Taking momentum in to the long week
Taking momentum in to the long week
Berlin – A win in the DFB-Pokal, a draw against the reigning champions – Hertha have really risen to the challenge of their opening fixtures. On Monday, the players started their week with a double training session as they look forward to their first home game of the new season. “The excitement is huge. It’s such a privilege to not only have played for this great club but to also be able to manage them,” said Ante Covic ahead of Sunday’s game at the Olympiastadion. The 2-2 draw away at Bayern Munich was a fantastic result; “We have to put the Bayern result behind us now. We want to carry the momentum that we gained from it in to this weekend but we can’t get carried away,” explained Covic.
Lukas Klünter was missing from training today after he was named in sport magazine Kicker’s ‘team of the week’ for his sterling performance in Munich. The full-back was rested after a heavy workload, as was Daishawn Redan, who scored two goals on his debut yesterday for the U23s in their game against FSV Optik Rathenow. Marvin Plattenhardt is expected to return to training this week and Javairo Dilrosun did some laps around Schenkendorffplatz this morning with rehab specialist Hendrik Vieth. Dedryck Boyata and Arne Maier are still missing though, who are however well on the way to full recovery.
Second session of the day focusing on use of the ball
The remaining Herthaner started the new training week full of confidence. In the first training session on Monday, balance and passing exercises were on the menu for the players with the session being rounded off by a game. In the afternoon session, Jessic Ngankam, Timur Gayret and Maxim Pronichev (all from the U23 squad) as well as Julian Albrecht, Lazar Samardzic and Luca Netz (U19s) all joined in as some of the first team players went for performance diagnostics in the dressing room. In the afternoon, the main focus of the coaching team was on shape and structure with groups and pitches varying in size, playing one touch football.
On Tuesday it’s another double session for the Hertha players. Due to the long week, Covic will give his men the day off on Wednesday - on Thursday and Friday the real preparation begins with one public session on each day, before the final training session will be conducted on Saturday at 15:00 CEST. On matchday 2, the first home game after the long summer break will finally arrive for Hertha.