Further additions to Cristian Fiél’s backroom staff
It has been all-change in the Hertha coaching team since the end of the season. In addition to the club’s new head coach, Cristian Fiél, assistant Jaime Monroy, most recently of West Bromwich Albion, has also joined the club. Goalkeeping coach Andreas Menger and fitness coaches Henrik Kuchno and Hendrik Vieth, meanwhile, are already well-acquainted with the club. Now, two more familiar faces join the coaching staff – while Patrick Ebert and Dirk Kunert may be new to their respective roles, both have served the club with distinction in the past
Returning to the capital club
Ebert, now 37, wore the Hertha flag on his chest from 1998 and 2012, making his way through the youth ranks to eventually establish himself as a first-team regular. Last season, the Potsdam-born former winger worked in various departments of the Hertha academy, and will now not only assist in general training under Fiél, but also offer training for individual players. Ebert and Fiél's paths have crossed before, with the latter managing Ebert at Dynamo Dresden. “Ebi embodies exactly what Hertha is all about. He came up through the academy and then gained plenty of experience as a professional, both at Hertha and elsewhere. He now wants to pass that experience on, and he’s a very good addition to our coaching team,” explains sporting director Benjamin Weber.
Kunert, meanwhile, will act as an intermediary coach between the U19, U23 and professional squads. The 56-year-old is also no stranger to Hertha, having had a stint with the U23s as a player between 1998 and 2000, before going on to coach in the academy up until 2009. Since then, he has worked for Wolfsburg, Mainz 05 and Hamburger SV in various youth managerial roles, as well as coaching the likes of Carl Zeiss Jena at senior level. He spent last season as head coach at BFC Dynamo. “Dirk knows the club inside out, so we’re very happy to have been able to bring him back to Hertha BSC. During his long career, he has already helped many talented players make it to professional football. Now we’re looking for him to do the same with us. With him on board, our aim is to achieve even better integration between our U19s, U23s and first team in the future,” said Andreas Neuendorf, Hertha’s academy director. Ebert and Kunert have already got stuck into their work on the training ground as part of the Old Lady’s preparations for the new season.