“Give our opponents no hope”
Our three-game week has kicked off with the best of starts! After two Bundesliga wins in a row, Hertha will travel to face Preußen Münster on Tuesday evening in the second round of the DFB-Pokal (18:30 CEST). The visitors will be eager to reach the round of 16 against the fourth-tier side, whose sporting director is former Herthaner Peter Niemeyer. “We have prepared for the tie like any other Bundesliga game, can’t give our opponents any hope and want to work hard from the first whistle,” asserted head coach Pál Dárdai in the press conference before the game. All the answers from both him and director of sport Fredi Bobic are here on herthabsc.com.
Pál Dárdai and Fredi Bobic on...
... the DFB-Pokal:
Fredi Bobic: It would be a dream come true to play the Pokal final in our home stadium, but you have to play every game as if it's the final itself to get there - the cup is different to the league. Progressing is the most important thing, and at the end of the day, nobody cares how you get to a final as long as you get there. We’re not expecting an easy game, but it’s all down to ourselves and we need to take the fight to them, as smaller sides always fight hard against the big teams and have nothing to lose.
... the opponents:
Pál Dárdai: Münster have a good, lively squad and a good coach in Sascha Hildmann. They've given many a Bundesliga side a hard time in their stadium, so we can’t underestimate them. We have prepared for the tie like any other Bundesliga game, can’t give our opponents any hope and want to work hard from the first whistle.
... Hertha’s defenders:
Pál Dárdai: It’s a big positive that Dedryck Boyata wants to play. Linus Gechter is fully fit and a reliable centre back, even if he’s still so young. We're going to keep Márton Dárdai at home, so he can prepare best for the game against Hoffenheim. We’re probably going to take a central defender from the U23s, but Lucas Tousart can also help out if he needs to. There are no excuses, though – we want to win the game.
... a possible rotation of goalkeepers:
Pál Dárdai: Myself and the coaching staff spoke about rotating the goalkeepers for cup games. Oliver Christensen should have played in the U23s game last week, but it was called off, so unfortunately, Olli hasn’t had enough game time recently to be ready. We will have Alex Schwolow between the posts instead, but we still have full trust in Olli.
... sporting development:
Fredi Bobic: I was already seeing positive signs in the Freiburg game that we were moving in the right direction. The lads have finally found themselves and started playing together. Every player played for one another against Mönchengladbach and left everything out on the pitch – that’s the mentality which wins us points. When we all work together, we can beat teams who might be better than us on paper. It was important for the players to see that so much more goes well when you all work united.