moment. The former is expected to be out of action for much longer after shattering cruciate ligaments last year. Two players certain to miss out John Anthony Brooks and Tolga Cigerci. At the pre-match press conference Luhukay would not confirm the participation of midfield motor Cigerci, preferring to mention other alternatives at his disposal. Keeper Thomas Kraft returns between the Hertha posts after recovering from a knee injury. His understudy will be new signing Rune Almenning Jarstein, who is now officially Hertha's number 2 stopper. Fellow keepers Marius Gersbeck and Sascha Burchert are undergoing light training as they recover from injury.
"We have earned respect"
After a gruelling training camp Luhukay is glad the real action is about to start again. He has not set any targets of where he wants to finish in the table after the second half of the season. What is important to him is that the team rekindle the sparkling form shown before the winter break. The coach: "We will no longer be underestimated after the winter break, because we have earned the respect of other teams during the opening half of the season."
Frankfurt have a point to prove on Saturday evening. As the teams met on the opening day of the season in Berlin, Hertha thrashed them 6-1. That day is still in the mind of Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp who said this week: "It will be a full house and we are keen to grab our first home win of the season. We also want to make up for the heavy defeat in Berlin." Frankfurt's season has been average so far, having only taken 15 points from 17 games. Now they face a strong away side Hertha before travelling to treble winners Bayern Munich the following Sunday. Frankfurt signed former Hertha defender Alex Madlung and loaned Tobias Weis from Hoffenheim during the winter break. Both players are known to go in where it hurts, so Saturday's encounter could be a bruiser.
Fitting in new signings the key
The new signings will not change the playing system of Frankfurt boss Armin Veh. On the contrary, they will be built into the 4-2-3-1 system which worked well for them at times before the break. Eintracht beat Bayer Leverkusen, and drew against a strong Augsburg side using the system. Apart from that they are still in the Europa League. Veh's side face Portuguese giants FC Porto next in the knock out stages. Frankfurt are also still in the DFB Cup. They take on Borussia Dortmund in February. So not everything was bad from their first half of the season.
Veh is without injured key defensive duo Sefano Celozzi and Bastian Oczipka, as well as midfielder Johannes Flum who is suspended. Home keeper Trapp expects a real battle and found words of praise for Saturday’s newly-promoted opponents: "Hertha have a good team with a lot of quality. They have surprised some people but are not sixth in the table for nothing." Luhukay reckons that Frankfurt have not forgotten the drubbing they took in Berlin earlier in the season. He said: "Eintracht Frankfurt will be highly motivated and will try to make good that defeat." Which is exactly what Eintracht captain Pirmin Schwegler wants from his team. He told us: "We have something to make good, because we didn't look good in Berlin last year. That is why we are on a mission at home and want to win our first home game of the season."
Possible line-ups:
Eintracht Frankfurt: Trapp - Jung, Zambrano, Russ, Djakpa - Schwegler, Rode - Aigner, Meier, Inui - Rosenthal
Hertha BSC: Kraft - Pekarik, Lustenberger, Langkamp, van den Bergh - Hosogai, Niemeyer - Allagui, Skjelbred, Schulz - Ramos