"The chemistry is just right"

Pál Dárdai assesses over a week of training in Schladming, and talks about tactics, talent and being dangerous in front of goal.

The training camp is all over! After almost eight days of intense training sessions, friendlies, press conferences and a team afternoon together, the boys from Berlin are leaving. Pál Dárdai and his coaching team put the focus of the training on tactical flexibility, the Hungarian and his colleagues meticulously fine-tuning and working on player movement and game scenarios. Before the journey back to Berlin, and almost a week before kick-off in the DFB-Pokal against Eintracht Braunschweig, Dárdai reflects on the weeks of preparation and talks about Schladming, team spirit and tactical mind games. herthabsc.de has summarised his most important quotes below.

Pál Dárdai on...

...the training camp in Schladming: “We’re happy with the training, the condition of the pitch, the hotel and everything else. I’m unhappy about the cancelled friendly on Wednesday evening, but that was not our fault. We spoke with at least ten clubs about whether we could play them instead, but unfortunately it didn’t happen as it was so last minute. It wasn’t ideal for our preparation but we’ve got to accept it. In our last friendly against Aiginiakos the team put a lot of the things into practice that we’d had a look at in training, even though our opponents weren’t quite at Bundesliga level.”

...the start of the season: “It has always been the same in football: you can have a good pre-season, but then at the start of the season you lose games, because you suddenly have the added pressure of the Bundesliga. Every year it’s difficult to judge where we are at, but it’s the same for other teams as well. I can say that a lot of things go well in training and in the friendlies we scored nice goals. Up until the cancelled friendly we were able to carry out our agenda as planned. Next week is all about preparing for the match against Braunschweig. We’re taking the DFB-Pokal very seriously.”

 ...team spirit: “We need a good mix in the team to be successful, of course. But anyone who supports Hertha will sense that the atmosphere and the chemistry within the team are just right. There is no split between old and young, something seen not only in training, but also at meals and in their free time. Our new players have quickly made their mark and integrated as well. We’ve only been able to achieve what we have in the past few years with a good team spirit.”

...tactical flexibility: “The lads understood very quickly what we want from them. It involves a spatial awareness and the movement and timing of the press. When in possession in the 3-5-2 they have three or four ways of playing the ball out, similar to when we play in a 4-1-4-1. In the end, of course it depends on individual quality; whether the players pass to their man or score themselves, because as the manager I can’t influence that. I feel that it can be a wonderful season if we start well and integrate our young players successfully. It can also be difficult if it doesn’t go so well, because all the young lads don’t know what it feels like to play under pressure in the Bundesliga. Either way, it’s up to the experienced players to lead the team.”

...the talent: “How quickly the young players learn is a key question for the upcoming season. I believe that with lads like Javairo Dilrosun, Dennis Jastrzembski and Palko Dárdai, we have players who can make the final one or two passes, as well as score goals, something that they again show in training. Jastrzembski is our quickest player – you usually only find that sort of pace among Europe’s elite. Muhammed Kiprit is making a good impression as well. They’re still very young and inexperienced though, so we shouldn’t expect too much from them. We want to build them up carefully. They’re nevertheless putting the established players under pressure now, which is good for us. It’s also clear though that we still need more experienced players like Vedad Ibisevic and Salomon Kalou.”

...Marvin Plattenhardt: His development is perfect for Hertha’s image. He ‘s consistently improved ever since he came here, so much so that he’s now a German international. If a big club swoops in now and offers a massive amount of money, we probably won’t be able to hold onto him. The transfer fee would, however, help us to maintain our philosophy and develop other players. However, we’ve never said that Platte must go and we want to sell him; on the contrary, we’re very happy that he’s a Hertha player. Generally, it’s a good sign that other clubs want to have our players, as that shows that in recent years we’ve clearly done something right.

...possible new arrivals: “I’m in a constant exchange with Michael Preetz about what we do and don’t want to do. We’ve still got plenty of time yet. If we sign a new player who isn’t an international, then after the match against Schalke at the start of September we’ll have the first international break, where we can bed them in. If he is an international, then he’ll have the experience and class that he could help us very quickly. The team would definitely make it easy for the new arrivals.”