"That’s what drives us!"
"That’s what drives us!"
Hertha’s academy manager Benjamin Weber gives a detailed interview reviewing 2020. He also discusses the effects and challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and gives insight into the development of talent in Berlin.
Eleven teams, around 250 players and some 80 members of staff, all sharing one goal: winning football matches. That is an aim which has not been achieved often enough this year, though. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, football has been played only intermittently at the Hertha BSC academy. Academy manager Benjamin Weber and his fellow staff members have had to deal with numerous challenges in deciding how best to proceed with training and matches, all while considering the responsibility they have for the talented youngsters who just want to play football. "The first huge challenge of this period was working out the right way to approach the situation,” says the 40-year-old Weber. herthabsc.de spoke with the father of two shortly before Christmas, looking back on the year and pondering what is to come in 2021.
herthabsc.de: Benny, an extraordinary year is now coming to an end. Forget Hertha and football for a second – how has 2020 been for you personally?
Weber: Obviously it’s been an extremely weird year in which we have dealt with a lot. When I think back to the first lockdown, when my kids suddenly needed home-schooling and we were all speaking via video calls, it was completely surreal – especially when you consider that just two weeks earlier we’d been sat in the stands at the Olympiastadion. A little normality returned when my kids went back to school in summer, so it’s been a harsh setback for society that the virus is as widespread as it is now. All in all it has been a tough year that was totally unexpected. Hopefully 2021 will be a bit more routine.
herthabsc.de: What effect has the pandemic had on everyday life at the Hertha BSC academy?
Weber: One big change was that I wasn’t able to have daily contact with the coaches and players. Academy work is a team game, so we need lots of communication about the development of the lads. Meetings with the team and the coaching staff are absolutely necessary for that. We’ve been having digital meetings for months now. It works, but obviously it doesn’t compare with face-to-face discussions.
herthabsc.de: What challenges did you face in the early stages of the pandemic?
Weber: Obviously we had to consider a few things. How do we stay in contact? How do we communicate? How do we abide by all the extensive rules? You could tell that there was huge uncertainty in the beginning. An important question that we asked ourselves was: how are we going to operate while conforming to the regulations? In one or two areas we were too cautious, sure, but that was for the best since not much was really known about coronavirus at the time. The most important thing was to protect our players and staff.
herthabsc.de: What other things have you had to consider as the pandemic progressed?
Weber: Another challenge has been making the rules clear for the various age groups. An easy example of that is the wearing of masks in the changing rooms. It’s a point that we have to keep reinforcing, not letting anyone relax. It’s about protecting everyone. Planning has also been difficult. When will we be able to play again? How do we keep our teams at a competitive level? Looking at our U19s, they are in their final year before progressing to senior football and they have only played four competitive matches since March. That’s obviously very little playing time. Our U23s played their last fixture on 31st October in Lichtenburg. At the time we had hoped that we would be able to have games again in December at the latest. That’s the one thing that we are all missing – competition. But health is our number one priority, obviously. It’s about keeping the number of infections down and keeping everybody healthy.
herthabsc.de: How are you coaching the players when there are no matches to prepare for?
Weber: We have worked really hard with all the coaches in recent weeks and months, focusing on their individual development and working on analysis as part of an ongoing project with the DFB and DFL. The teams are obviously missing the competition and, especially in the older age groups, the important games against other academy teams. But their development hasn’t stalled, especially for the younger players. There have been various opportunities to improve the players through different training set-ups. The fitness coaches have been able to give out intense sessions focused on speed and the coaches have been able to do longer sessions since there are no fixtures at the weekend. There are plenty of ways to keep the boys in shape. The coaching staff have also looked at their teams more closely and worked on things with individual players. We are putting more time into our analysis and seeing how we can improve our day-to-day coaching in the future.
Weber: We can’t really answer that question at this point in time. When they’re out on the pitch, our coaches are trying to ensure that the lads have the same enthusiasm that they had before. We are taking that really seriously. What we have noticed is that after the first lockdown it took a little while for the lads to return to their previous level, since they’d not been allowed to do anything at all during that time. At this moment in time the majority of our players are able to train, which is a big difference from earlier in the year. But we can’t predict the effects of this time without competitive matches yet. We will only see the consequences later on. I’m concerned mainly about the U19s; those lads are missing competitive ahead of their jump to senior football.
herthabsc.de: Plans for next season are usually being made around the turn of the year. Is that at all possible given the current situation?
Weber: Of course we are still concerning ourselves with planning for next season. We have to make plans considering the current circumstances, so that’s what we’re doing. In our U23 coach Andreas 'Zecke' Neuendorf, we have somebody who is in contact with the first team coaching staff almost every day. We are really happy that Bruno Labbadia has made it possible for youngsters such as Márton Dárdai to make their Bundesliga debuts even during this difficult period. Seeing them make the jump to professional football is what drives us to help our boys. If they do that with Hertha, even better!
herthabsc.de: To end, let’s look ahead to 2021. What are your hopes for the year to come, both for Hertha and for yourself personally?
Weber: I’m hoping for good health above all else! That’s the most important thing to us. Hopefully everyone around me stays healthy, both at work and in my private life. Obviously I hope that we can get back the thing that we all love as soon as possible – football matches! The lads out on the pitch, the coaches on the sidelines and us directors up in the stands. That’s exactly what fuels me; helping young athletes through their final school years and onto a potential career in professional football. That’s my motivation, and I want to get back to doing that as soon as possible. I wish them all a few days of peace and quiet surrounded by loved ones and hopefully a little normality will return in 2021. Finally, I have to say that it’s not been an easy year. On the one hand we have all the new rules to deal with, and I also have to be there to support the players. My warmest thanks goes to all those who have worked with and helped the Hertha academy. You are all amazing!