Teams | October 18, 2014 at 12:34 AM

KICK OFF!

Hertha legend "Zecke" reviews Hertha's Bundesliga games! This time: FC Schalke away.

Berlin - Every football club has its legend. Without doubt Hertha BSC's is Andreas "Zecke" Neuendorf. He has blue and white blood coursing through his veins. He has been at Hertha for 15 years, making 278 appearances, scoring 28 goals in the process. Everyone knows he has his heart in the right place and is a true "Berliner" if ever there was one. This season "Zecke has become a "football pensioner" working within the club since hanging up his boots last term. He is still very opinionated and will tell us all how he sees his beloved Hertha's games going before each matchday in the 2014/15 season. No doubt he will play with his cards on the table. He will be honest, open and probably sometimes a little tongue in cheek - typical "Zecke"! So what does that mean for opponents? Watch out! "Zecke" will pull no punches and take no prisoners as he tells it as it is... Read here his thoughts ahead of matchday 8.

Finally Bundesliga football again! The break for international games is over, and some of our lads brought some remarkable results back to Berlin with them. Per Skjelbred and Rune are on course to reach the 2016 Euros in France and Nico Schulz and the German under-21s have booked their ticket to the tournament next year. Fabian Lustenberger is back in action with Switzerland. I found Peter Pekarik’s 2-0 victory with Slovakia over Spain to be especially remarkable. Brilliant! A glance as that group table shows his side top with three wins out of three. What a record.

As far as the Bundesliga table goes, there is a lot of room for improvement for Hertha. But when I reflect on the home games against Wolfsburg and Stuttgart, it gives me confidence for Saturday’s matchday 8 clash. Okay, we have rarely looked good in Gelsenkirchen against Schalke in recent times, but I remember our last win their very well, even though it was quite a while ago – autumn 2004 to be precise. We led at halftime, only to concede an equaliser early in the second half. I was brought on 20 minutes from the end and set up our second goal two minutes later, afterwards I also cleared one off our line. Then Niko Kovac scored to ensure we took all three points home with us to Berlin!

At that time we were gritty and so determined to win – just like the lads against Wolfsburg and Stuttgart. That is how we have to perform in Gelsenkirchen regardless of how tough the task is. Schalke have appointed former Champions League winner with Chelsea Roberto di Matteo as their new head coach so we can expect them to be highly motivated. Several key players were away on international duty so work at the club during that time was limited. The fact that they have a high level of quality in their ranks goes without saying. But look at the table and you see that we are currently level on points with them, which doesn’t make them better than us.

The motto for our lads has to be: Fully focus and believe in our own strengths – that way we can take the points home with us. What could be nicer than victory in Gelsenkirchen under the floodlights of the Veltins-Arena? So lets do it: Ha Ho He!

(rd,war/City-Press)

by Hertha BSC