“Use the moments we get to attack in transition”

The last game between Hertha BSC and Borussia Dortmund resulted in a bitter defeat for Hertha that sealed their place in the relegation play-off. That was 103 days ago, and thankfully due to the retention of Bundesliga status was not too significant a result ahead of the next meeting of the two teams on Saturday (27.08.22, 15:30 CEST). Sandro Schwarz talked about how the team would approach the game during Thursday’s press conference: “Our approach has to be being very compact and very aggressive in defence, and use the moments we get to attack in transition.” The squad has been training well, which the team want to finally translate into points. This was also the observation of Fredi Bobic, who also answered questions about the transfer market: “If we are able to improve our squad, then we will do that. If not, we won’t,” suggested Bobic. Herthabsc.com have summed up the most important parts from today’s presser. Read on to find out what Schwarz and Bobic have to say on:

Sandro Schwarz: We had a day more of training. Monday and Tuesday we worked through the game in Mönchengladbach. On Wednesday we prepared really specifically towards what we expect on Saturday: a top team, that has good individual players, enjoys having possession and plays at a high pace. Our approach has to be being very compact and very aggressive in defence, and obviously to use the moments we get to attack in transition.

Sandro Schwarz: Linus Gechter was out for around ten days, and should be available for our final training session having trained individually this week. We have to wait and see though. Filip Uremović is suspended and also has a knee problem. He will likely take part in team training again next week. I would also have no problem with playing two left-footed players at centre-back.

Fredi Bobic: I am happy for Márton Dárdai if he gets the opportunity to play on Saturday. He has only briefly appeared so far this season, and he is still not fully developed as a player. Last season wasn’t easy for him, but that is often the case for young players. He still has a lot of years ahead of him, at the end of the day it is down to him to take the next step and become a top player.

Fredi Bobic: If we are able to improve our squad, then we will do that. If not, we won’t. The market is absolutely mad at the moment, we are being offered a ridiculous number of players. Right at the end of the transfer window is a crazy time because there is always the possibility that something can happen. It’s clear that we are looking at and sounding out the possibility of adding to the goalkeeping department.