“Follow the guidelines and make the most of it!”

Defender Niklas Stark spoke via a Skype call on Wednesday about training without contact and his first impressions of Bruno Labbadia.

Berlin – Not allowing your opponent any space, always getting tight to your man and looking to go into tackles; all of these are key attributes of a strong central defender. Attributes, that characterise Niklas Stark’s game. However, in these times of the Coronavirus and the social distancing regulations because of it, this is simply out of the question. Hertha BSC’s training sessions are currently taking place without any contact and only in small groups. “Of course it’s not ideal. But we’re trying to train whatever we can under the current restrictions; we’re following the guidelines and making the most of it,” the defender gave an insight into the current training regime.

The German national team player returned to training last Thursday, after spending two periods in self-isolation since the start of April as he had come into contact with someone that tested positive for the virus. “Of course it was quite unfortunate, but we also had the make the most of that as well. I kept myself fit at home and could watch the announcement of the new head coach via a stream,” said Hertha’s number five.

Passion and an eye for detail

However, in the meantime Stark has now had the chance to get a first impression of Bruno Labbadia and his coaching staff. “We can feel his passion and his attention to detail. You can see the coach has a clear plan. This has to become ingrained in our minds,” the vice-captain emphasises his enthusiasm after spending his first few sessions with the 54-year-old. The Herthaner would ideally like to prove how ready they are as soon as possible. “The continuation of the Bundesliga is a controversial topic in society at the moment and there are a number of different opinions, but we are training and preparing ourselves so that we are ready to go whenever; that’s our goal!” said the 25-year-old, who is excited to get back out on the pitch.